I had a question but wanted to move it up here. If our drugs suppress our immune systems, then if we get sick and are on antibiotics, don't they help our immune systems? So on antibiotics does our RA get worse? Also, since I"m new to this, one more question (i probably will come up with others though!), has anyone noticed weight gain? I am not overweight but I definitely haven't been eating as much (no appetite) and drinking tons of water and the scale hasn't budged. I have been keeping up my fitness level as well as I can but I was still surpsed after a month when i saw no change on the scale.
Actually, antibiotics make us better usually, but they arent like boosters for the immune system in that sense. They acutally can run our systems down while they fight the "bugs". We just notice we feel better after our systems get back to "normal" after bugs have been eradicated... and a lot of times the killing off of organisms can cause us to feel yucky for a bit. Antibiotics are useless on Viruses, so they really are just bacteria killers.
The times I have had to be on them, I didnt notice any difference in the RA... and I have had it for 10 years and its aggressive.
Also... get rid of that scale or only use it once a week. If you are able to stay fit... then you may be building muscle, whcih weighs more than fat... or you may be at that point where people level out and it takes more physical effort to lose any more.
If you are able to exercise and feel ok with your body... then I can speak for many on here... ENJOY IT!!! Feel lucky!! I LOVE to exercise and was an avid cyclist... so I know how it feels to not be able to do that now. I will sometime again... I have to hope. But... if you can, think of how awesome that is and be ok with a bit of pudge. I am happy when I can do my stretches and range of motion stuff these days!
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