Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
so i've been on mtx since september. 15mg/week at first then up to 20mg/week by the end of october. we added enbrel mid december. when i took a short break from mtx, i noticed a slight uptick in pain, so it's helping *a little*. but overall i feel like my pain is worse than it was in september. also, more joints are involved for certain.
i know ra progresses quickly. i've read in numerous places that the first couple of years after dx are often the worst. it seems like mine has progressed very quickly and is getting worse. right now the only joints that i'm aware of that don't seem to bother me are my elbows.
okay, so over 4 months on mtx and 5 weeks on enbrel with no improvement in symptoms. i know that enbrel may not work, but it seems like the mtx has *never* really worked. is there another option? my rheumy has never brought it up, but she's young - only a few years into her career as a rheumy - and she encourages my research and questions. i have an appointment in like a week and a half and am adding info to my medial cheat sheet.
thanks in advance :)
i know ra progresses quickly. i've read in numerous places that the first couple of years after dx are often the worst. it seems like mine has progressed very quickly and is getting worse. right now the only joints that i'm aware of that don't seem to bother me are my elbows.
okay, so over 4 months on mtx and 5 weeks on enbrel with no improvement in symptoms. i know that enbrel may not work, but it seems like the mtx has *never* really worked. is there another option? my rheumy has never brought it up, but she's young - only a few years into her career as a rheumy - and she encourages my research and questions. i have an appointment in like a week and a half and am adding info to my medial cheat sheet.
thanks in advance :)
My rheumy said many do well on a metho plaquenil combo. I may ask to try that before switching if I were you.
It not, you can try to switch to arava like me, but it states it can take up to three months to see it help. It isn't helping me, so we added this past week plaquenil to my arava.
There's also the dmard Sulfasalzine (Azulfidine). This will be my next step if arava plaquenil combo isn't working....either this or I'll instead add a biologic to my plaquenil arava combo.
I'd suggest adding plaquenil, see in a month or two if there's any change, and then trade metho for arava if no change. I don't know. It's a science experiment I'm learning. Hopefully some others have some good advice. Gl!
One reason to stay on it is that it supposedly helps keep you from building up a tolerance to Enbrel as quickly.
Plaquenil is the alternative, but it tends to have even more side effects. As I keep reminding myself, welcome to the land of no good choices.
Go figure ...
Be well
Bluedogs2
And insurance paid 100% of the allergy testing cost.