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

[yeats]

how do you feel about methotrexate? i was supposed to be put on it for another autoimmune disorder, but i chickened out when i read about the side effects. (plus they also told me i'd never be able to drink, which was a bummer.)

[phaballa]

I'm okay with it, actually. The side effects sound pretty scary, but since I really don't want babies, I hate the sun, and I'm already on Adderall which suppresses my appetite, I'm willing to take the risk, especially since it's proven so effective at slowing the progression of RA. I wasn't willing to risk the side effects of prednisone because it's pretty insignificantly effective in slowing disease progression and I'm not in enough pain (or maybe I just have a high pain tolerance) to need something like prednisone for pain management.

So, I feel okay about it. And if it keeps me from being deformed and having to have all my joints replaced, I'll be pretty happy about it. I don't like drinking that much, and I have weed to use medicinally and recreationally, so I doubt I'll miss booze. Ask me again in a couple months when I can't go out in the sun in Texas in the summer, and I might feel differently, though :/

[yeats]

i'm glad it's worth it for you! for me, my condition is not so severe that i'm willing to resort to the heavy-duty stuff, but it's always nice to know that the option exists. i wish you much success and health in your treatment!

[quiet000001]

Of all of the medications that do the same sort of thing (methotrexate, other immuno-suppressants, the biologics like Humera and Enbrel) mtx is really one of the safest - which sounds bizarre to say because of all the possible side effects, but it's been in use for a long time (particularly compared to the biologics) so they know a lot about what to watch for and how to respond if anything serious does start happening, so. That's why I use it instead of some of the others. (I have psoriatic arthritis, not RA

[phaballa]

Lupus would be way worse. At least I only have to worry about my joints with RA! Or having both, which my doctor called RUPUS, which is funny sounding but probably horrible to actually have. Eeeeep!

[quiet000001]

Hit me up if you have any mtx specific questions since I've been on it in total probably 2 years (maybe more, I forget), at varying doses. For your side effects so far

[phaballa]

Man, that really sucks about your health insurance being fucked up right now :/ MTX is supposed to be one of the cheaper drugs for RA, but of course, that doesn't mean much considering the scandalous prices that some drugs go for. Like, my Adderall XR is $160 for the GENERIC, which is basically just amphetamine salts in an extended release capsule. That's crazy, considering they used to hand out amphetamines like candy. Now it's prohibitively expensive and a schedule 2 drug. I have to pick up a written prescription from my doctor every 30 days to get a "refill", which means I can't use the mail order program my prescription plan offers that lets you get 3 refills at a time and only pay for 1. Ugh! Anyway, yeah. Drugs should not be so expensive. Makes me wish I lived in Canada

[quiet000001]

It's not so much the cost of the drug as the cost of the blood tests. If I start on it again they're going to be monthly for a while, and that runs ~$200 a set around here. (Or did last time I paid for it, anyway.) If they don't un-fuck my health insurance sometime soon my mom is going to make me sign up for another plan so I at least have emergency coverage and that'll be expensive, too. Grr

[quiet000001]

Oh, I was going to suggest, for eating more the day after - maybe try having more easy to nibble on type foods hanging around? As boring as saltine crackers are, they are easy to kind of absently nibble on while doing something else, and there are SOME calories there, so. Stuff like that always worked better for me. (Because of course, you're also feeling more run down, so you don't want to go to the effort of finding something to eat when you're not that hungry anyway... So low effort to prepare and eat foods are the way to go. :) )

[venivincere]

*hugs* *hugs* *hugs* I hope you're pain free for a very, very long time.

[phaballa]

Me too! I mean, I have pain, but I guess I have a really high pain tolerance because I only really notice it if it's a headache or if it keeps me from walking/playing racquetball :P

[brighton_girl]

I'm really glad it's finally diagnosed and she has you on a plan. Hopefully it can be controled. Now go eat something ;p

[phaballa]

Eating is hard!! But I'm doing it. Well, right now I'm drinking a Naked well-being smoothie, but it's a lot like eating since it's basically fruit puree :P