Orencia

I can only speak for myself personally, but I know that if I use an RA medicine and then I go off it, when I try to go back on it it generally doesn’t work again. Like my body learns how to fight it and then never forgets. If you are in remission though and it’s keeping you there, it’s a little odd to hear that they want to stop it altogether. You should speak with your rheumatologist about your concerns and then if there is no satisfactory answer, maybe think about getting a second opinion. It’s difficult as it is to find meds that work for RA, so going above and beyond to keep one that agrees with you is worth it. Let us know how it turns out! Keep on keepin’ on, DPM

Hi . Was there a particular reason your doctor thought you would not be able to restart Orencia if you begin to show symptoms again? I know it used to be believed that a biologic may not work or be as effective following a "drug holiday," however, there is now research that this may not be the case. This article looked at restarting biologics after a drug holiday and cited research finding that even in the long term restarting could work, stating "The researchers followed patients after restarting for between 1 and 4 years. Once patients were out of the loading phase, if they were tolerating therapy and were having an early response, their likelihood of continuing to respond was similar to that of treatment-naive patients:" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6883732/#:~:text=The%20researchers%20followed%20patients%20after,that%20of%20treatment%2Dnaive%20patients. Your doctor certainly could have specific reasons they believe you may not be able to resume Orencia, but this may be worth a conversation. Best, Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)

Thank you for this information.

I went off Ore ncia for 14 months and felt fine. Then odd pains started, eye problems and went back on Orencia with no side negative side effects.