Today I had my regular follow-up with my rheumatologist. I had a lot of concerns and questions, so I made sure I wrote everything down in my planner- unlike a post it note or scrap of paper, my planner is always with me.
Before I even had a chance to pull my planner out, my doctor looked at the giant knee brace I had on and asked what was going on. I told her that I followed up with ortho regarding the extreme knee pain I kept having. I had an xray, did physical therapy, and now can only find temporary relief when I wear my giant hinge brace. My ortho doctor had said the four words I hate the most “it’s just your RA”. Thankfully my rheumatologist never blames things on my disease without ruling other things out. It’s something I really like about her. She immediately wrote an order for an MRI of my knee.
And then came the questions. How are things? How is work? How is home? I was honest. I wasn’t happy and I was concerned that I was heading down the road we already went down with Orencia. Orencia did absolutely nothing for me and we tried it for longer than we should have (9 months). I have additional permanent damage from this time. In hindsight, we should have been more aggressive but being aggressive is what made me so sick for months with an infection I couldn’t fight. Orencia was safe.
My doctor asked if I was ready to give Humira another try. I didn’t expect her to say that and it took me a second to respond. Humira. When I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in January of 2012, I spent six months on methotrexate only before my previous doctor added Humira injections. For the following 9 months I was in what I imagine remission to be. I felt fantastic. I had energy, no pain, I could straighten my elbow for the first time in years. It was great.
Then in the spring of 2013, I got sick. It started as a sinus infection with a cough and then a fever came on that was continuous for the next 6 months. I would go on to see hematology/oncology, infectious disease, have vials and vials of labs done, pulmonary function tests, echo cardiogram, etc. It took multiple antibiotics for the infection to finally die. I wouldn’t go on another biologic until the fall of 2014, when I tried Orencia.
So why try Humira? Why risk another infection? First of all, a few months ago I had sinus surgery. Enbrel is in the same class of drugs as Humira..and both have sinus infections listed as one of their common side effects. I had sinus infections continuously while I was on Enbrel up until after my surgery. Since my surgery, I have had no sinus issues. The thinking with Humira is that I got a sinus infection which my body couldn’t fight off. Now that my sinuses are clear, I’m hopeful that Humira can give me the relief I’m so desperately searching for. And in the end, what do I have to lose?