Metho what?

The Rheumy I was seeing initially prescribed methotrexate and prednisone to treat what he thought was Reiters Syndrome. He is chinese, so it came out mesotresate. I had no clue what I was taking until I got the script filled and saw it printed out on the label. Oh, methotrexate. Now I can work with that. I went to my trusty five year old computer and "googled" methotrexate. Wow!10,987,777,777,777,777 hits or some such thing on metho. Let's just start at the first site. Hmmmm, don't like that one, next....hmmm not particularly liking that one either. Oooh, that one is even more specific. Not liking what I'm reading here. Ok, let's look at the handout that came with the script. AAAHHH, it's all bad. Cancer drug? Developed in the 40's? Makes your hair fall out? Nausea? Liver biopsies because it so hard on the liver? Something called methotrexate fog? Oh that's great, just what I need, to be in a fog. Oh here's a good one, can cause pulmonary fibrosis. Uh hello? I do need to breathe.

Then I started "googling" pred. Not any better there either. I especially didn't like the part about the prednisone induced diabetes. These drugs are poison. But then again I think most meds are. Some are just worse than others. I thought ok, I can do this. It's just short term. The Rheumy said Reiters is a temporary condition. I won't be on these drugs forever. Oh ignorance is bliss.

I started the pred and metho and felt like I could take on the world. Instant pain and stiffness relief from the pred. I could have become a pred junkie if I hadn't found out how bad it is long term for the body. Pred really is a love/hate relationship. Six weeks into the treatment I could have leaped tall buildings in a single bound, save one thing. I was having problems breathing. I was developing a dry cough and shortness of breath. There always felt like there was constriction in the airways. I felt like I had smoked way too many cigarettes. But I had given them up 22 years ago. I'll just file that in my mental symptom folder.

Second visit with the doctor. I tell him I'm feeling great. Now I'm thinking (how naive) he's going to stop the meds and send me home. We've told the immune system everything is ok and it can stop fighting that ecoli bug that hasn't been there for a year. The immune system has been relieved of duty. Well, NO! He increases the dose of metho and decreases the pred. Oh and by the way, my blood work tested positive for RA so I had to do two more tests to confirm it. Bummer. I go give more blood and go home.

Hmmm...index finger is starting to swell, but no real pain, just a little stiffness. The wrist is starting to protest when I overwork it. That stays pretty much the same even until this day. Breathing is getting worse. Back to the comp and Facebook. I search for an Arthritis support group. Wow, there's several. I try one and there are hundreds of RA sufferers. I start reading the comments and discussion boards. They are experiencing what I am experiencing. What a relief. I'm not losing my mind. There were many, many posts about methotrexate. The more I read the less I liked it. In fact the more I read about all the DMARDS and biologics the less I liked it. People were complaining, and rightfully so, that the side effects were too much. They had been on any number of drugs or cocktails of drugs that either had worked and then stopped, or didn't work at all. In the meantime, they are suffering from the RA and the side effects. There were the occasional positive effects of drugs working and for that I am truly happy for those individuals.

I received confirmation in the mail, in Jan., that I did indeed have RA. No call, just a letter. Good news, liver, kidneys and blood count were good. I was to continue decreasing the pred as scheduled during the last visit. The next visit wasn't for seven weeks. Now, you see, this changes things. This affliction is no longer temporary. It's FOREVER. The Rheumy said so in my last visit. He said if the tests were positive for RA, I would be on metho or something else FOREVER. Uh-UH, taint happening MaGee. I'm not taking this poison for the rest of my life. Nor any other toxic drug. There's got to be another way. There has got to be something they are missing in treatment. I was struck with being damned if you do and damned if you don't. If I don't take the meds to slow the progression of RA, I'll end up a cripple and tired all the time with any number of organ problems from my eyes to my heart. If I do take them I'll be damaging my liver, kidneys, possibly lungs and inducing diabetes. I'll be opening myself up to every infectious agent that is out there. I could develop leukemia or lung disease. My bones could become brittle and break with or without the meds. I mean really, what choices an RA sufferer has to make.

I know this epistle has gotten long, but bear with me. I went back to the FB support group and a woman with RA mentioned a website that she thought we might want to look at. It was www.roadback.org. Bingo! We have a winner! Finally someone is looking at the source of the problem for RA, not just treating the symptoms. Now I encourage you to go to this site and then do some more research on your own. Then we'll come back here and I'll tell you of my leap of faith into the treatment that is called.........Antibiotic Protocol.