Hello All,
I will be starting 10mg of Arava soon and would appreciate any input on the side effects some of you have experienced. I worry about stomach and hair lost problems.
Thanks,
Kay
Hey Kay...
I too will be starting Arava along with Remicade. Tried Enbrel for three months and it didn't work. Look forward to sharing our experiences together.
Take care,
joe
Hi Joe,
Thanks for the reply, I guess no one here as been on Arava to shed some light on the topic, so maybe we can just wing it on our own. I live in Kentucky, where you from.
Thanks again
Kay
Hi,
Sorry that I didn't answer sooner. I have been on Arava 20mg,once a day, for 3 years. I have very few symptoms other than a quick potty trip once in awhile. I always make sure that I eat a little bit with the pill. You will probably have lab tests done every 2 months to check your liver enzymes. Mine have always been good. I have lost a little hair but not a major fall out, just more comes out in brush than it used to. I was on Metho before and had better results with that, but I can't take it anymore. I am usually on a different board, but visit here too. There are quite a few people there that have had very good results with Arava. I hope that you both have great success with it and you begin to feel much better. If you have any other questions, please pm me and I will help you all that I can.
Lu
I was on Arava for two years and had no problems with taking it. I was also taking Methotrexate (7.5 mg/week) at the time.
No complaints about Arava at all, but then the doc decided to switch me to Remicade and Methotrexate. He took me off the Arava at that point and said I no longer needed it.
Best of luck to you. Sue
I wa s on arava for a couple yrs or more . I lost some hair ( may be natural balding tho-I'm 56). I ahd good luck with it but couldn't drnk with it and I am also on enbrel , so I quit it over 2 yrs a go to see if I needed it any more and I am able to go without arava now . >>>>>> ands just anothre word of caution -- when I was taking arava ,I also was taking lipitor ( which can cause muscle pain) . Maybe i wa s taking arava because of lipitor ???????
I took Arava a few years ago. I was only on it for a little over a month. The first round of lab work that I did to check my liver enzymes came back showing that they were really high. He took me off immediately. He gave me some powder stuff that I had to mix with a drink several times a day to get the Arava out of my system. He said that the Arava stays in your system a long time after you quit taking it and he didn't want it to continue to damage my liver. I have not taken it again. I know that alot of people don't have this type of problem while on Arava. My liver seems to be pretty sensitive though...I can no long take any anti inflammatorys because my liver enzymes keep elevating, of course they keep taking all of them off the market anyways.
Best of luck to you!