Rheumy visit

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

I saw the rheumy today and thought I would write a quick note to let you know

how it went. He was very impressed with the improvement with the Remicade.

He checked the swelling in my lower legs, ankles, and feet and thinks its a

combination of poor circulation and sides from the pred. He agreed with my

pred taper schedule and told me that if I can get down to 5 mg, that he would

then lower the methotrexate. I am currently on 25mg/week of mtx. So far I

am taking 15mg of pred. We discussed my labs and I am still anemic. My irol

level is 26 and the low normal on the scale is 35. I guess this is why I

have been so tired lately. Dr Seaman agreed with that. He did say that he

has 2 patients who developed SLE while on Enbrel and that he is switching

more patients to Remicade because of problems with Kineret.

I love to talk to him because I know that he will give me straight answers

instead of " don't worry, you're not affected by that. " I have told him of

our " little group " and he is impressed by the wealth of information that I

have gathered here and the change in my outlook (mental) since communicating

with people who have this disease in common. Before this, I was his youngest

patient and all of the support groups that he knew of were mostly geriatric

patients whose biggest responsibility was to get out of bed in the morning.

I hope that I haven't offended anyone with that comment. What I mean is that

they did not have jobs or children who needed taken care of anymore. This

group has been a Godsend to me and I treasure each and every one of the

friends that I have made here.

I am going to cut this short. I go for Remicade in the morning and I still

have some readying to do. (I have to shave my legs) LOL.

Love you all

Stacey in PA

[Guest guest]

, I'm so happy to hear of your continued Remicade improvements. I got

my first set of labs back from after my first infusion, and I'm well pleased

with them. My hemoglobin was up more than a point, my hematocrit was up, my

white blood count was up substantially (it was low right before my first

infusion), and there were a lot of other lab values that were in a more

acceptable range. I was worried that the Remicade was decimating my white

blood count, because I got sick after my last infusion. But I was already

having a flare (my sed rate was elevated in the same blood work), and that

probably weakened my body. (Just my guess)

Let us know how you're second infusion goes today. I have about a week and

a half before my next infusion.

Much love,

Carol

[ ] Rheumy visit

Hi Everyone,

I saw the rheumy today and thought I would write a quick note to let you

know

how it went. He was very impressed with the improvement with the Remicade.

He checked the swelling in my lower legs, ankles, and feet and thinks its a

combination of poor circulation and sides from the pred. He agreed with my

pred taper schedule and told me that if I can get down to 5 mg, that he

would

then lower the methotrexate. I am currently on 25mg/week of mtx. So far I

am taking 15mg of pred. We discussed my labs and I am still anemic. My

irol

level is 26 and the low normal on the scale is 35. I guess this is why I

have been so tired lately. Dr Seaman agreed with that. He did say that he

has 2 patients who developed SLE while on Enbrel and that he is switching

more patients to Remicade because of problems with Kineret.

I love to talk to him because I know that he will give me straight answers

instead of " don't worry, you're not affected by that. " I have told him of

our " little group " and he is impressed by the wealth of information that I

have gathered here and the change in my outlook (mental) since communicating

with people who have this disease in common. Before this, I was his

youngest

patient and all of the support groups that he knew of were mostly geriatric

patients whose biggest responsibility was to get out of bed in the morning.

I hope that I haven't offended anyone with that comment. What I mean is

that

they did not have jobs or children who needed taken care of anymore. This

group has been a Godsend to me and I treasure each and every one of the

friends that I have made here.

I am going to cut this short. I go for Remicade in the morning and I still

have some readying to do. (I have to shave my legs) LOL.

Love you all

Stacey in PA

[Guest guest]

Sounds like a good visit, Stacey. I hope you continue to improve on

Remicade. Your rheumatologist seems to be a very competent one.

What sorts of problems did he notice for patients using Kineret?

As you can see from some of the latest posts, a lot of us understand

about why you may feel the need to shave.

Thanks for your kind comments about the group - we are lucky to have you

here!

Hugs to you and Wyatt,

[ ] Rheumy visit

> Hi Everyone,

> I saw the rheumy today and thought I would write a quick note to let

you know

> how it went. He was very impressed with the improvement with the

Remicade.

> He checked the swelling in my lower legs, ankles, and feet and thinks

its a

> combination of poor circulation and sides from the pred. He agreed

with my

> pred taper schedule and told me that if I can get down to 5 mg, that

he would

> then lower the methotrexate. I am currently on 25mg/week of mtx. So

far I

> am taking 15mg of pred. We discussed my labs and I am still anemic.

My irol

> level is 26 and the low normal on the scale is 35. I guess this is

why I

> have been so tired lately. Dr Seaman agreed with that. He did say

that he

> has 2 patients who developed SLE while on Enbrel and that he is

switching

> more patients to Remicade because of problems with Kineret.

> I love to talk to him because I know that he will give me straight

answers

> instead of " don't worry, you're not affected by that. " I have told

him of

> our " little group " and he is impressed by the wealth of information

that I

> have gathered here and the change in my outlook (mental) since

communicating

> with people who have this disease in common. Before this, I was his

youngest

> patient and all of the support groups that he knew of were mostly

geriatric

> patients whose biggest responsibility was to get out of bed in the

morning.

> I hope that I haven't offended anyone with that comment. What I mean

is that

> they did not have jobs or children who needed taken care of anymore.

This

> group has been a Godsend to me and I treasure each and every one of

the

> friends that I have made here.

> I am going to cut this short. I go for Remicade in the morning and I

still

> have some readying to do. (I have to shave my legs) LOL.

> Love you all

> Stacey in PA