Guest guest Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Hello- I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave me fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and this lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other auto-immune issues i am unable to use the " biologicals " and my dr just mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it Leflunomide i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if Methotrexate landed me in the hospital, what will be different? Any imput? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 I'm sorry to hear about the problems you're having with your meds. I wish I could make suffestions on what you might try, but I'm not a doctor and it sounds like you're having problems with a couple of meds. I'd been on with some success. I'm not from New England - I'm from Indianapolis- so I don't know how well I can relate. I do know that as much as it might feel cold here, it's nothing like you have in New England. I just wanted to let you know I'll be thinking of you and I hope that you can find some way to treat your arthritis. There's nothing much worse than feeling miserable. Take care and God bless, Susielisamamma18 <lisamamma18@...> wrote: Hello-I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave me fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and this lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other auto-immune issues i am unable to use the "biologicals" and my dr just mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it Leflunomide i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if Methotrexate landed me in the hospital, what will be different?Any imput?Thanks Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 In a message dated 12/13/2005 8:57:31 A.M. Central Standard Time, lisamamma18@... writes: Hello-I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave me fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and this lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other auto-immune issues i am unable to use the "biologicals" and my dr just mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it Leflunomide i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if Methotrexate landed me in the hospital, what will be different?Any imput?Thanks Arava is bad stuff too. Wound up in the emergency room with vomiting and unable to keep water down from Methotrexate shot and Arava. Had a lot of diarrea too. Had to quit taking both, switched to Enbrel and when that wasn't working well, added 10 mg of Methotrexate again. I don't have the same side effects that I did when I was taking the MTX and Arava combo. Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Arava is different from Methotrexate but usually it is similarly effective for RA. Some patients do well with one and not with the other either from side effects or from effect on RA. I know of no way to predict what your outcome will be with Arava. Some people can't tolerate the loading dose so they skip that and start on the 20 mg pills. Some can't even stand the 20 mg pills but do well at 10 mg and still get significant help with their RA. Others, of course, get no benefit at all. If you skip the loading dose it will take longer for the medication to become effective. Arava is the brand name and Leflunomide is the generic name. I think the patent recently ran out so the generic is now available at a much lower cost than the brand name. I am not medically trained but I follow several RA message boards and my information is gleaned from them. Make sure you check what I say with your doctor. God bless. ----- Original Message ----- From: lisamamma18 Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 6:48 AM Subject: Anyone know Avara?? Hello-I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave me fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and this lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other auto-immune issues i am unable to use the "biologicals" and my dr just mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it Leflunomide i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if Methotrexate landed me in the hospital, what will be different?Any imput?Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Have you or your Dr thought of try remicade it has worked great for me i have never tryed the other thing but i was on MTX for a while and had no side effects i just wanted to wish you the best of luck on what ever they try and only hope it will work for you i hate being in pain all the time my thoughts and prayer are with you Sherrie > > Hello- > > I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave me > fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and this > lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other > auto-immune issues i am unable to use the " biologicals " and my dr just > mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it Leflunomide > i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if Methotrexate > landed me in the hospital, what will be different? > > Any imput? > > Thanks > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Thank Sherrie.. but they say Remicade will cause me to get MS with my underlying condition of CIDP(Cronic Immune Demylynating Polynueropathy), which is tating the mylan from my nerves of my limbs. My treatments for this are IVIG Immunaglobbulin infussions every other week for 6 and a half hours. So the Dr. say that most treatments will cause me to have full blown MS. I have Antilupus Antibodies and anti-thyroglubblulin so i have no immune system of my own. The IVIG replaces it with other peoples, going off that is not an option, when I went off it for several weeks due to the fluid in my belly, i was back bed-ridden/wheelchar bound for month until the dosage built back up in my body. I am a huge challange for the medical community. I travel into NY and NJ for my specialists. Nobody knows quite what to do.. mostly dammage control. Also yesterday i failed my bone scan.. my HRT and calium are not working. The osteoporosis has progressed and i have developed osteopenea in places that i did not have it 1.5 years ago. I have not heard from the Dr. yet, I just took a copy of they report with me. but thanx.. Sherrie <scorn720@...> wrote: Have you or your Dr thought of try remicade it has worked great for me i have never tryed the other thing but i was on MTX for a while and had no side effects i just wanted to wish you the best of luck on what ever they try and only hope it will work for you i hate being in pain all the timemy thoughts and prayer are with you Sherrie>> Hello-> > I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave me > fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and this > lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other > auto-immune issues i am unable to use the "biologicals" and my dr just > mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it Leflunomide > i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if Methotrexate > landed me in the hospital, what will be different?> > Any imput?> > Thanks> > Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Thanx Becky i suspected as much.. when i looked them up they seemed pretty much the same thing. StarsHutch@... wrote: In a message dated 12/13/2005 8:57:31 A.M. Central Standard Time, lisamamma18@... writes: Hello-I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave me fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and this lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other auto-immune issues i am unable to use the "biologicals" and my dr just mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it Leflunomide i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if Methotrexate landed me in the hospital, what will be different?Any imput?Thanks Arava is bad stuff too. Wound up in the emergency room with vomiting and unable to keep water down from Methotrexate shot and Arava. Had a lot of diarrea too. Had to quit taking both, switched to Enbrel and when that wasn't working well, added 10 mg of Methotrexate again. I don't have the same side effects that I did when I was taking the MTX and Arava combo. Becky Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 thanx susie... indiana can't me that much better.. must be cold there. right now i am looking at about 10 inches of frozen snow from last weekend and it is bitterly cold. I got a lot of other helpful answers.. suzette ridgeway <cat_lady20042003@...> wrote: I'm sorry to hear about the problems you're having with your meds. I wish I could make suffestions on what you might try, but I'm not a doctor and it sounds like you're having problems with a couple of meds. I'd been on with some success. I'm not from New England - I'm from Indianapolis- so I don't know how well I can relate. I do know that as much as it might feel cold here, it's nothing like you have in New England. I just wanted to let you know I'll be thinking of you and I hope that you can find some way to treat your arthritis. There's nothing much worse than feeling miserable. Take care and God bless, Susielisamamma18 <lisamamma18@...> wrote: Hello-I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave me fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and this lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other auto-immune issues i am unable to use the "biologicals" and my dr just mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it Leflunomide i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if Methotrexate landed me in the hospital, what will be different?Any imput?Thanks Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Hi , I have a treatment suggestion that is different. Have you ever considered something like Spring Forest QiGong to balance the energies in your body? Obviously for you the traditional methods are not working, therefore it may be time to step outside the traditional methods and try things that have been around for 100's of years. And of course you can stay doing all the other things your doctor recommends at the same time. Dorey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 thanks harold... we'll see what happens lisaHarold Van Tuyl <hvantuyl@...> wrote: Arava is different from Methotrexate but usually it is similarly effective for RA. Some patients do well with one and not with the other either from side effects or from effect on RA. I know of no way to predict what your outcome will be with Arava. Some people can't tolerate the loading dose so they skip that and start on the 20 mg pills. Some can't even stand the 20 mg pills but do well at 10 mg and still get significant help with their RA. Others, of course, get no benefit at all. If you skip the loading dose it will take longer for the medication to become effective. Arava is the brand name and Leflunomide is the generic name. I think the patent recently ran out so the generic is now available at a much lower cost than the brand name. I am not medically trained but I follow several RA message boards and my information is gleaned from them. Make sure you check what I say with your doctor. God bless. ----- Original Message ----- From: lisamamma18 Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 6:48 AM Subject: Anyone know Avara?? Hello-I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave me fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and this lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other auto-immune issues i am unable to use the "biologicals" and my dr just mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it Leflunomide i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if Methotrexate landed me in the hospital, what will be different?Any imput?Thanks Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 I am really sorry you are in such bad shap I didn't really know how bad you were I can only wish you the best of luck and tell you my thoughts and prayers are with you Sherrie > > > > Hello- > > > > I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave > me > > fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and > this > > lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other > > auto-immune issues i am unable to use the " biologicals " and my dr > just > > mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it > Leflunomide > > i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if > Methotrexate > > landed me in the hospital, what will be different? > > > > Any imput? > > > > Thanks > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 thanx sherrie.. i tend to keep a high outlook and take things a day at a time or i'd go crazy and we all have our own stuff and it feel equally bad. i feel humbled by my experiences and those i have seen and heard. i thank you and wish you all the same back. lisaSherrie <scorn720@...> wrote: I am really sorry you are in such bad shap I didn't really know how bad you were I can only wish you the best of luck and tell you my thoughts and prayers are with you Sherrie > >> > Hello-> > > > I was unable to tolerate Methotrexate. And Sulfasalazine *sp gave > me > > fluid in my belly. I have been on no RA med since last spring and > this > > lovely New England weather is making me miserable. Due to my other > > auto-immune issues i am unable to use the "biologicals" and my dr > just > > mentioned this med to me last week. Actually he called it > Leflunomide > > i think. He called it the rich mans Methotrexate. So if > Methotrexate > > landed me in the hospital, what will be different?> > > > Any imput?> > > > Thanks> > > >> > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 .. I have considered other methods. Currently I am seeing a PT who does something called mapping. She is more along the lines of non-invasive and cleansing. Kinda along the Fung Sheu lines. I am very intersting in trying oriental medicing or herbology, but i feel clueless and a littel affraid. My bloodwork came back sooo bad; i am not sure what to do. Thanks, Dorey <ddorey@...> wrote: Hi , I have a treatment suggestion that is different. Have you ever considered something like Spring Forest QiGong to balance the energies in your body? Obviously for you the traditional methods are not working, therefore it may be time to step outside the traditional methods and try things that have been around for 100's of years. And of course you can stay doing all the other things your doctor recommends at the same time. Dorey __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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