I have been on Enbrel for 7 of the last 8 years and have been doing very well up until the past year. Feel that it just isn't doing the job as well as it did. My doctor wants me to start adding Arava (20 mg). I've read it is common to experience hair loss while taking this drug. Naturally, I'm very relunctant, but methotrexate doesn't agree with me and I don't want this disease to get completely out of control. (I've had RA for almost 40 years!). I'm 64 years old and very active considering the RA. Thank you for any input you may have.
Sharon
Welcome to the board!
Arava worked well for me. Only thing I did not like about it was the hair loss. I have really thin hair to begin with so... it was not nice to lose so much hair.
Plus it also made me have more fatigue, but it was not that bad. It actually put me on a sleep schedule... never been on one of them before. I had to be asleep before 7pm, that was about the lastest I could stay awake.
Hope you find something to help you.
Thank you for your replies. What dosages are/were you on? My doctor has prescribed 20 mg.
I was just given Arava to start last week. My Rd didn't start me on a loading dose and started me on 10 mg
Phats I have been on Arava for about 6 years now and it has been a godsend for me. I started off on it in combo with mtx but mtx made me sick so I stopped taking it and take Arava on its own with Chloroquine (a type of plaquenil) I take 20mg per day So far so good, I still get some flares but they are nothing compared to how I once was. I am on 4mg of prednisone and hope to be off of that after the New Year. My pharmacy screwed up with the ordering of my Plaquenil so I wont have it for two weeks I am going to try and see if I can eliminate it I am so tired of taking so many drugs! Make sure you take a lot of folic acid, I take 5mg per day it really helps with your hair falling out and make sure you take a multivitamin and calcium with magnesium. I wish you lots of luck! Maria
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