muscles are sooooooooooooo sore

December 9, 2008

I was off the Enbrel for a month due to some dizziness, chest pain and

other problems, and my muscles, legs and arms, the worse back up upper

legs and buttocks. I could hardly get up and down and I cannot

remember doing anything that would have caused the soreness. My arms

are sore too and I had this before. Has anyone else had muscle pain

after leaving Enbrel off for a while. I thought I was so much better

and maybe didn't need the Enbrel. I gave my shot on Sat., so I guess I

will see if that was the problem. I believe this disease is one of the

most complicated things I've found. Nothing is concrete, you never

know from one flare to the next what will happen. Thanks all you kind

people for your comments and support. May God bless all of you with a

safe, healthy holiday season. All I want for Christmas is some pain

free days and for the new year: GOOD HEALTH! Sherry

December 12, 2008

Sherry: I think it very likely that your soreness resulted from you being off

Enbrel for a month. I've asked both my internist and my rheumy about the

advisability of going off it because I really haven't had a " flare " that I'm

aware of since I was first diagnosed and started taking Enbrel. It took several

months to feel its full effect but I've been fine since except some structural

problems that have nothing to do with the disease. My internist has 12 patients

on Enbrel and one does take it for 3 weeks and then stops a week; however she

does not recommend this because of the toxicity of the drug and agrees with my

rheumy that - at this point - the best alternative is to go from taking it

every 7 days to every 8 or maybe even every nine until the mfg completes tests

that I'm told are underway to determine the efficacy of not taking it regularly

and on an ongoing basis.

You may not get relief right away after being off it a month. In fact, when I

first joined this group, I seem to remember at least one or two people saying

that once you go off the drug, it never again works as well as it first

did. But as so many have said, we all react differently to the disease and to

the drugs that are prescribed to deal with it. Hope you're ffling better soon

ahd that the problems that led you to stop taking Enbrel are not related to

either it or your PsA.

Joanna Hoelscher

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