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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / October 2005Question
Would anyone know what is happening? I started taking Humira every other week since July 15 of this year,take 20mgs.MTX,since Jan "05," Celebrex 200mg.twice a day,Prednisone since Jan."05',sometimes 15mgs.10mgs.or 5mgs,been on 10mgs.the majority of the time.Well,my sed rate was 106 and it came down to 46,about a month ago.I was feeling pretty good and figured the Humira was working.My wrists were still a little swollen,but not bad, so RD put me up to 15mgs for one wk,then 12.5 for one wk.,then 10 and then for me to stay on 7.5. Well, everything was coming along good and then my bloodpresure went up,(don't normally have high BP) 176/100 and my pulse 112.Got taken off one celebrex and down to 5mgs of Pred.and put me on 12.5 mgs.of Maxide,(lost 8 lbs) Gradually everything started to flare,my feet,ankles,elbow,both wrists bad,and seem to be getting worse. Blood Pres.good now.My question is,if the Humira was working,why am I so bad now,just by going to one celebrex a day and down to 5 mgs of Pred. make that much difference? I do have Dr. appt this week.But would appreciate hearing if this has happened to anyone here.I'm kinda down thinking that maybe the Humira isn't working afterall. I'd appreciate anything about this. Carol carol, i've gone through this, too, with remicade/arava, not humira. i had to go off celebrex due to BP issues and flared badly. i felt like the remicade and arava must not be working. my doc said it's the mixture of things. he tweaked the remicade (i'm on a mega dose) and--except for during my move when i wanted to amputate my left foot--i'm doing better and almost never need a celebrex, although i do take tylenol a few times a week. similarly, we tried to cut back the arava 50% and i flared. the meds all work together, like a cocktail. anyhow, i hope you get the meds/pain thing settled soon. it's amazing how complex medicating us gimps can be! diane Diane, Thank you so much for answering,I feel alot better knowing that it is probably the celebrex.I didn't know if it was the Prednisone or the celebrex,cause I cut down on that a couple days after the celebrex.How long were you on celebrex before your BP started to go up? How long did it take to feel better? I've had a bad right foot,ankle,for about 4 yrs,the left,only once in a while,but since this started,they both feel like their broken,I take Vicodin and it takes the edge off,but don't like to take it too often.I'm glad you're doing better.Thank you again.Carol carol, i'd been on celebrex since it came out (4 years? 5 years?) i've always had low blood pressure, but i noticed it gradually getting higher until about a year ago, it hit the "time to do something about it" point. i so didn't want to go off celebrex, but i also didn't want to use BP medicine. when i stopped celebrex, the bp returned to it's normal low state. i took some during the move and it spiked again. the link between the two was clear to me, at least in my case. diane Carol - No answers, just wanted you to know I'm here holding your hand. DeeTee > carol, > i've gone through this, too, with remicade/arava, not humira. i had to [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > diane Thanks DeeTee,that makes me feel good.There's so many caring people in this group.I went to my ortho Dr. yesterday and he wants me to wait till I see my rd.,he took xrays of my wrists and ofcourse seen the arthritis,he won't give me cortisone shots yet because I'm flaring all over the place,for now he wants me to see my dr.,do parafon treatments twice a day and fitted me with splints and if I'm the don't improve in 4 weeks he'll give me the shots.He said he can't gve me shots in al my joints,well dah hey? I go to my PCP today,so we'll see what he says,also waiting for a call from my rd.I'll let everyone know what they say.Take care,Carol Hi Carol,,, Good questions and I agree with your thoughts about Humira. Work with your RD and expect more because you take a lot of medicine. Harv > Would anyone know what is happening? I started taking Humira every other > week since July 15 of this year,take 20mgs.MTX,since Jan "05," Celebrex [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > here.I'm kinda down thinking that maybe the Humira isn't working > afterall. I'd appreciate anything about this. Carol Thanks Harv,I agree with you,I do take alot of medication and shouldn't have to feel this bad.Just by going down a little on the celebrex and pred.I mean it's not like I stopped all the pred.and celebrex right? I have an appt.this Tues with my orthopedic dr.if he wants to give me cortisone shots in my wrists,feet etc.I'm going to take them. Carol Carol, It would almost for sure be the prednisone. Depending on how long you had been on it that is a quick jump down. You may have to go down slower. It may also be 5 mg of prednisone is just too little for you. Talk to the rd about it. It takes a while to properly come down in prednisone. kelly > Thanks Harv,I agree with you,I do take alot of medication and shouldn't > have to feel this bad.Just by going down a little on the celebrex and > pred.I mean it's not like I stopped all the pred.and celebrex right? I > have an appt.this Tues with my orthopedic dr.if he wants to give me > cortisone shots in my wrists,feet etc.I'm going to take them. Carol Kelly,I was also thinking of that too, (with the Pred.)we'll see.Also thank you for taking the time to post me,with all your problems right now.I've been reading posts on what is going on with you,and want you to know I'm praying for you and that they will find what the problem is.Take care and God bless you.Carol Me, too. I can't take prednisone, but from what I've heard, the ramp down was too fast. Of course, each one of us is different - it's heck trying to find out our individual limits. It seems as if just as we get our medications balanced and feel like we're human, again, some doctor has to rock the boat, or they take our life-saver off the market. Loujean >Kelly,I was also thinking of that too, (with the Pred.)we'll see.Also >thank you for taking the time to post me,with all your problems right >now.I've been reading posts on what is going on with you,and want you to >know I'm praying for you and that they will find what the problem >is.Take care and God bless you.Carol Loujean God didn't promise us that life would be fair. If it were, who would try for the stars? Loujean,I hear where you're coming from.Well,my RD.called and wants me to go up another MTX pill,which would be 9 pills which would be 22.5 mgs.and to go up from 5mgs of Pred. to 7.5.and back up to two-200mgs, of celebrex.and to monitor my blood pressure.Strange thing is all my blood work came back normal,except my sed rate went up from 46 to 68.I'm not going to up the MTX. it hasn't helped me a bit ever since I went on it in Jan.05.The only time my sed rate came down was the 2nd month I was on it and now I don;t think it's doing anything.I think it's time to see a new RD.Sooo depressing.Thanks for posting back. Carol >Loujean,I hear where you're coming from.Well,my RD.called and wants me >to go up another MTX pill,which would be 9 pills which would be 22.5 [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >it and now I don;t think it's doing anything.I think it's time to see a >new RD.Sooo depressing.Thanks for posting back. Carol The increased ESR means that the inflammation has increasing. MTX is one of those drugs that takes a long time, and bumping up your dose may be just what it takes to control the inflammation. When I started mtx many years ago (1995 or so) my dosage was increased basically each time I saw my RD, and i went up to 25 mgs orally, and then switched to the injectible. At first that was bumped back to 6 cc, and then back up to 10 or 1 ml which is equivalent to the 25 mgs This process went on for about two years. I think you are being too hasty, bnut then that is just my opinion and you can take it with a grain of salt. This is only based on my experience. MTX is also known as a SSARD which means slow acting. I hope that I did not offend you. I did not mean that- and I know that the printed word may come across harsher than it is intended because you do not get all those other cues that occur in face to face conversation. I am only trying to help. Do you know what your ESR was prior to starting mtx? Rose @}>->-- Being educated means that rather than fearing the unknown, one seeks to understand it. RB Please remove "Ima" to reply. Rose, No you did not offend me,I know you are only trying to help or you wouldn't of responded to my post.I know MTX.is a slow acting drug,but I have been on it since this past Jan.along with Pred.and 400mgs.of Celebrex and my sed rate would not come down for nothing,it started out at 63.All kinds of flares while I was on all that.Then I started on the Humira this past July 15th,after 2 months my sed rate came down from 106 to 46 and I was feeling pretty good.Then my blood pres.went up (I normlly have good BP.) so they cut me back to 200mgs.of celebrex and down to 5mgs of Pred.BP is fine now.Sed rate is now 68.That's the reason I thought that the Humira wasn't even working.My bloodwork all came back normal except for WBC were high at 11.50 (norm is 4.5-9.50)and the ABS NEUT CT was high at 7.92 (norm is 2.70-6.50). I and my RD are puzzled as to why just cutting back on a couple mgs of Pred and one celebrex could set me so far back,I'm hurting all over,and feel horrible.I did start taking the extra celebrex the last few days,can't tell much difference yet,and am monitoring the BP.If it stays ok then I'll go up on the Pred to 7.5 like she said.Sorry this is so long,don't mean to keep rambling on,it's just so frustating to go from feeling half way human again to this.Take Care. Carol
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