Re: Re: Remicaid vs. Humira...everything else has failed! long note

[Guest guest]

Hello Miriam, Sorry to hear you'er haveing such a time with this battle the only thing i can say is I've got a little releife from bextra myself but as you stated I allso lost it when they took it off the market but I was taken twice the reccomened doseage at that time to I allso took remicaid for over a year I turely didn't think i got much releife from it at the time my self either till in augest when I had to leave my job allso and could no longer afford it then as it wore off I could really tell it had been helping and the other benifits i was seeing from it was great to it help my sores heal on my skin and clear up and it done wonders for my allergies allso ! And even though I was still haveing alot of pain It was claiming it allso , I have O/A and DDD along with my R/A and

it's hard for me to tell alot about my pain except that I'm bad and sometimes I don't wanta move LOL and sometimes I don't wanta set still other times I could pull my hair out ??????? It's a hard thing to live with and hard choses to make . I hope you find the information you need to make the decission you 'er kicking around and all the luck that it will work for you ! ( just my story ) > > I am 39 years old and have been diagnosed with RA since 2001. I > believe I have had it since I was a teen, but it was never diagnosed > and I had long remissions. > > My RA just keeps getting worse and worse and I am at my wits end! I > was on Enbrel for 1.5 years, along with MTX, Bextra, Skelaxin and > Prednisone. I had flares but things were basically under control > and I was working. > > Last year, the efficacy of the Enbrel ended for me. At about the > same time, Bextra was taken off the market and I was suddenly in > horrendous shape. The Rheumy tried all sorts of things with no > sucess. I couldn't sleep, and spent most of the time rocking myself > because I didn't know how to stop the pain. On July 1, I stopped > working because I couldn't even bend my arms to get them up to the > keyboard, let alone type. I am the sole bread winner for my family > and we have 6 children. > > The

Rheumy gave me the option of joining one of the drug studies he > was doing and I decided to go with it. I started on Abatacept > infusions and began to get some relief. Suddenly, my back pain was > much worse and I couldn't sit, stand or lay down without pain. > Turns out that the facet joints in my back had deteriorated so badly > that one of them cracked and opened and then it collapsed down on > the next few levels of my spine. In Dec, I had back surgery where > they did a laminectomy and used rods and screws to put things back > together. > > Well...the surgery made my RA pain flair even worse than it was > before. I ended up with pulmonary effusions (fluid on my lungs) > that they said was likely from the RA. The Dr. started me on > Oxycontin for the pain and I finally felt that I was getting some >

relief, at least to the point that I could tolerate the pain. > > I have healed from the surgery, but the Abatacept infusions are not > giving me any pain relief at all. When they feel my joints for > swelling at each appointment, they are all swollen. It is as if I > am not on any meds at all. The Dr. added Lodine XL to my list of > meds. > > I started going to a pain management center and they changed the > oxycontin to Avinza and also added Lyrica for the pain. I also > noticed than since surgery, I was having these tremors and jerking > movements and at times would have difficulty with my speech. I was > sent to a neurologist and am now diagnosed with multi focal > myoclonic seizures which could be from the surgery but can also be > caused by the immune system. This Dr. now added Trileptal to my > meds.

Of course I am still on MTX and Skelaxin plus meds to try and > help me sleep. > > The Rheumy did a bone scan and found that I had considerable bone > loss for someone my age and started me on Fosamax. I had xrays of > my hands and wrists and it shows a build up of crystals that they > believe are hydroxyapaptite crystals and said follow up would be > needed. I just had an mri of my hand and wrists but no results yet. > > Meanwhile, my RA is still flaring and my husband and I have decided > that the Abatacept is no longer providing me any relief at all, and > its time to try something else. My options are Humira or Remicaid > and I don't know which to try. What I would like to know is this: > Based on all this history I provided, which of these might work > better? Does anyone have thougts they could provide.

Anyone tried > both and had sucess with one but not the other? > > Just as additional info...in case you are still reading, I have a > wheelchair and an electric scooter that was purchased by my ins. > co. I wear braces on my arms to help with pain. I have done > aquatic therapy 3x a week for months now. I am extremely depressed > and see a psychiatrist for that and he has me on other meds. I am > still mourning for the life I knew and realizing all the things that > I will never be able to do again. I am only 39, I just can't take > much more of this. > > My hubby is extremely supportive and he and the kids do everything > around the house, I can't do anything to pitch in and that just > makes me feel useless and more depressed. > > ok...all for now, I will stop my sob story. Thanks for

listening. > > Miriam >

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