Thank you for sharing that link and your experience. I have been tempted to join water exercise but I am concerned over germs.

i'm generally concerned over germs. i was like, hey the pool chemicals will fix it' but i don't know. and i read that pools can harbor fungus thingies. and i don't know where else i would have been exposed to something like this.

Guess that is why they figure the quick shower hose off is suppose to wash away those germs

Guess as a science teacher I accept that exposure to microbial challenges keeps my immune system strong. Terrible microbes have thriving communities on/in you as we type - and it's the balance that keeps them under control.

Since I began eating healthy (and then eating to avoid 20+ allergy inducing foods) I have caught ZERO 'bugs' going around the high school and home. In fact, Hubby's been in bed for three days with a bad cold that our college boy exposed us to during our week's vacation. I'm the only family member to NOT get symptoms.

It's all about the immune system. And I regularly jump into ponds/lakes and canoe rivers. As long as the immune system is supported and healthy - it will fight off most challenges.

Granted, if you are on immunosuppressive drugs, you are more like a cancer patient. You have to live like one and avoid unnecessary exposure to common pathogens. What a healthy immune system handles each day - could become a life threatening infection in the immunosuppressed.

2sci, i think that was the issue. i only stopped taking my mtx three weeks ago. i was immunosuppressed. since we started eating healthier i haven't really gotten sick. i had a light flu thing last winter/spring (before my ra diagnosis) and got cellulitis after getting a lot of (too much) tattoo work done on my calf. then when i was at month 3 on enbrel, getting ready to quit it, i got some sort of viral-respiratory-head thing that took about 8 or 9 days to run its course (not normal at all for me). the cellulitis was also when i was on mtx and prednisone, so i know that didn't help.

i've never had a fungal thing before - no athletes foot, nothing like that. i am a big girl and i do sweat, but not a lot because i stay out of situations like that because, well, i'm a big girl and i don't like sweating lol. i'm very careful drying myself off because i can't stand being damp. so even if i'm outside doing something and i sweat, i'm usually in a shower asap or i use wipes to wipe myself down. and to see a patch behind each ear lobe down toward my neck, i just don't understand. i mean, i wash behind my ears lol. i dry myself off very well. i used the sauna at the gym too, but i didn't, like, rub my neck on things.

it's all very confusing to me and i hate it and i still don't know if i believe it's tinea versicolor. it kind of looks like it, but it's so localized. the patch behind my left ear was there for about two weeks before the patch behind the right ear showed up. just ugh. ugh ugh ugh.

I think it is good if you don't do pools given your current sleuthing to solve your skin issue and if you feel flags about pools in general. smart move.

but for me, I have been a pool holic my entire life. I have been in more pools, hot tubs, sauna pools, and bodies of water than carter has pills. never an incident.

i do however, think that jaws is still going to come get me when I am at cape cod. i can still hear the music...but other than that my mind never gives it a second thought. I know it is reckless. I worry about what mtx has done to me in the past because it happened over and over. and I worried about sitting in heated staff office rooms with doors closed and five persons touching knees and three of these persons having runny noses. and i worried despite having on a face mask and gloves. it is amazing how we each all have separate boundaries for what makes our flags go up. breathing. breathing makes my flags go up.

what about the atlantic ocean? the average temperature when it is 90 degrees out is like what 54.........it turns your toes blue. and is a pretty big tubby :)

I hope you get to the bottom of the skin issue soon. keep us posted.

Depot

Oh my......I have been going to wonderful water aerobics classes for about a year and half. For the last year, I have had a rash. Last week, my regular doc said it is not one rash, but it looks like two different things going on. At least four docs have looked at it, and I have an appointment with another dermatologist soon. I sure hope it is not the pool, it is only used for rehab and some small classes.
My husband got a flesh eating bacteria from a pool a couple of years ago. That was NASTY.
Lynne

I have been taking a water fitness class for about 2 months without any adverse effects. I think it should be reported to the gym if you have a reaction to their water.

not sure i can prove it was the pool, though. i didn't have a culture or anything done, and the anti fungal cream seems to be clearing it up.

When I recently went on a trip to Panama, I went in the pool, the hot tub and the ocean. I really had not thought about that and I am a germ freak. It does gross you out. All I can think of is definitely don't go back there and shower thoroughly again after one gets home.

Hey guys,

I've been doing the warm water arthritis classes at a local gym for about four to five months. I'm currently taking Enbrel, Sulfasalazine, Methotrexate, and daily steroids.

Because of these meds, as others have mentioned, I'm pretty much a germaphobe as well. I keep Purell in my car, in my gym bag, around my house, and in my office at work.

After attending each pool class at the gym, I always, always take a shower at the gym before heading home. I bring my own soap so I don't have to use the stuff supplied by the gym for the masses. And, I wear flip-flops walking around the pool area.

So far, so good. I haven't had any problems yet with infections. The classes themselves are super. This is a great way to increase strength and to do stretching exercises.

Take care,
TheWino

thewino, i was doing the same stuff and thought i was good. and in all honesty, i can't actually pinpoint the infection to the pool. but going to the pool and sitting in the sauna were the only things that really changed in my routine.

i really didn't enjoy the classes, tbh. i figured they were good for me, and being in the water felt good, but i didn't enjoy them. i didn't feel better after the classes. i just liked being in the water and sitting in the sauna.

i'm going to stick to sporadic yoga at home. at least i know what germs are here ;)

Hey Steph,

Yeah. You got that right. If there are any germs in our houses, we have thankfully (probably) already built antibodies to them.

It's actually okay to not be interested in pool exercises. If you loved it and had to stop is where the tragedy would be found.

I took Tai Chi classes for a while and really enjoyed them. But, the studio/gym was all the way across town and they never held the beginners classes on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays which ruled out most days for me. So, I decided to move on.

I have to admit that yoga sounds appealing. I wish you only the best!

Be well Steph,
TheWino