Hello all - while I've had RA for many years, I've been very lucky because neither RA nor the immune-suppressing drugs I take to control it have caused me to get sick. But, finally, a bug found me over the weekend and I'm not sure how to handle my meds while being sick.

I noticed on Saturday morning that I felt unusually lethargic, a bit dizzy and a little chilled. Took my temp and was surprised to find I was running a low-grade fever. By that time I'd already taken my RA meds for the morning. As I went about my day, the fever climbed and finally spiked at 102.6 on Saturday night, plus I felt miserably achey. I decided not to take any of my meds since I still had a fever. I was finally over the fever by Tuesday morning, but I still feel a bit dizzy and have a noisy cough with phlegm.

I resumed prednisone on Monday because I was getting a headache from withdrawal, and Naproxen since that's ok to take with fever. But my Xeljanz and Methotrexate - not sure when I should start again. It wouldn't matter so much if my joints felt good, but I'm beginning to flare and walking with a limp.

For those of you who've discontinued meds during an illness - when did your doctor or rheumy give you the ok to re-start biologics or other autoimmune suppressing drugs? Was it when a fever broke, when you stopped having symptoms, or did you have to wait for a period of time after you felt well? The last thing I want to do is suppress my autoimmune system and have a relapse. I have a call in to my rheumy's office, but they tend to be slow to respond to patient questions. Many thanks in advance for your thoughts.