Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment

By Veronique

1 min read

Good morning hi all,

I’ve been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2011.

I took meds for a year and a half, then stopped taking them and changed to a strict alkaline diet.

RA symptoms re-emerge

It worked fine for 7 years, but once I was into menopause, the pain came back.

I got a severe flare-up on my ankles and couldn’t move for 5 days.

Luckily it calmed down and had no disability after that, but had pains all over.

I saw a rheumatologist and started meds again. Now after a year and a half he changed them as my RF is 200 … super high!!

Are biologics working for others with RA?

Changed to biologic injections now and am concerned about side effects. Anyone taking these like me?

How is it going, did it calm down inflammation and suppress pain? Any severe side effects?

I’d like to know how people taking this injection are coping … thanks and looking forward to hear from you all

Take care all x

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Julie.Byers Community Admin
<inline-mention username="Veronique" user-id="3251011"/> I’m so sorry to hear that your RA symptoms have re-emerged. Many members in our community do use biologics as part of their treatment regimen. Would you mind sharing which biologic your doctor has started you on? We can help direct you to more information, and hopefully others here will also be able to share their experience with that medication. Best wishes, Julie (team member)
1. Veronique Member
 <inline-mention username="Julie.Byers" user-id="3185594"/> hi , I am taking the Etanercept injection once a week . It gave me a really bad migraine the first time I took it , but second time , I took panadols half an hour before and had no symptoms at all . We ll see . Thank you for answering me x
2. Lori Foster Community Admin
 Hi <inline-mention username="Veronique" user-id="3251011"/>. Etanercept is also known by the brand name Enbrel. My brother has been taking it for more than a decade for psoriatic arthritis with no side effects. It has been very effective for him, but it is impossible to say whether it will help you until you have taken it for a few months. Many people in this community take it as well. Here are search results from this community about Enbrel. <a href='https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/search?s=enbrel' target='_blank'>https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/search?s=enbrel</a>. I included all the results instead of sharing just one article or Forum posts because many of the most commented-on posts are several years old. I hope this helps and that you get relief with no more migraines. Best wishes. - Lori (Team Member)
Richard Faust Community Admin
Hi <inline-mention username="Veronique" user-id="3251011"/>. Do you mind if I ask if your doctor mentioned anything or conducted tests to measure inflammation, such as CRP or ESR? I ask because rheumatoid factor (RF) is a diagnostic test, but does not tend to fluctuate with or measure disease activity. As <inline-mention username="Lori Foster" user-id="4585696"/> mentioned, Embrel helps a lot of people, including in this community, but side effects may differ by individual. I do want to note that some side effects can dissipate over time, which may be what you experienced with the migraine symptoms. It is important to remember to report any potential side effect to your doctor, so that it can be monitored (and reported to the FDA's side effect tracking system if necessary). Hoping you notice some relief soon and please feel free to keep us posted on how things are going. Best, Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)

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