I was DX with RA in April of this year. I have had a cough since Jan 06, but once my RA meds kicked in the cough stopped. However I then developed severe breathing problems and have been under the care of a pulmonoigist (not sure of the spelling) for the last four months. I am taking asmanex and singular to help me breath. I have reduced my Pred from 20 mg. to 10 mg. over the last three months; dropping 2.5 mg. at a time. Can RA do this to my lungs? what is the best treatment? am I missing something? I appreciate your imput, thanks Rain
RA can. MTX can. But you are already doing the best thing possible by being under the care of a Pulmonologist. Just make sure your Rheumy is working in conjunction with the Pulmonologist. They problem is that when your lungs are affected, even if you were a normal, healthy person say that got bronchitis or pneumonia, it does take awhile to heal up. Just stay on top of it. I'm not familar with asmanex, but Singular is pretty good.
If you are on MTX, you might want to question whether that's the best thing for you as one of the side effects can be lung problems. But RA itself can cause lung problems. Did they do a Pulmonary Function Test and Spirometry on you? Have they also done x-rays. All of these are important for tracking the progress of how your lungs are doing -- that and being able to breathe.
Yeah...what she said.
Really...that about covers it...Deanna always does! Hope you get better Rain!