Sharyn - Imuran etc

[Guest guest]

Sharyn, I too could not take Imuran - it made me feel

totally wiped out, fatigued - as if I was not taking

my thyroxine. I was already taking metho, but they

did not want to up my metho dose - this was working 5

days out of 7, then I was flaring for 2 days, hoarse

voice, poor breathing, fatigue (again..). I suggested

to the rheumy I try plaquenil, as last year in Africa

I was taking an anti malarial and I felt particularly

well whilst on it. My rheumy (who is wonderful) said

he had no objection to me trying plaquenil, and it

seems to do the trick. The only problem with it, (and

the other anti malarial) is that I have very bright

intense dreams, often quite horrible nightmares. I

find taking 37.5mg effexor xr, an antidepressant that

I was previously taking for depression, stops me

remembering them. Again my doc says this is a low

dose and not a problem.

Also, I was reading about implants some years ago in

UK, and whether there was evidence that more women who

had implants suffered more auto immune illnesses.

They also did a survey that included breast reduction.

They found that women who had breast reduction had an

even higher incidence of auto immune illness, and they

wondered if having surgery on your breast might

trigger the immune system to go into overdrive. Of

course I don't know how accurate or well controlled

the survey was, but 20 years ago I had a breast

reduction.

I think there may be different triggers for different

people; to my knowledge I have not been overexposed

to toxins or insecticides, I sometimes wonder whether

vaccinations might contribute. As I have travelled

all my life and still keep my " shots " up I feel that

might be one of the factors.

Still, I doubt that we will get all the answers

quickly!!

Hang in there, Sharyn, hopefully it will improve for

you, it did for me. Love Liz

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