arava cmi

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.

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.

i take the leflunomide (arava) but also take pills for the reflux, which does help. I take renitidine i believe it is called. I found it worked pretty good for the swelling myself. I am also on the Embrel, but still do not have R.A under control. I just wanted to say that the arava was the best drug i have taken up until i was put on the embrel. I live in B.

I would find another doc.; I agree with selmaS something is not right. When you do find another doc give them a good "interview" as I call it before you even go. Read abouit thier credentials, a lot of hospitals have their doctor's papers/acheivements/ credentials listed. It's so frustrating and dangerous when doctors do this. Fwiw: I had a similar experience with a local ns here in N. Al.

I'm curious how many folks have been diagnosed with depression rather than a doctor acknowledging CMI? I had a CAT & MRI, I absolutely have a fatty tumor on the brain & Chiari Malformation I with tonsils fully decended down the foramen mangum. I just found out end of January after having issues for 14 yrs. I started having issues about 23, I'm 37 now. I did go to a few doctors through the years but was told be more active...

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.

All came back normal, except her MRI with contrast showed CMI with 6mm. No symptoms for CMI so she was labeled asymptomatic. She got an infection and a blood clot from the IV when she got the MRI, and was put on an antibiotic and aspirin. It (the infection and clot) cleared-up after a couple of weeks, but at about the exact same (late Dec) she felt nauseous, had neck pain, and a radiating headache. This went on for about 4 days, and then began to wane.

Hi, I was recently diagnosed with psoriactic arthritis and the doctor put me on Arava. I've been on it for 4 weeks with no relief. In fact, the pain has increased in all of my joints and my toes have decided to join in on the fun as well. My question is has anyone had any experience with this drug in the amount of time it takes to start working? Is it usually immediate or does it take time to "build up" in your system before it begins to work?

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!

Here it is- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23812050 The Chiari symptom profile: development and validation of a Chiari-/syringomyelia-specific questionnaire. Mueller DM, Oro' JJ. Source Questions or comments about this article may be directed to Diane M. Mueller, ND RN FNP, at Diane.***@****. She is a Doctor of Nursing Practice at the Neurosurgery Center of Colorado, Aurora, CO. John J. Oro', MD, is the Director of the Neurosurgery Center of Colorado, Aurora, CO.

Hi all - I was diagnosed with CMI just about 2 years ago after a particularly symptomatic bout. In addition to CMI, I was found to have a 4.5 CM posterior fossa arachnoid cyst, which may be the cause for the CMI. Since diagnosis, I have been dealing with it symptomatically (managing headaches, mostly). However, I was recently found to have significant high-frequency hearing loss, and have been suffering from significant tinnitus for 6+ months now.

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.

My father has severe rheumatiod arthritis. He has been on a combination of Arava 20 mg ( Hydroxychloroquine) and Plaquenil (Leflunomide) . He has been going severly downhill since January and has lost 40 pounds, has constant mucous drainage that he chokes on especially after meals, and has severe shortness of breath. Can these symptoms be a result of the medications he is taking? Is it safe for him to take two synthetic DMARDS at the same time?

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.

selmaS is wise. Fwiw I have to warn MRI technicians that certain positions agrivate my CMI issues. Usualy they try to accomidate me anyway they can; they just often don't think about what certain positions do to a person with neuro issues.

Have you tried xenazine ( chemical name is tetrabenazine)? We've also found clonex gives some relief.

I have been unable to contact the individuals who have been documented to have gone through a similar experience. I have reasonable CMI but virtually no passive immunity, (humoral) for this virus. (characteristic lesion, prodrome and localised reactiviation confirms original infection, IgG negative, no florid eruptions so expectation is that CMI is still effective).

Hi; I'm new to MedHelp and to this community. I was DX with CMI in 1999, quite by accident, when I was having neck pain, radiating shoulder, arm and hand pain, numbness and tingling in my arm & hand. Doctors did a brain and c-spine MRI w/wo contrast, then referred me to a Neurosurgeon. The NS asked me if I ever had headaches. I said "sure I do, doesn't everyone?

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.

About 1 week after stopping MTX, I stopped my folinic acid and my hair loss seems to be worse and also my nails are splitting and my tongue is sore. ( I also had 2 Remicaid infusions 2 months ago in August and 1 week of Arava in May and am on Plaquenil (past 4 months and for awhile in the past).

) Glad to hear u r back taking classes....

are you on any other medications? i was also on arava when i started the humira and got a terrible rash on my hands and feet. i stopped the arava, took cholestyramine to get it out of my system. rash went away. still taking humira. no more rash, so that's good, but i'm not sure where these twitches are coming from. they started about three weeks ago. i'm so sorry you've been having this reaction. sounds like you've had quite a history. i wish you the best. hang in there.

I do get the cramoing sometimes for a day or two after the enjection. With the embrel the cramps do go away. I also take arava so maybe the combination of the drugs. Hope it it gets better.

Examples would include Methotrexate, Imuran, Arava and Plaquenil. Another approach you may want to try is to have the doctor add a medication to protect her stomach and keep her on the Lefora since it is controlling her arthritis.

I'm sort of jumping in here. I'm having endocrine issues as well, and I believe it's due to my cmI squishing my pituitary. For me it's weight maintenance and vitamin D levels that are being affected. Fwiw, I'm 41 and far from menopause. My sister who has CMI, tethered cord, eds, and bassilar invagination does have a lot of cycle related issues. I also found that the meds I was on post op adversely affected my skin and cycles.

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