DMARDs for Arthritis Q & A

I have been on Enbrel for about 10 months for RA. It has helped a lot, but I still have some stiffness. My Dr. thinks I should move to Humira or Remicade. My question is: should I feel total relief or just be thankful for the amount of relief that I have had? Also, after reading today, I see that Humira and Enbrel are not exactly the same drug. What are the general results of people who change from Enbrel to Humira? Thank you very much!

I have Pulmonary Fibrosis and have recently been diagnosed as also having Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was put on Arava by the Rheumatologist, but on looking at the information on the web re Arava and the complications (even death)which could be exacerbated by the use of Arava, I am having misgivings about the use of Arava in my case. In a warning it states that Arava should not be used in patients with Pulmonary Fibrosis. This was in 2004 and would like to know if there is any more recent findings regarding this.

I am increasing my Methotrexate and the more I take the more side effects I get. I am now at 15mg per week. I have noticed my hair is falling out. My doctor wants me to go up to 20mg per week next month. Could this make my hair fall out faster? I am taking folic acid 1mg per day could increasing the folic acid slow down my hair loss?

I am 31 years old and have been taking Enbrel for a couple of years for Adult Onset Still’s Disease. I disconintued the medication about 4 weeks ago when I found out I was pregnant. I noticed no problems until last thursday when I started getting a rash. At first I thought is was just an allergic rash but as it got progessively worse I had flashbacks of four years ago when I first was diagnosed with Still’s. I had a rash,months of fever, and extreme joint swelling/pain. My rhematologist indicated that if the rash got worse he would probably go ahead and take the Enbrel. He said that everyone seems to think that it will not hurt the baby. My husband and I decided on saturday to give the shot- we thought a flare-up would probably be worse on the baby than the medication. Do you have any insight on using Enbrel during preganacy? Would a flare-up or Enbrel put the baby at greater risk?

I am being treated for systemic Lupus–I have been taking Methotrexate 2.5mg (10 pills 1x a week) for the past 7 months–my weight has some how crept up at least 5-10 lbs–could this contribute to my weight increase?? im a bit frustrated, so im trying to figure this out.

Have any clinical trials been done done for GCA using low dose Prednisone alone without Methotrexate? I do not want the side effects of Methotrexate and am able to do fine on low dose Prednisone.