Falling Down the Ladder | Arthritis Information

Well, you guys all know the background saga...

Tomorrow I'll have the brand spanking new port accessed for the first time for an Orencia infusion. This is a med a took a few years ago. We moved up to Rituxan due to the jaw and lung issues. The jaw has been kinda solved (in the proccess of) and the lungs are a bigger issue than a med change can handle.

So, here's my question. How many of you have gone down the med ladder? I've taken Enbrel, Humira, Remicade, Orencia, and Rituxan. We were going to go straight up to Actemra but the rd looked back over my labs and charts notes from the past couple of years. Other than the jaw and lungs, things looked pretty good with the Orencia. Dr. is thinking that those few years may be my baseline. If we try the Orencia and it doesn't work, then Actemra it will be.

I've heard that there is a greater chance of an allergic reaction when you go back on a med. Have any of you experienced this?

Alright-gotta hit the road down to Durham. The appt. at Duke is bright and early so I got a hotel room. They said my future appts. can be in the afternoon but it seems the rd was driving them crazy trying to get me in ASAP. I know that he got bombarded with calls last week-the cardio, pulmonologist, and jaw sugeron all called him. The insurance approval came thru on Friday and they already set it up for Monday. Tuesday I have the appt. for the 30day cardiac monitor and Wed. I have PFT's and then lung followup. Bring on the copays!

Sounds like you are moving on with addressing all the issues..I hope this works!! Best to you.

Question: What were/are the lung issues.. if you don't mind. I am having a difficult time with pneumonia. Second time with pneumonia in 14 months...never had it before then.... I am worried that I could be developing a lung issue..but am not sure why... ie. enbrel, mtx, or reduced resistance.
I am sure your doctors feel like it is the right thing to do. I hope it brings you relief. I do hope they let you slow down on all of these appointments soon. A bit of rest may be the ticket for you.

Good luck!

[QUOTE=rocckyd]Well, you guys all know the background saga...

I've heard that there is a greater chance of an allergic reaction when you go back on a med. Have any of you experienced this?

[/QUOTE]

I'll be thinking of you

Hope all goes well!

Thanks for the well wishes...

Babs: They are still thinking intersticial lung disease. CT scans show "ground glass" areas and "inflitrates'. Not the RA complication one wants to have. Hopefully I'll know more after my appt. on Wed. Dr is still debating on doing a lung biopsy, but won't do anything until we get my immune system back up and going.

Does your dr. think you pneumonia is related to meds? I do know that once you get it once, you are at a higher risk to get it again. Are you feeling better?

Sending you my very best wishes, Rebecca. I did go back down the ladder to Enbrel, which was a wonder drug for me. When it seemed to stop working my doc switched me to Humira (no success at all) then Cimzia (started successful then bizarre flares kicked in). Back on Enbrel I had about 80% of the success of the past.

I hope you have 100% success.