Robyn

[Guest guest]

Hi Robyn,

Welcome to the group! I’m 26 yrs old and live in Mauritius. I have RA

(diagnosed just over a year ago). I only take prednisone for now as I’m

trying to have a baby but it works very well for me. I have a great

Rheumatologist, this is the most important thing I think – that you have a

good doctor. If you feel your doctor is not doing all he/she can to help

you then find another one. I don’t know if leaving the country for

treatment will help much. I went to back to South Africa when I was first

diagnosed (I’m South African) and saw a professor of Rheumatology who was

supposed to be one of the best in the country. Basically he did/said exactly

the same thing as my Rheumatologist here in Mauritius (who is French) so I

don’t see any need to make the trip again just to see him. I trust my

doctor here and think she is giving me the best care available. There are

certain tests you can’t do here but I can just fly to Reunion Island (only

20 min flight away) or South Africa if necessary as they have all the

gadgets necessary. I think the main thing being outside the US is that it’s

difficult to get the biologics (like Enbrel & Remicade)(then again it seems

even a lot of people in the US are having problems getting these due to

demand outstripping supply and the cost). We don’t get them here in

Mauritius and the doctor in South Africa told me it would cost over USD

25,000 a year to get them from there, since my insurance doesn’t cover

chronic disease and that converts to a whole lot of South African Rands and

many more Mauritian Rupees it would be totally impossible for me to even

think about it. He suggested Methotrexate or Plaquenil and seemed to think

this would be sufficient. His belief is that Methotrexate has been an

effective treatment for RA for a very long time and that until the biologics

become for affordable/available it was the way to go. I think the main

thing about treatment for RA is that it’s ongoing and pretty standard in

terms of the medication available (you need to find the right combination

though) so it would be hard to be followed up by someone from overseas.

Unless someone knows a great Center or something that could kick you off to

a good start and then work with a local doctor to make sure your treatment

is being followed up.

Gosh I’m blabbering away, this is getting long!

I look forward to getting to know you.

Take care,

Heidi

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