arava side

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Under my ribs and almost on the side. I was taking a lot of Rheumatoid medication due to my doctors thing I had RA. My liver levels were elevated and I had this same pain then. 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.

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 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.

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!

I am going to have my first infusion on april 14th, and I am a little concerned with side affects. I am hopeful that this will be the drug that helps, would like to hear from others who may have tried it.

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.

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 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.

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.

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?

In mid December 2008, I had tremendous pain in my upper back shoulder on my left side. The pain was unrelenting. I could not say exactly where it originated but I was tender to the point of vomiting in an area that I could reach with my right hand extended over my left shoulder and touch near my spine area, it was dull intense pain. I had nerve pain that affect my left breast area constantly. The muscle bed area under my left breast is achy and tender, it is torturous many times.

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).

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.

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.

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

Just recently my Dr put me on methotrexate injections and arava after which my symtoms got worse.I went back to the RA DR and now she thinks I have Polymyalgia Rheumatica.Right now I'm in the processs of finding a second opinion. They say the symtoms of Polymyalgia can come on rapidly like the symtoms you discribe.

i am 22 years old..i have RA(still desease) from about 10 years, i have tried almost everything..metothrexate(didn't well work),arava(had a baaad effect on me!!),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 ..

Has anyone gone as far as to have a second opinion for their RA? I just find it scary to give you one drug to have to counteract side effects with another. Then they add more. I know this is a crippling disease if not put under control. It caught me by surprise. Please comment.

I have heard that it can cause nodules also. I am now on enbrel,and arava, folic acid for my RA. I have not been able to get my RA under control as of yet. When i have flare up where can't get out of bed, need help dressing i usually take steroids, that is a great drug for giving you your mobility back. I hope you don't end up with them everywhere, they are painful on the bottom of the feet, and palms and fingers, makes it difficult to do anything.

t understand why you are still on basically the same meds with little to no releife. Have you tried, Remicade, Rituxan, Humira, Enbrol, Arava, Cortisone shots and or creams? Theraputic massage? Anything for the pain? Narcotic or non narcotic??

I wasnt diagnosed as MS, the doctor was hoping that its just a side effect of my remicade treatment. i repeated my MRI 3 months later, thats beginning of july, after 2 courses of methylprednisolone (each course was 5days 1000mgIV each day). The lesions were still present but were non enhancing! One week ago i started to fell numbness only in my hands.

I was given my first dose of Lyrica last night and I slept brilliantly for once, today I've been very sleepy and when I took a nap I couldn't stand up when I awoke because my hip just flared up so badly I couldn't even walk. Luckily I am in hospital, so they gave me morphine straight away and its feeling much better. I really don't know very much about Lyrica and I'd like to hear what some people have experienced with it.

Common Questions and Answers about Arava side

arava