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...
how common are they? my rheumy told me that mtx wouldn't lower my immune system 'that much'. and i stupidly didn't realize prednisone would suppress my immune system as well. i'm guessing that's what contributed to my cellulitis. after three full days on ALL OF THE ANTIBIOTICS, i still have some pain and redness, but nothing like it was. i'm able to walk on it and actually cleaned up the apartment a bit yesterday (first time in two weeks... it needed it!)
i was chatting with my cousin, who has been treated for RA for the last three or four years. she said she's a bit more careful than she used to be - washes her hands a lot, stays away from sick people - but that she doesn't get sick any more often than she used to. she is an end of life oncological social worker - she works in a hospital, yuck. everyone tells me i just have to be a little careful.
but of course the first time i get tattooed, i develop cellulitis. i know how to heal a tattoo on my body; i have probably over 30 hours of work on my body. i know how my body heals. i have never, ever had an infection while healing a tattoo. so when we're taking mtx and/or a biologic, are secondary infections common when we break our skin? i mean, in reality, i took like a 6"x8" section of my calf, broke all the skin open, and was like 'good luck body'. ugh, so dumb.
i was chatting with my cousin, who has been treated for RA for the last three or four years. she said she's a bit more careful than she used to be - washes her hands a lot, stays away from sick people - but that she doesn't get sick any more often than she used to. she is an end of life oncological social worker - she works in a hospital, yuck. everyone tells me i just have to be a little careful.
but of course the first time i get tattooed, i develop cellulitis. i know how to heal a tattoo on my body; i have probably over 30 hours of work on my body. i know how my body heals. i have never, ever had an infection while healing a tattoo. so when we're taking mtx and/or a biologic, are secondary infections common when we break our skin? i mean, in reality, i took like a 6"x8" section of my calf, broke all the skin open, and was like 'good luck body'. ugh, so dumb.
Nancy
:-)
* There are many other factors that go into having a good immune system or not. SLEEP has a LOT to do with your immune system's health as does diet.
Not to burst any balloons or to be a worry wart but I would be FAR more concerned about getting tats than about staying away from someone with sniffles. RA puts us at higher risk for hepatitis C and tattoos are a known source of HepC. THAT is something you do not want!!
**** I would strongly urge you - and any one who has had tats or is a baby boomer to have a simple test for hep C because it is a SILENT KILLER: no symptoms. You usually have it and never know until it is very progressed. There are new treatments coming available very soon so it doesn't have to kill you, if you test and start treatment early. HCV is epidemic and you can also get it from unclean medical or dental equipment or from blood contact with someone who has it (and may not know) like sharing a razor or toothbrush. Better safe than sorry - it's a simple blood test.
there has not been a case of hep c linked to a tattoo. the study that most people refer to found that 34% of hep c positive respondents had tattoos, while only 12% of hep c negative respondents had a tattoo. it's a small study (2000) done in a major metropolitan area (new york). it also doesn't account for the fact that most people will lie about intravenous drug use, which is still the number one way of contracting hep c.
i have never gotten sick from a tattoo or piercing, however i did catch a cold from piercing others who were sick. which is when i began investing in surgical masks.
http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/c/cfaq.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/tattoo-hepatitis-c_n_2546592.html
i can also not prevent my body from reacting as it does, personally, to being immune suppressed. that would be right for me.
i am not going to feel like a prevention loser :) because I have frequent infections (lung and sinus) on mtx (prior) and biologic now. i sleep great, I am unconscious the second I hit the pillow. i take no meds other than the biologic and homeopathics and vitamin regime. i work out. i'm a vegan. and i work 50 hours plus a week so i am in constant contact with public. i wear a face mask to staff meeting at work because they insist on sitting in an unventilated tiny space on top of each other with no windows. no matter how careful I am or whether i take good to excessive precautions or not, I was hospitalized several times over with pneumonia while on mtx and ON oxygen (at age 49 and up with kids back at the house as a single parent they were in high school) and i have had many, many sinus' and lung infections on biologics (that why orencia alone)
for my dental work I was ordered OFF all RA meds per the oral surgeon and the Rheumie then put on high dose antibiotic. I was NOT allowed to continue treatment while under dental surgery and dental recovery.
for my tat i was OFF mtx. i healed ok.
each person's reaction to being immune suppresed is going to be different.
frequent lung infection bouts make my RA treatment erratic. meanwhile my numbers climb as do my erosions.
it really gets me down.
if i could wave a magic go away infections fairy dust I would.
Ros
She is just like that, so funny. If anyone sneezes next to us, we both practically run from them. Lol I have to say she might be a bit worse on germs. And she has no autoimmune anything wrong with her.
What I do get though, is bruises. I look like I'm beat up. Legs and hands, mostly shin. And if my cat scratches me while we play, I clean it and keep ointment around. They freaking last forever. Rhuemy said it is the cortisones shots. Steroids make your skin thin. It looks really nasty on my arms if get bumped or scratched. Like blood bruises. Ewww.
I meant..... we both are NEVER sick.
And it's 1000 mg vitamin C.
I swear to never post before coffee again. =)
Lin
Ros
No offense meant. No need to defend. To clarify - hepC is spread by blood. AS I SAID: you can get it from any unclean medical or dental equipment as well as unclean tatoo or piercing equipment or from a shared razor or toothbrush. It is also transmitted via older blood transfusions, IV drug use and snorting cocaine, and rarely, sexually oir via birth.
I also said that i suggest everyone get tested for it because a test is simple and we are at higher risk because of our RA.
You could choose to argue, or...simply get tested.
I have hepeatitis C and like to spread the word to spare as many as possible the horrors of this possibly fatal in fectious disease....and I thought it approriate to mention since your post was about was concern for infections.
Cellulitis can occur in anyone at all. My husband had cellulitis years after he had bypass heart surgery where the vein was taken from his leg. His doctor said the germ probably entered through a flaky stitch mark. He doesn't have any immune problems at all. The germ can get into your body via a minute scratch you can't even see.
My take on it is that it wasn't necessarily the tattooing or a poor immune system but just the luck of the game.
From personal experience, I know how painful it is. My GP always makes sure I have antibiotics and the cream to stop the itching, just in case cellulitis occurs when we are on holidays.
Glad to hear it's clearing for you as it can be life-threatening.