I’m new with some questions... | Arthritis Information

My dad is in the hospital with liver failure due to the RA drug, Arava. Has anybody else had this experience with RA drugs? I look forward to posting here!

I'm so sorry to hear about your dad, and hope he is okay now that they have stopped the drug.

I know with my daughter, they always tested her liver function when she was on stronger meds. If anything was off at all, they would retest. It never came back bad more than once, but if it had, they would have stopped the med right away and always said the labs should get back to normal again.

They may have tested her more frequently due to her young age, but I know adults are regularly tested, too.

I hope your dad is doing better soon. Take care.

I hope your dad is better soon. I take MTX and I get my live functions checked every 3 months. MTX can cause liver damage, but from I can understand it is usually reversable except in rare instances. Hopefully your dad's will recover quickly once the meds are removed.Sorry to hear about your father and glad to read the reply that states that this can be reversible in most cases.

liver failure is rather rare. i hope he is improving

I hope he is going to be OK. I take MTX and Arava and have my blood taken every month to keep an eye on things. These drugs can be nasty.I am new here as well and wanted to welcome you and tell you how sorry I am about your dad. I hope he will be ok and makes a quick recovery. love, millieHi, Silver and welcome! I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. I hope he is doing better now that they have stopped the drug. I don't have any experience with Arava, but I am on Methotrexate. My doc runs tests every 3mos. If anything were to come back negative, the drug would be stopped immediately. I hope things get better and your father recovers quickly. Have a superfantastic day!I'm really sorry to hear this about your dad. I'm sending prayers and good thoughts his way. Hopefully someone here will be able to give you some good advice. I also am on Arava and have my blood checked every few weeks.

Thanks everybody.

He'll need a liver transplant. He was on Arava for 4 years and one morning he turned yellow. This all started 2/07. He's in the hospital again (third time this year) and he wasn't supposed to make it. I think it'll only be a couple of months times before he passes from this.

In the beginning he did get his liver checked every 3 months for the first year then yearly thereafter. It is rare to have complete liver disease after being on this for 4 years but I suppose it can happen.

If he does make it to transplant the other positive from this (besides getting a new liver) is that he'll be on such immunosuppressant drugs that it should practically cure his RA.

Sorry to hear about your dad. I too had severe liver problems from Arava. I was on the drug for 5 months when my liver became severely inflamed. At the same time, Arava suppressed my immune system to the point that I totally stopped making red and white blood cells. A liver biopsy confirmed the Dr's suspicion. They treated it with high doses of prednisone (60mg daily, very gradually weaning back) and the drug cholestyramine (for 11 days) to remove the Arava from my system.

I hope all goes well for you dad. Your in my thoughts and prayers.

Marianne
WELCOME TO THE BOARD SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR FATHER I NEVER TOOK ARAVA SORRY CAN'T ANSWER YOUR QUESTION JUST WANTED TO WELCOME YOU.

Alan

I have been on Arava for a few years with blood checks every 2 months. My liver stats have been mildly elevated the last 3 checks so I put myself on a half dose and complained to my RD that I didn't want to wreck my liver. When the 4th blood check also came back high my Drs office called and said to get off it completely and re-test in 3 weeks. That will be Monday Dec 17 - I hope to be back to normal. We shall see.

If a drug or herb is strong enough to help you, it is also strong enough to hurt you. It can happen really fast. NEVER SKIP YOUR BLOOD CHECKS! (And it doesn't hurt to pay attention yourself and not just leave it up to the medics!)

Silver I got so busy sounding off I forgot to welcome you. I sure hope your Dad survives this crisses.A serious illness is a family affair so prayers and soothing thoughts are going out to your Dad and the whole family. So sorry.

So sorry to hear about your father, I hope he makes a full recovery. I don't take Arava, but like many of the others I take MTX and get my liver function tested every two months.

Welcome to the board

Linda

Silver,

Welcome and I'm sorry to hear about your father!

http://www.rheumatology.org/publications/hotline/0801lefluno mide.asp?aud=mem

Google: Liver damage & Arava. Lawyer sites everywhere looking for clients who experienced liver problems while on Arava. Certainly not to imply that you are intrested in litigation but just to show that there must be many people in your dad's position, because of this drug, for this many lawyers to hop on the bandwagon.

The site I have highlighted speaks about the problem with Arava and the frequency with which it should be lab monitored.

Just said a prayer for your dad.

Hi Silver and Welcome!

I am so sorry for your father and for your whole family.

I must agree with Katalina and whoever said something about once a year monitoring. You should look into that.

Hugs,

Pip

Also -

When I was convinced I had AI liver disease I found and saved this. You might consider hunting these researchers down.

Pip

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=2046632005

[QUOTE=Kiddo]Sorry to hear about your dad. I too had severe liver problems from Arava. I was on the drug for 5 months when my liver became severely inflamed. At the same time, Arava suppressed my immune system to the point that I totally stopped making red and white blood cells. A liver biopsy confirmed the Dr's suspicion. They treated it with high doses of prednisone (60mg daily, very gradually weaning back) and the drug cholestyramine (for 11 days) to remove the Arava from my system.

I hope all goes well for you dad. Your in my thoughts and prayers.

Marianne
[/QUOTE]

He's not making cells either. He has severe bone marrow suppression and has had to be transfused with six pints of blood this year. He did also take the chole in February to rid his body of Arava. Is your liver better now?

[QUOTE=Katalina]

http://www.rheumatology.org/publications/hotline/0801lefluno mide.asp?aud=mem

The site I have highlighted speaks about the problem with Arava and the frequency with which it should be lab monitored.

Just said a prayer for your dad.

We already have already begun the process.

[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Pip!]

Also -

When I was convinced I had AI liver disease I found and saved this. You might consider hunting these researchers down.

Pip

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=2046632005

[/QUOTE]

EXCELLENT ARTICLE! Thanks so much. I'll make sure to give it to his doctor.

Silver welcome to the board I am sorry to hear how your dad is doing and hope things will get better for him soon. meme Silver, thanks for asking. I'm doing great now but it was a long recovery period. I go for blood tests every six weeks and the results have continued to be normal for the last 5 years. I had asked whether the Arava had caused any liver damage and the Dr told me the only way they would know for sure is if they did another liver biopsy. Since my liver function tests are normal, they stated they won't do another liver biopsy unless it was absolutely necessary.

You stated your dad had to have transfusions. Transfusions were the last resort for me. They first tried "jump starting" my bone marrow with injections of neupegen (sp?) and procrit (sp?) which are used for chemotherapy patients. After several injections of each over 5 days my bone marrow started producing again and I thankfully did not have to have any blood transfusions.

Take care of yourself. Prayers for you and your dad.

Marianne
Kiddo39416.9123263889Silver- I am so sorry to hear about your dad. I too was on Avara a few years back and am shocked that his liver function wasnt tested more often. Welcome to the board and my thoughts and prayers are with your dad and your family.

Silver, how awful for you and your dad. What a good daughter you are to search out information for him. He must have been a very good father to have a caring daughter like you.

There's nothing I can add to the other posts except to welcome you and wish the best for you, your dad and your family. Hugs.

Silver - welcome to the board and you have alot of us pulling for you, your Father, and your family. I just came from my two-month rheumy check and my liver test was double the high norm suddenly, and I am only on MTX, and frankly don't know what Avara is or anything about the other biologics.

I am taking my milk thistle and actually enjoying AI's frothy lemon/olive oil drink and plan on a colonic for a liver flush. I know these are not things your Father can do now, but I hope it all works out and the four extra good years he has had are treasured.

Take care ~~ Cathy

I am so sorry for you and your father. There are so many side effects to these drugs -they are scary. It is a big decision to get on them. Your father must have put a lot of thought into it and I am again so sorry that he is one of those that had one of the most horrible of side effects. Keep in touch and let us know how he is doing and you are doing.

Roxy

silver, i just wanted to say welcome and i'm so sorry to hear about your dad. my thoughts are with you and your family.

i don't know much about avara but there are a lot of people here who are a world of information. i hope everything works out. keep us posted