arava and side effects

It is horrible the side effects we suffer while trying to find the most tolerable meds to help us function. I wish there was a pill that had no side effects at all (besides placebos!) What medication did your doctor switch you to after stopping this one? You might try posting with the brand name Arava as you may get more responses that way.

0) I was wondering if anyone here has taken Arava (Leflunomide) and their side effects? I started it almost 3 weeks ago for the RA and Sjogrens and have started to have nausea, hair loss, skin sensitivity, burning or tingling of skin, and restless legs (already had, but much worse now), vivid dreams, and torso pain like a cramping sensation in back and sides. I have read too much bad stuff about this medicine and I am hoping someone has had a good experience with it.

My son is extremely sensitive to medications and the only side effect he got from the xenazine was tiredness, but as you know everyone reacts differently. At the moment though his tics get so bad only clonex helps.

Thanks. I HATE drug side effects stories. My elderly mom's hgb dropped to 8.5 on Arava (for rheumatoid arthritis), I had a personality change on Ambien (so bubbly I couldn't even stand myself). We have to really be on the watch every time we add a new medication. I worry the most about people who require multiple meds. Think I will start taking B-12. Thanks again.

I have also heard that you may feel better if you inject it right before bed so you can sleep through most of the side effects. Please let us know how you do and if you develop any other side effects.

t know about neuro symptoms but as I was told by my doctors when I was first diagnosed and was afraid to go on the meds they wanted to put me on due to the side effects, they did say that delaying could effect kidneys, heart, lungs, since these are the major organs that this disease effects, also joint damage. I also have SLE,Sjogrens,RA,and GERD is one of the complication this disease causes. I also suffered with memory loss and brain fog but after getting on meds that has somewhat improved.

Prior to that she was on Arava for five months and it almost killed her. She lost 60 lbs, had heart issues, urinary tract infections, had no appetite and was incredibly weak. Her RA doctor said it was not the Arava. It was. I took her to the Lahey Cllinic and they confirmed it. I had taken her off the medication before going to the Lahey Clinic but it was a binding med. so it stayed in her system for months afterwards.

I am trying to get her to have her lithium levels checked but she thinks she is fine (part of the disease), she is not sleeping well and not resting, physically pushing herself which makes swelling and pain from RA worse (had to stop Enbrel, Arava and Methotrexate to begin chemo). Still using patch and morphine tabs for pain, ambien for sleep and there are more meds.

Pain is listed among the side effects of Humira and this could be it. Also, since it iwas your first time to give yourself a shot, here are some pointers I found online. "...you should always position injections at least 1 inch from recently used injection sites and avoid injection into tender, bruised, red, or hard areas. When you administer the injection you may pinch the area up when giving the injection (I hope that makes sense) Also you may want to apply a cool compress afterwards.

Hi Jen, Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Thankfully I have no side effects from the Enbrel. As far as food, my personal belief and experience is that sugar has a huge effect on inflammation in the body and should be cut out of ones diet. I don't drink but I can't imagine that alcohol is good for inflammation either, especially anything with sugar in it.

I started out on plaquenil but have added methotraxate low dose prednisone and arava to the mix.. My knees still feel like rubber and in the evenings i head to bed early. But it is helping with the pain dring the day. I just pray that the disease will eventually burn it self out.

I had a sonogram and a Hida scan (sp?) They told me I had Fatty Liver, to lose weight and to stop taking my Arava. I did and levels went back down. This was maybe a year ago. Now it is back and it sometimes it makes me sick to my stomach and I have a lot of gas. Also, my bowel movements are mostly yellow soft to almost runny (sorry). My urine is bright yellow almost neon. Recently, my husbands ins plan changed and we have to pay a lot more now.

I have an Auto Immune Disorder of the connective tissue as labeled by my Rheumatologist. I take Plaquenil 200mg, and Arava 20mg daily. I have been on the Plaquenil for over a year and the Arava for 5-6 months. I am still having flares and experiencing pain on a daily basis. I'm a 28 year old male. My tested positive for ANA but the doctor hasn't labeled me with Lupus. I see my Rheumatologist on the 18th of December and I'm looking for the next step in my treatment.

Right now my doc is tring Cellcept. The jury is still out. But I have been on steroids, Plaquenil, Arava, Methotrexate and now Cellcept.

),remicade(no improvement),humira(had it about 4 times but had lots of problems with purshasing it and without good effects also),and i had also a both replacement surgeries for my hips ..

Granted, we have different types of arthritis, mine being psoriatic arthritis, but I can tell you that I was on Enbrel alone for atleast three years and I had great results with no side effects. For me it was a wonder drug. You may wonder why I would go off something so great...it was a dollars and cents issue. My husband retired and my lifelong coverage of medication was reduced to $100,000. On a medication like Enbrel, I would go through that within 4 to 5 years.

I, too, have been on Arava for a month with nothing but worsening pain and symptoms. I have been told, as drbob992 said, that it can take quite some time to begin to help, if it is going to help. Usually, when it fails to help much or takes longer than "expected" a biologic will be added. You may want to discuss this with your rheumatologist. Aggressive treatment is needed to slow down progression of disease activity and erosion. I'll be starting one in January 2013.

I know I have all the symptoms and do get worse when I am off of my Arava but I also wonder if I could have Lupus because I have a lot of the symptoms of it and my sister has it. My mother has fibro so I wonder if maybe that is what I have instead as well. Things are continuing to get get worse and my dr is wanting to start injection therapy for my symptoms. I just want to be sure I have ra before I begin these injections they really scare me!

Hi this is my second year of retuximab my infusion is due next week it has helped me so much i have tried endless drugs for my RA and the retuximab helps the most a few weeks after the infusion my blood result was normal i cant speak for everyone just my own experience i allso take methotrexate.

My pain hasnt been relieved totally with this med and the rheumatologist wants me to start on Arava in combination. Im scared of the hep c coming back with both of these meds. Opinions needed.

I started noticeing side effects at about 8pm, and they continued till this morning. I experienced a low grade headache, aches in my upper legs and lower back, some difficulty sleeping, and an awkward kind of dizziness (which I notice now seems to immediately follow my Riba dose). I am a Genotype 1b, with what I was told a 6log Viral load?? I have clean and sober for over 6 years, and am pretty sure I contracted the virus about 7-8 years ago..

I am grateful to have been cleared at the 4 week mark. I was just feeling that the side effects were getting worse and worse and i was battling discouragement. I am very grateful for your help and admire the way you are handling this!

I am 55 yrs old female and went for a physical and was told i had high blood presure, that day it was 144/92. I had a blood test and it showed high cholesteral 257. Doctor put me on 10 MG Lisinopril. I took the tab for 5 days on the fifth day my heart was pounding so hard in my chest and i felt like someone was sitting on my chest. This happened a few more time over the next week and it would go away after a few min.

22 days on sovaldi-olysio-no side effects,not even a headache.And to this life long non responder who has done and failed with everything that has been on the market,this combo is working.Cant believe I am getting better and not suffering like I did with all the previous poison.Its like Dr. Bones McCoy from Star Trek brought this stuff back from the future.

I woke this morning with aches and pains and have been experiencing a headache on and off all day that is when I am not SLEEPING. Honestly I am not complaining especially since I had expected much worse. My question is do the symptoms change or/and get worse as treatment continues. I would assume they do get worse since the meds build up in your body. I have 3 kids ages 16,11,and 7.

This treatment has a high risk of psychiatric side effects, you need to find a doctor who is up to date on the treatment and side effects. Search the archives on this forum, its got lots of good discussions and information. Good luck.

Did you taper off the vibryd or quit abruptly? You can't just switch from one medication to another even in the same class and avoid withdrawal -- these meds are not easy to stop taking and it must be done carefully. Unless you completely stop taking a medication before starting another it's impossible to tell if your symptoms are a sign you're suffering withdrawal and quit too quickly or are side effects of the new medication.

You definitely need to get some high quality moisturizer and start lathering your body with it. Also note – hot water dries out the skin. If possible, you might feel better if you skipped a daily shower when possible. The nausea stinks big time. The Pegasys folks are pretty clear that this particular side effect doesn't last and in my case it didn't. After about a month it went away. Try to eat small, frequent meals. Anything you like. Cold food is better than hot food.

Arava and side effects

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