Questions

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

I'm newly diagnosed, as I mentioned in an earlier posting. I am

looking for a rheumy doc in my plan and in my area. But until then, I

have some questions.

Can you tell me about the drugs (Humeria, Enbrel, MTX, Remicade)?

What are the side effects?

How often are the drugs taken? Daily? Weekly?

What combination, if any are they taken in?

My RA is not horrible (I say that now that the flare up has subsided!).

What I mean is most of the time I can tolerate the pain. I'm afraid,

though, that if I don't start some kind of treatment, it will

progress. I already have trouble sleeping at night due to pain in the

hips, and I can barely open jars. Some days holding my hairbrush hurts

my hands so much. Would it be beneficial to start treatment now before

damage to the joints get much worse? Or am I just whining too much?

Thanks for your help,

[Guest guest]

Hi , everyone has their own opinions on this. I am of the belief that

there is a good posibility that much of the cause of RA or any auto immune

disorder is caused by a poor digestive system or parasites like yeast. I

therefore believe that many of the prescription medications further this

problem and this would support why people seem to get other diseases on top

of the one already diagnosed. However sometimes medication is necessary and

so should be used however at the same time I believe one should be

investigating methods to improve overall health. This includes physical,

mental and spiritual development.

Only you and your doctor can decide which treatments are best for you, but I

might suggest seeking out the advice of a naturapathic doctor as well as a

rheumatologist and while you are at it, ask both which has the greatest

success rate in treating patients, long term, with success, meaning least

medications and least amount of disease progression.

Dorey

www.LivingWithRheumatoidARthritis.com

----- Original Message -----

From: " " <runyonc2001@...>

<Rheumatoid Arthritis >

Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 7:50 PM

Subject: questions

> I'm going to the rheumatoid doc next Monday. My primary care doc has

> said I have RA. My RA levels are slightly elevated, my CRP elevated,

> but no high sed rate. CRP has fluctuated (is that typical as the

> inflammation flares up and subsides?) I have been having infrequent

> flare ups for almost two years, but didn't really think it could be RA

> until a year ago. My concerns are how aggressive should I treat this?

> I have a background of having hepatitis C. I did the chemotherapy like

> treatment with interferon injections 3x a week plus antiviral pills for

> 6 months. I often wonder if the RA is a side effect of these toxic

> drugs and wonder if I should do the DMARDS (if that's what the doctor

> recommends). I'd like to pick your brains and see what you all think.

> I have found through my hep c experience that the educated patients are

> often more informative than the doctors.

> Thanks for your input,

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