After a month of drama concerning my former RD, who I loved, wanting to start me on Orencia and bureaucratic issues over insurance and her not having privileges at my local hospital (she is in another county but I switched to her because she treats holistically, not just the RA), I was forced to switch back to my first, and local, RD.
It was very depressing to go back into that office where I spent so many hours in pain, confused, scared and angry. Those were in the days before Enbrel, the days of trying cocktails of Sulfasalazine, Daypro, prednisone injections, etc., etc., etc. Horrible sick days of not being able to walk on my swollen feet - I shuffled everywhere in unlaced sneakers. I forced myself to go to work and type with two fingers. Just entering those doors again was like entering the gates of hell. And he is a weirdo who jokes about everything, I think mentally to try to help him deal with seeing people in pain all day. But it's a bad approach.
Anyway, he says the Humira is obviously not working. That was news to me, I thought it was the weather why I can hardly dress myself and roll around in bed in agony all night. So, he has Cimzia in the fridge, a free sample, and gives me an inject. Cimzia is once monthy. BUT it is a TNF inhibitor. Enbrel worked for 7 years until my antibodies mutated, Humira is not working. Now another trial on a TNF inhibitor?
In January we talk about Rituxan. We talked about the rare brain disease but I really don't care, I almost comitted suicide a few weeks ago anyway.
Guess I just had to come somewhere and cry a little. He did say that rheumatologists are starting to consider RA to be a pre-cancerous condition. Not that you will get cancer eventually, but that a similar generational issue is going on at the cellular level within the bone marrow. I'm thinking too much and have a terrible headache.
{{Snow Owl}} thank you so much. Maybe the headache is from the inject, yes he gave it to me at the office and it hurt like hell, I asked him to give it in the hip and he injected more toward the waist. I heard him say "whoops that's not a subcue." Great a bad inject too?
Snow, this guy is just weird. Halfway through our appointment he started an argument with me about Obama. Then gave me a history lesson about FDR. In his office is a sign that says "flush twice it's a long way to Washington." I'm sure folks around here will get a big kick out of that, but it is a MEDICAL OFFICE and I went in there seeking help on coping with this disease so that I can remain a productive member of society. I can only look to this guy as a writer of scripts.
Maybe I will wake up feeling better tomorrow. As you said, you just never know with this chameleon like disease and the various meds. I'm thinking now that maybe since he is my "new" doc he has to prove for my insurance that one last TNF inhibitor failed?
Hi Green~Tara,