I started feeling sickly all the time ya know how your body feels when you have the flu? No energy,body aches, multiple daily headaches. I was stuck in the bed everyday on a heating pad for the body aches and eating ibuprofen like tic tacs along with migraine meds for the chronic headaches.
What was going on with me? I'm talking 3 months had gone by and I still felt like i had the flu. I was going insane so i took myself off of Enbrel cause obviously something was wrong. I was for sure I had Fibromyalgia. I had all the classic symptoms.
After a visit with my family doctor she was a bit stumped and not so sure what was going on. It wasn't till the next month when I to got see her that she told me she wanted me to get bloodwork done to check my ANA (Antinuclear Antibody). She had done further research on the TNF blocker meds and found out that Enbrel and other TNF blockers can cause "Drug induced Lupus". I was sure the test was gonna come back negative as my ANA had always been negative the whole 10 years since my diagnosis with RA.
A few days later I got the call about my test results and to my surprise my ANA was positive and even elevated levels. She instructed me to stop Enbrel now. Do NOT take it till you see your Rheumatologist. I got my appointment bumped up but it was still 2 weeks away and i had already been off Enbrel now for 3 weeks due to feeling so sickly so by the time i go back to the RA doctor it will have been 5 weeks since my last dose. That thought scares me to death as i know just how fast and hard my RA can turn on me. I can go from vertually mobile with mild to moderate flares with Enbrel to no Enbrel I am practically bedridden. My life goes back to being in so much pain i can't function. What will he put me on now to treat my arthritis? Will it work? Am I back again at square one? The TNF blockers are the only things that have ever worked and now i have a risk of having it taken away from me.
What would he try me on next? Would it help like Enbrel did with the pain,stiffness and swelling? Am I back at square one again??? God I hope not. Appointment is in a few weeks so i will keep you posted as to what the doctor tells me to do. Until then I gonna try to make it through to my next appointment with no Enbrel for my RA. I am afraid I'm in for a rough ride.
Im sad that this is happening to you .... again Tray, I must say though thanks for the reminder on how quickly this disease can turn on us and how cruel it can be, this helps me stay in check in so many ways reading your post. All I can offer is ((gentle hugs)) my thoughts and love from Australia
ReplyDeleteThank you Andrew. I'm getting ready to make another post about going from remission ( well almost remission just the occasion flares to full blown flare that will only get worse till I find the right meds again) I'm so upset. I can't sleep or hardly move again. Its like living a nightmare to go from very little pain back to this. IDK, how bad your RA is but mine is in the severe category. I can do a 180 with out the right meds ( no pain to absolute misery) Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog. If even just one person reads it and gets something from it then it is all worth it. Im fairly new to the blogging world but I am getting the hang of it i believe. Are you on facebook. If so you are more than welcome (if you havn't already ) join our group of RA and other autoimmune type arthritis fighters. The direct link is:
Deletehttp://www.facebook.com/#!/RATrayAwarenssWarrior
Yes Im on facebook Tray,and yes Im on your facebook page, your post has reminded me how evil and painful this disease can be, for that I thank you dearly, I must admit it brought a tear to the corner of my eye to read it can happen again like the flick of a switch, my RA was quite bad for the first couple of years and it turned my life upside down to what I thought it was going to be, my rheumy was quite agressive treaty it in the early stages which forced the disease into remission, it now has been the case for 13 or 14 years, Im also doing some posts for a fairly new blog on my experiences, there is very little based in Australia thats why Sally the girl who started our blog began it, Im still feeling my way what to post a bit as well, if you could spare the time Id love some critism on my posts, http://rheumatoidarthritisaustralia.blogspot.com.au/
Deletetake care Tray, ((gentle hugs))