Hi All
I'm brand new to this site and would love any advice anyone has for me. I'm 29 and was diagnosed officially about 1.5 years ago. I had been on Plaquenil & Feldene and most of the time was fine but had awful flare ups when they happened. Because of this and a worsened xray of my hands my M.D. switched me to Sulfasalazine which i ended up being allergic to. Right now i'm just in limbo until my next appointment. She has mentioned that she would probably start me on either Methotrexate or Arava. Does anyone have any feelings on which one i should go w/. Also, i'm not even sure if i should go on anything as i plan on getting pregnant w/in the year! She has given me some Codeine for flare ups in the mean time but it doesn't even begin to touch the pain in my hands. what does everyone else get for pain meds for flare ups?
Hi Chadden76 -Hey Chadden...
I was on Arava up until the Gods of Insurance deemed I was no longer to receive the benevolance of their coverage. My insurance company dropped Arava from the fomulary because it was a too costly alternative to MTX. I had taken Arava and Imuran together for several months and noticed good improvement.
Now I take 100mg of Kineret (injection), 200mg Imuran, 10mg Prednisone daily and 600mg Ibuprofen three times daily. I also wear the 75mg Fentanyl Patch that I change every third day. Being that I just started Kineret, I'm not sure how that is going to work. We may ad MTX to the mix as I am tapering the steroids (down from 40mg per day). Good luck with either the MTX or Arava and let me know if I can help.
Take care,
Joe
The standard treatment is MTX. They usually start u off on a small dose and then increase it if you are still having pain and stiffness.
I would ask them...if they put you on MTX to put you on a Stomach buffer and Folic Acid. This helps with the other symptoms MTX can at times cause.
Also if they put you MTX...try asking for the injectable type. It doesn't hurt the stomach as much.
I have never been on ARAVA. I want to have kids soon so it was not an option for me. I will have to come off the MTX 3 -6 months before my husband and I try. the ARAVA takes longer to get out your system. But I have heard it is a good medicine as well.
Definitely DON'T go on MTX if you want to get pregnant. I had to come off it and have a break of either 6 months or a year, (it was 12 years ago now, can't remember exactly), before even trying to get pregnant. It can cause birth defects and I've heard it can also affect the quality of your eggs. Your RD should know all of this and should be able to advise. Not sure about Arava and pregnancy. but if you 'google' either name they should lead you to a site where you can arm yuourself with research before seeing you RD.
Good luck
Hi and welcome!
If I were in your position and wanted to get pregnant within the year, I probably wouldn't go on either of the two drugs. But that's just me. You're doctor though will have all the info you need as far as what's good to be on while trying to get pregnant.
Good Luck!
Kelly
Defianetly talk with your doctor the first question she asked me before she put me on it do plan to have any more children. I said no way two's enough. She said because it can destroy your reproductive stuff. But she also said that patients have stayed on it throught the pregnancy without having any problems with the baby. I guess it depends on the person. It also can mess up your period. If it was me I would never chance my baby they are the greatest gifts on earth.
Good luck with your meds.
Hi and welcome---Arava and MTX are supposed to be comparable but the Arava supposedly has fewer side effects but it is also newer. You might want to wait if you are planning on getting pregnant. It takes a couple of months just for the meds to build up and start working and then you would just have to come off of them again anyways. I take tylenol with codeine (Tylenol 4) for pain. You cant be on MTX during pregnancy--unless you want a 2 headed baby!For those of you that may not know, they do have a generic version of the Arava now. It is more like 130 a month as opposed to 600. I don't know if that helps anyone, but I thought I would throw that out there.