Know of what you speak chifan! I do Humira and MTX and have anxiety for the first time in my life. I don't want any of the anti-anxiety drugs so what I do is rub a couple of drops of Frankincense (one of the gifts to the baby Jesus) at the base of my skull. Within 5 minutes I'm back to level, it's the dangdest thing. My chiro sells "essential oils", that's where I get it. It works for me and I've absolutely no scientific reason why it does. BTW, Humira does not work for me unless I also take methotrexate (MTX) with it. Things will improve for you!

I am sorry you are experiencing this. I am unaware of "mental flare ups." I never heard of that before but cooke dict up and this website does list depression and anxiety as a side effect of Humira. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/aches-and-pains/a8612/humira-adalimumab/

I thus suggest you inform your doctor that it is having this side effect for you and either go off it and try another biologic, or get some anti-anxiety, anti-depression medication.

Thanks. I actually had the same issues with methotrexate. I tried a few anti anxiety meds and it did not work. I too would rather not take more junk

I don't get the anxiety from the actual medication but i have had anxiety at the beginning of my recent flare. I think it's because your mind starts to race about what to do next & overly obsessing about if this pain or that stiffness is RA or something from just normal daily activity. After a few days it's gone for me so I chalk it up to just being a bit paranoid about a flare up.

To my knowledge, DMARDS do NOT affect mood. I think it's easy for people to blame the drug. I would encourage you to see a psychologist to review the stressors in your life [this disease certainly being one of them!] and to learn coping mechanisms. I would suggest a cognitive behaviorist. There's no one among us [RA patients] who've not been down and who have felt our moods swing like a yo-yo.

If your moods go up and down from one day to the next, odds are you may not need medication.....but rather the tools to learn how to pull yourself up and out of that blue box.

I agree. This has happened with methotrexate too. So i dont think its only and or related to the meds at the level im experiencing. I have read RA has such side effects, disease not the med. anyway, i do plan to get professional assistance. I am on a wait list

You know, I think the younger you are when you are diagnosed, the more anxious you are. You have your life ahead of you and OF COURSE you're going to be worried about how it will affect all your plans and goals. I get it.

I also want to tell you that with the right treatment, you could get your life back. True, you may not be able to run 5 mile marathons, but you don't have to be sitting on the sidelines either.

I was in my early 40's when I was diagnosed. [I'm in my last 60's now]. Sailing is my passion and for years I couldn't do it. Then I got on Humira 5 years ago and it was a game changer. I still sail, though frankly, I don't have the muscle strength to do a decent job of crewing. Still, I love the ocean, the wind......and it's no longer about racing. So I guess your passions change a little....they're tweaked to fit your abilities. And that's not all that bad.

Make sure you have a great rheumatologist, find a treatment that works, accept that this is a lifelong disease but that you can have a good life.

The bottom line is that you can lay down and let it consume you.....or not.

On that note: friends may not be understanding why you look normal but can't run the marathon. Too bad. Let them deal with it. True friends never leave.

Thanks! I do have great friends

Hmmm... I recently upped my methotrexate dose by 1/2 (so now I'm taking 1 and 1/2 of my previous dose). This happened right around the start of summer. I'm a teacher, so I have 5 weeks off and this is my low stress time. I was SUPER panicky, catastrophizing everything, and couldn't sleep. I did suffer some anxiety in my 20's so I know what I'm dealing with (I'm 44 now). I have lots of strategies (yoga, stretching, mindfulness, meditation, lavender, a therapist, etc). I just could not shake it. It lasted about 3 weeks. I'm better now, but wondering if there is a correlation?
Juls

That does like it would be hard to take. Maybe it is the humira! I think I would talk to my doctor about it. I had a terrible time on Humira and once off of it all things cleared up. But it did take a few months after stopping the humira before it did clear up, it had to clear my system. There are other biologics out there that you could try. Hope this all clears up for you and soon.

Age has nothing to do with it. I'm 55. Never in my life did I have anxious moments/panic thoughts until I first took MTX. I noticed them and dealt with them. When I started on Humira with MTX the effect was exponential. This Saturday was the first time back on MTX and Humira in a month(fighting infection), Yesterday afternoon I was searching for my bottle of Frankincense to deal with the useless, stupid anxiety. If you don't have this side effect, consider yourself lucky but stay off the people that do because you really have no clue. We're all different and the meds and disease effect of us differently. Yes, I reported all of this to my RA Dr. and to the parent company of Humira.

When I first got RA I went into a huge depression. I had to see a psychiatrist, and was put on multiple medications, which in truth, didn't help much. I was a strong Christian, and I got so angry at God, I just turned away from him, stopped reading my Bible, praying and going to church. Which was exactly the wrong thing to do.

When I finally got on a biologic, much too late, we had to answer this 30 page questionnaire every 6 months to see if our "quality of life" had improved on the biologic. There was about 7 pages on "mood." I was terrified if I answered I was still depressed, they would take me off the biologic, which was working. I had just been so depressed for so long, I needed a long time to recover.

So when the depression did finally lift, for numerous reasons (I did turn back to God, and enrolled in Seminary - I am now a pastor!) I got my nerve up and asked the assessing RA nurse why there were so many questions on mood and depression.

She said that 95% of people diagnosed with a chronic illness get depressed, especially if the disease is not under control! OH! So that's what it was!

So yes, the disease will get you down in more ways than one. I also experienced severe anxiety for 2 years, right in the initial years on mthx. I have never had that before or after. And I believe, like in my case with lying on that form that I wasn't depressed, that perhaps depression, anxiety and the like are under reported as side effects in studies. And it may not take much to tip someone already on the verge of depression to fall into a black pit, if a drug has even a tiny percentage chance of causing mental illness symptoms.

So do seek professional help. But be very careful they do not over medicate you. I was on 5 different psych meds, with terrible side effects and and I was a zombie. My psychiatrist even apologized in later years when I got off all the meds, and didn't need them. But an ear to bend, and maybe a sleep med, or perhaps something to calm you down might be in order.

And do not worry about the stigma of being classified as mentally ill. This is something that we all need to learn about and then work together to erase. Just because RA has knocked you flat, and you need some help, doesn't mean you are a crazy person, just that you could not cope. Like most of us!