Treating RA Archives | Page 3 of 14 | Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior

An Unremarkable Reality: Scans Don’t Lie – or Do They?

February 4, 2014October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 57 Comments Invisible Illness, Talking to doctors

Show me your erosions or else Some of you may remember last year when we met Dr. Shrug who gave my foot an ultimatum: Show me a bone erosion, or no more DMARDs. We only ever saw the doc once (more than enough). It was Dr. Tylenol’s partner, who they scheduled us with since Dr. T...Continue reading 57 Comments » Read more

Triple Therapy / Combination Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis

October 29, 2013May 17, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 5 Comments Biologics for RA, Rheumatoid arthritis treatment

Treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis In the past few decades, Rheumatoid Arthritis has been treated with therapies designed for other diseases. It was not always clear how these drugs treated Rheumatoid Arthritis / Rheumatoid Disease, but they were found to reduce immune activity in various ways. Because researchers recognized certain drugs could slow or modify progression of...Continue reading 5 Comments » Read more

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Treat to Target

October 27, 2013May 14, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 2 Comments Measuring rheumatoid disease activity, Rheumatoid arthritis treatment, Talking to doctors

The treat to target (T2T) approach involves defining a treatment goal or “target” and modifying the therapy if the target is not reached. Treating to a target of remission or low disease activity Treat to target (T2T) is an approach to treating Rheumatoid Arthritis / Rheumatoid Disease (RD) that combines aggressive or intensive treatment with disease modifying...Continue reading 2 Comments » Read more

What Would the Car Mechanic Say If You Didn’t Look Sick?

August 26, 2013May 14, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 56 Comments e-patient, Talking to doctors

This just doesn’t happen: You take the car to a mechanic and he looks out the window across the showroom and says, “Your car looks fine to me. The paint is still shiny. It’s not very old.” All of our cars are pretty old so the guys at the local Firestone shop know us pretty well....Continue reading 56 Comments » Read more

Efficacy of Xeljanz, Biologics, & DMARDs in Rheumatoid Disease

May 13, 2013May 14, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 47 Comments Biologics for RA, Methotrexate, Rheumatoid arthritis treatment, XELJANZ-tofacitinib-JAK

Why should I feel like I failed? I’m not alone We probably agree it’s unfair to say, “patients fail treatments” instead of the reverse, but there is still disappointment. I was optimistic that my Rheumatoid disease would respond to Xeljanz, the new oral DMARD (disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug) from Pfizer. Unfortunately, my joint stiffness and inflammation,...Continue reading 47 Comments » Read more

Ciprofloxacin / Fluoroquinolone Tendon Dangers with Rheumatoid Arthritis

May 10, 2013May 14, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 37 Comments Preventive Care with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Side effects for RA medicine

My brief story about ciprofloxacin and Rheumatoid Arthritis I got a kidney infection shortly after starting Enbrel. It was Good Friday 2009. My kidney hurt and fever spiked to 104.5, after 3 days of UTI. Before then, I’d only had a minor UTI with pregnancy. This is when my GP got the nickname “Good GP” because...Continue reading 37 Comments » Read more

Xeljanz Rejected by European Medicines Agency

April 26, 2013May 14, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 29 Comments Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Trials, XELJANZ-tofacitinib-JAK

EMA rejects Xeljanz authorization Late yesterday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) rejected the Pfizer’s application to market Xeljanz (tofacitinib). The EMA application was refused because the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) “adopted a negative opinion” on approving Xeljanz, stating they were unconvinced its risks outweighed benefits. Last November, the FDA approved the 5mg...Continue reading 29 Comments » Read more