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...
OK, my mother has been in full pain free remission from advanced RA since the 90s thanks to Dr Brown and Minocin. In fact, he was the last rheumy she saw. (Died over a decade ago I believe). So even with her twisted & deformed hands my mother had begun to think of herself as a 'former' RA patient. In fact she was only taking minocin once a week for the last few years.
Three years ago she fought an aggressive breast cancer - and won. As is standard protocol now, she is to take a Aromatase inhibitor for the first five years following cancer treatment.
Well, along with suffering constant menopausal symptoms again - night sweats, etc - she has found out the hard way that medications for one condition can cause symptoms of another condition. She is now suffering from RA-like flares again - which are NOT actually RA!
She is now debating if the aromatase inhibitors reduce her chances of cancer recurrence enough to make the daily pain worth it. If it starts to really limit her mobility - she has declared that she'll flush them. RA meds will not help this flare according to her GP. She's already on daily hydrocodone due to the severe shingles she suffered from during the cancer treatment (now has permanent nerve pain since the oncologist didn't take the rash seriously) The hydrocodone does nothing for her joint pain.
Here's an article I found concerning these side effects:
http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/SideEffectsofAromataseInhibitors.html
I've always said that you must research the side effects of any drug they want to put you on. The consequences of not doing so can be extremely surprising and unpleasant.
Three years ago she fought an aggressive breast cancer - and won. As is standard protocol now, she is to take a Aromatase inhibitor for the first five years following cancer treatment.
Well, along with suffering constant menopausal symptoms again - night sweats, etc - she has found out the hard way that medications for one condition can cause symptoms of another condition. She is now suffering from RA-like flares again - which are NOT actually RA!
She is now debating if the aromatase inhibitors reduce her chances of cancer recurrence enough to make the daily pain worth it. If it starts to really limit her mobility - she has declared that she'll flush them. RA meds will not help this flare according to her GP. She's already on daily hydrocodone due to the severe shingles she suffered from during the cancer treatment (now has permanent nerve pain since the oncologist didn't take the rash seriously) The hydrocodone does nothing for her joint pain.
Here's an article I found concerning these side effects:
http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/SideEffectsofAromataseInhibitors.html
I've always said that you must research the side effects of any drug they want to put you on. The consequences of not doing so can be extremely surprising and unpleasant.
She had a cancer that went from marble sized to softball sized in just a month. But it reacted just as fast to chemo, which they did first. It had shrunk back down before the lumpectomy. Now Vanderbilt has her on the estrogen inhibitor for five year follow up. Apparently studies have shown a significant reduction in recurrence with this protocol.
As for the shingles. Unbeknownst to us at the start of this, up to 50% of cancer treatment patients get shingles during the chemo. Once your immune system is knocked down by the cocktail of MTX and the others. The chickenpox virus you carry in your cells gets active again. If she'd been warned, she would've gotten the then new shingles vaccine before treatment.