at least it's not lupus

[phaballa]

Now I'm sad that I refuse to give LJ any money, because I no longer have my House "It's not lupus" icon, which is finally appropriate! Oh well. The good news is, I don't have lupus. The bad news is, I definitely have rheumatoid arthritis

Comments

[quiet000001]

You have nailed exactly why I keep kicking out dermatologists who come in with shiny brochures from drug companies about the latest and greatest. I'm all for improving the treatment options, but I do not approve of this "move to the newest thing first!" business when there are known options that might work to start out with, and the new stuff is basically still being tested in widespread use.

(One of my favorites is that one of the ones they keep wanting to put me on has a big ass warning about people in the Ohio River Valley taking it because there's a fungus that's endemic in the soil around here that can get into your lungs and basically go insane and kill you, if you are immune compromised in the particular way this drug causes. Where do I live? THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY. Does anyone ask me if I garden or do any kind of outdoor activity where I'd be much more likely to breathe in any spores in the soil? No. Do they even mention this increased risk to people in our area? No. This does not do great things for my trust in the doctors.) (I mean, yes, at some point it might be the right choice for me even WITH that risk, if the MTX stops working or I need to change treatment for some reason. But it should be a carefully balanced decision, not 'hey, new shiny!')

[phaballa]

I don't have the whole "new shiny!" problem with my current doctor--in fact, he even switched me to regular adderall instead of the XR because there's an official general of regular adderall but there's not really an official generic of XR and he wanted to save me money!!--but I definitely have it with my gynecologist. She's awesome, like I've never had a pap smear go so easily, but she's always wanting me to try other birth controls besides ortho. Like the ring. I don't want the ring! Nothing you have to insert. I take 5 pills a day anyway, I don't have trouble remembering to take the one that keeps me from getting pregnant :P