I have run into a number of people from Canada whose RA is being treated (and has been treated for years) with gold injections and who swear by their treatment. My rheumy said gold is not used in the United States and wouldn't clue me in as to why not. Any of you have any experience with this? Gold doesn't seem to have any more side effects than other treatments according to the info on the net. Anybody on this board from Canada who can tell us more?
I had gold treatments - injections in 87, in Milwaukee, WI. Gold has truely awful side effects - after all it is a heavy metal. And it takes forever to leave your body, so the bad stuff lasts and lasts and lasts (just like RA itself). Most of the newer stuff is safer.
I had a nerve side effect. I twitched, jerked, and jumped for more than a year. Scared me so bad, I quit DMARDS entirely for a decade. Marian, That sounds awful! I am glad it finally went away.Thanks Roxy - I'm glad it quit too.I was on gold my entire childhood - who knows what it did to me. I was told that when I go for a mamogram the gold will show up in the x-ray and not to be alarmed. The gold never leaves your body. And because the medicine was thick like mustard it required a very thick needle. To this day I still have two sore spots on my butt cheeks. I'm 35 now and haven't had a gold shot since I was about 14. If I get bumped in either spot on my butt cheek it hurts like a bruise. I have tons of nodules and bursars and you name it. The gold did little to keep my JRA from overtalking my body. At the time there was simply no other meds but these days? So many excellent choices to choose from. I wouldn't recommend gold at all.It's not commonly used anymore because of the potential for toxicity and
the side effects. It's still available in Australia though.
I am in the UK and gold injections were suggested by my RD, but I had to wait three months for Arava to leave my system, I went back to RD last week and told them that i did not like the idea of the gold injections. I have been having problems with nausea from mtx, I am now going to try mtx injections, but I have been told that if my LFT gets raised again I will have to go on Gold.
Pat
idbelucky is enbrel or humira or remicade available in the UK? If so you may want to look into one of them. I have been on everything under the sun and have had most success with arava and enbrel. I know everyone is different and respond to meds differently but I can't imagine gold is a good choice for anyone. It's so archaic. kayobe, enbrel is available in the UK but your ra has to be very severe to meet the criteria for it, at the moment I don't think my ra is severe enough.