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...
Anyone else diagnosed with this lovely new wrinkle in my RA journey? RA running amok in my body and attacking white blood cells opening me up wide to infections. Great, huh? Well, it is also proof positive that the Humira was not working. I see Doc on Monday to discuss what happens next.
I reacted badly to Remicade (after 4th infusion), and drug-induced developed bone-marrow suppression, which lead to pancytopenia. All my blood counts tanked. I think I had 2 neutrofills left. This actually happened twice, because the first reaction manifested in hives. I had a bone marrow biopsy, which was positive, so they tried Remicade again, believing it was Arava, which was introduced late. The 2nd reaction was a high fever, and a WBC of 0..5. I was hospitalized foor a we, administered hiigh doses of antibiotics and iinjections of Neuopgen, to boost my neutrofils. I lived to tell the story.
Check this out.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/neutropenia/basics/causes/sym-20050854
See the last item before the little warning triangle? RA can be a cause, all on it's own. Do watch it, check with your doctor. There can be some other causes, like leukemia, that you don't want to mess with. Interestingly, chemotherapy drugs is also in the list. MTX is a chemotherapy drug. How long have you been off it?
IOnce I was off Remicade, my problem went away, hence the diagnosis of "drug-induced" bone marrow supprression. I hope you get answers and resolution. You need those neutrofils to combat infection.