Enbrel safe, effective for arthritis in long term

For your information, my mother aged 67, was put on enbrel for rheumatoid arthritis after two new knees and 5 years of suffering approx. She had 41 weeks treatment (two injections a week), when on a random blood test it was detected that her liver count was extremely high. It turned out she had developed common bile duct cancer and died 7-8 months following the blood test.

Although Enbrel gave her quality of life for just under a year we can't help think that maybe it also contributed to her developing cancer.

That is a hard subject when you take medication and age of someone over 65. That's when sickness takes over quite a lot and can cause instant heart failure etc. as that is when our bodies are getting us ready to leave for the after life.

This article on the subject was basicly to let people know that is is safer than the other biologics out there on the market, not really to say it is without it's own side effects.

All medications unfortunately cause bad side effects even though they may be extremely rare like your mother's case.

Being someone who is only 34 and has one of the worst cases of RA, I personally would be willing to try Enbral no matter what they might have as a possible side effect should the other medications not work.

When you have RA it is a pain that nobody will ever experience unless they have RA personally, nor can it be explained as it is a pain that feels like constant harsh physical torture 24hrs a day 7 days a week.

If you mother were here today, it would be possible that she would agree with me and feel that she might have made the right decision taking this drug, that is if she were to have a hard case like mine.

I have been told time and time again by those who don't have RA that I shouldn't take the drugs that I do take. They don't understand that without them there are no other medications that can help get rid of this pain. Without them I am completely bed ridden, need help rolling over, getting out of bed, going to the bathroom, eating etc. and the pain is worse than breaking a leg and feeling it 24/7.

But, should other medications which are known and used for a long time work on people, I would hope they would choose them before taking a biologic. Such meds as methotrexate can cause liver problems, but the liver test is done ever 2 months so you will be able to catch it and fix it before perminate damage occurs. Other drugs also have been around a while, so they should be done first.

I just thought I would mention this to you and let you know that if your mother did have horrible pain like mine, even though she had a short lived life after this medication, she might have felt a nice relief before her life had ended to where she was able to be finally happy without the pain. This is what I hope.

god bless you.

I am exhausted. Each time I go to my Rheumatologist there is another affliction to deal with. Since being diagnosed with RA I have been diagnosed with neuropathy, fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome and now he thinks that I might have a kidney problem. Not to mention, I have a moderate case of asthma. I have carried out his every instruction to the letter but I am still having too many flares to suit me. Is there an ideal solution?

I know a lot of people don't believe in celebrex, but i have a very serious case of RA with asthma breathing problems and oddly enough, celebrex takes the inflammation out of my heart and chest and I find the asthma is gone as well. Might be something to look into. It has also been studied that celebrex may make heart problems at 1%, but naproxen, iburprofen and not taking atiflam pills leaves you at 2% more chance of a heart attack, so it is better than doing those three.

That's just my personal experience. I take methotrexate as well.

My restless legs went away once i got celebrex also. It's just my wonder drug for me. I take two 200mg pills a day.

Diane wrote:

I am exhausted. Each time I go to my Rheumatologist there is another affliction to deal with. Since being diagnosed with RA I have been diagnosed with neuropathy, fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome and now he thinks that I might have a kidney problem. Not to mention, I have a moderate case of asthma. I have carried out his every instruction to the letter but I am still having too many flares to suit me. Is there an ideal solution?

Have you tried REQUIP for your restless leg syndrome? It is without question the best answer EVER for this problem. You cannot believe the difference it makes.

Innovative cure and analysis for arthrities www.bionetics.co.uk

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Rony wrote:

hey herbal ayurvedic massage offers cure for arthritis www.herbalayur-massages.co.uk

There are no cures for arthritis.

I used Enbrel sice it was first released. Never had good results but nothing else ever worked at all. Four months ago I became sick like never before starting with a rash that resembled a chemical burn after many exams and elminating other drugs we finally stopped Enbrel and the rash stopped immeditaly ut I was so ill with fever by this time I couldn't fuction at all and within a week of stopping the Enbrel I had a Heart Attack and have multiple blood clots in my lungs. I feel the Enbrel also brought on the clots and attack.I was just released from the Hospital I am 54 years old and have had RA and Stills Diease for 12 years.

My daughter was diagnosed w/ juvenille rheumatoid arthritis/polyarticular(effect s more than 5 joints on both sides of the body) when she was 3 years old; she is now 7. She started Enbrel when she was 4 (we couldn't start her on it right away because it wasn't approved for children yet and because the was a shortage). Anyway, she has responded wonderfully. When she was first diagnosed she couldn't climb steps, climb onto a chair and would cry when you even tried to touch her. The Enbrel changed all that. Her doctor did monthly bloodwork to be sure everything was going fine. I have to admit I was also a little skeptical after reading the side effects but I am so glad we decided to use the Enbrel. I refer to it as her MIRACLE DRUG.... She is a very active 7 year old now and keeps up with all her friend. As of Aug 21st she has been taken off the Enbrel. We just say our
prayers and hope for the best.

Notanotherpainkiller wrote:

I know a lot of people don't believe in celebrex, but i have a very serious case of RA with asthma breathing problems and oddly enough, celebrex takes the inflammation out of my heart and chest and I find the asthma is gone as well. Might be something to look into. It has also been studied that celebrex may make heart problems at 1%, but naproxen, iburprofen and not taking atiflam pills leaves you at 2% more chance of a heart attack, so it is better than doing those three.
That's just my personal experience. I take methotrexate as well.
My restless legs went away once i got celebrex also. It's just my wonder drug for me. I take two 200mg pills a day.

I like Celebrex too. I have RA and take Enbrel, which helps. I was taking Bextra when it went off the market (so then I went to Enbrel) and then switched to Mobic. That was OK for a while, then my liver enzymes went up and my reflux got a LOT worse. I cut the dose in half and it still bothered me. So, on my gastroenterologists suggestion, I went back to Celebrex. Only 100 mg every day or every other day, makes a major difference, and it helps protect against colon cancer which my mother had. Interesting comment about your asthma - I don't have asthma (yet) but have developed some allergies, and sometimes my breathing was funny with Mobic (it's a side effect, due to water retention, I think, but it was scary.)
Best wishes -

Diane wrote:

I am exhausted. Each time I go to my Rheumatologist there is another affliction to deal with. Since being diagnosed with RA I have been diagnosed with neuropathy, fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome and now he thinks that I might have a kidney problem. Not to mention, I have a moderate case of asthma. I have carried out his every instruction to the letter but I am still having too many flares to suit me. Is there an ideal solution?

Change your doctor. Get a second opinion. I had a similar problem.

I am 67 years old, Diagnosed with RA at 16. have been on Embrel sence it came out about 4 years. no side afects. good results.

I have a friend who has Ra and can't get any help because she has no insurance is there a place where people can get help? Her hands are nearly usless.

yvonne wrote:

I have a friend who has Ra and can't get any help because she has no insurance is there a place where people can get help? Her hands are nearly usless.

try the Encourage foundation look it up on the computer iwas excepted to the foundation and am starting my enbrel treatments at no charge to me. After reading some comments i am a little scared but concidering i have lived with the disease for 36 years i will try anything. Good luck

I have been taking Enbrel from almost 3 weeks now. After the first couple of days I felt a huge difference. I wasn't as tired, my ankle pain was alot better and my morning stiffness had almost completely gone away. Today I thing is the worst day I have had since going on the Enbrel my ankles have been hurting pretty bad. I guess not everyday can be perfect, but I am so thankful for the good days.

I also have been on Enbrel for over 2 years for plaque psyorisis (worked a miracle). About 6 months ago my kidneys started to malfunction. The last blood work I had showed the problem getting worse. My doctor sent me to a nephrologist. A 24 hour urine test showed the protein in my urine at 3500 times what it should be. A sonogram shows my kidneys normal sized. Needless to say I am off Enbrel. I have repeat test scheduled in 6 weeks. The nephrologist is somewhat confident that the blood/urine results will be better without the enbrel. I am a 47/w/m

I have RA, Osteoarthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, all joints affected also fibromyalgia my Rheumatologist would like me to start Enbrel but a litte gun shy about starting took one dose of Metheltrexate (just prevoius to this was on Steroids) spent 4 days in hospital very sick high white count and high feaver ER Doc's said not sure why then week later very bad leg infection broke out. So i am not sure if i want to take enbrel. at least i know what i have now so I am not convinced yet if i should try it. I am 51/w/m

I tried methotrexate and cannot afford Enbral.

I am currently on Arava. There are major side effects like with all medications, Arava has to be watched closely due to liver elevations.

I am so far doing fine, it has been several months now and my live is functioning well.

I couldn't take metho because I have an extreme case of Iron deficiency anemia. Methotrexate actually destroys the blood cells in the bone (or something like that) that causes problems with producing blood and in turn is very bad for someone who suffers from this.

Metho did well for the first few months, but as it attacked my body, my anemia got far worse and my body started flairing more and more when i took it.

Anyway, I am on arava, I was scared at first to start it and worry that my liver might go up. I worry more thant I won't be able to take it than I do about the side effects.

It has done wonders for me, I can't believe how well I feel with it, I just hope it keeps working for me. It is something to think about if you are in need of a new medication.

Thanks for all the info here, good thread and there was a lot I didn't know before.

[url=http://www.rheumatory-art hritis.org/]Rheumatory arthritis (rheumotoid arthritus)[/url]