Trust your gut.  Wait another week.

Weigh the worst than can happen if you miss another week vs. the worst if
you still have a viral infection going on.

Jo

i got a major cold a few weeks ago which I am just recovering from.  I
actually missed my family's gathering for my dad's memorial in
phoenix.  It took me longer to get over this than I thought it
should.  I actually send almost a week in bed and than another week
getting exhausted walking up the stairs to my bedroom.  I have felt
tired but not too tired to hold a book or answer the phone.  So , i
have not had an enbrel shot for 3 weeks (I take it once a week and I
was due the day i got sick).  Every joint in my body hurts in ways
they haven't hurt for three years.  I have been off enbrel for three
weeks before and not even noticed much difference.

So here's the question:  i have talked with three o ther people who
got this uper respiratory thing I had and they have all had joint
issues and non of them have arthritis.  All of them had joint pain
after the worst of the cold was gone.  That indicated to me that my
joint issues might still be an active viral infection.  If that's the
case, i don't want to do enbrel for a week or so longer....however,
what if it's not and it's just lack of enbrel that is causing the
joint problems.

I am too tired to have a sense of what I should do.. but I held that
enbrel shot in my hand today and it didn't seem like the right thing
to do so I put it back in the fridge.  Any suggestions?

m

hi sweetie!  i sure hope you feel better soon.  it sounds like it's been a
physically miserable 3 weeks for you.  (((((((((((((((((((missy
m))))))))))))))

question -- how long did your doctor, or your friend the doctor, tell you
this particular virus would last/remain active?

if you haven't seen a doctor, then my suggestion would be to call your
friend, the doctor, and see what he understands this virus' recovery time
is; how long it remains active.  that would give you a better source of
information.

or, if he's not available-- if you are absolutely certain this is the exact
same virus, how long did the recovery time take for the 3 others who were
not arthritics?   how long did their joint pain last until it was gone,
after getting over the worst of it?

i'm guessing -- the virus might not still be in active mode, but the joint
pain might be a residual from the dying/dead virus still being processed,
absorbed by your immune system.

i'm thinking, if your recovery time was longer than the other 3 people, then
maybe your virus might have been complicated with some other thing, too.

my sense is telling me -- you shouldn't be this bad off after 3 weeks,
sweetie.  i think you should be on an upwards swing, maybe not joint-wise,
but this level of fatigue has me very concerned.  ah, but i just remembered
you also have fms to contend with.  so, maybe that's part of what's going
on, too.

i'm not much help, i'm afraid,  but i hope i pointed you in a direction that
works for you, sweetie.

kate

I am not sure you are going to like what i have to say.

It could be the virus M, as we have had it for months and it does cause pain
with it. I  heard the one virus going around can last  up to 6 months. Jim's
parents have had a virus and it has lasted also for months so far for them
and it is down  your way where they live. So it might be the same one.

I hope not, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I just had to go back into the
drs because I started running a fever again and was really sick feeling with
it, so I thought it was an infection, she says no just the virus. So here we
go again.

I have had major arthritis, fms, and muscle spasms with it. So it could just
be that, that is causing the issues.

Rachel and I both have been struggling to recover from some cold virus from
Hell. It just keeps lingering.

I finally took my Enbrel last night, because my wrist was beginning to swell
up and hurt.

Sorry you're feeling so lousy still. I'd wait at least a few more days, but
if you don't have a fever, it's likely there's no bacterial infection, and
you're likely safe doing your injection.

Hugs,
Kelly C.