Tag Archives: rheumatoid arthritis

Leflunomide aka Arava

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Leflunomide (le-FLOO-noh-mide) is the new medicine that was recently prescribed at my wife’s recent visit to UCLA. Leflunomide or Arava is an arthritis medication and will help to reduce Jenny’s overall pain level, without having to increase her pain meds.

According to Sanofi-Aventis, the manufacturer:

Arava (leflunomide), a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), helps improve rheumatoid arthritis symptoms such as joint swelling and tenderness. But unlike many symptom relievers that only help relieve pain and swelling, Arava actually helps slow the progression of joint damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, Arava is the only oral DMARD indicated to improve physical function.

It’s pretty exciting to think that a drug will not only take care of Jenny’s RA symptoms, but also help reduce the damage to her joints. We were told that it can actually heal joint damage that has already occurred, but that wasn’t mentioned in the blurb from the manufacturer, so I wonder about the accuracy of that claim. Regardless, Jenny’s been on it for a couple of weeks now and it does seem to be helping her joint pain, without producing any noticeable side-effects.

If you’ve had any experience with Arava, I’d be interested to hear what you thought.

Low on Spoons

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Things are pretty busy here. The taxman cometh soon and we’ve had an interesting year. Our entrepreneurial nature is making our taxes extremely complicated. I’ve always done the taxes on my own using TurboTax software, but this year when it came down to the wire, I realized that things have gotten too zany to do on my own.

I’m also starting a small business, since I didn’t have enough to do after a day of work with my real job. Honestly, I’m very excited to start working on it. It’s just a little scary.

I just wanted to let you know what was going on here. My wife is hanging in there, and all is well. Her RA is terrible right now because we’re having odd weather, but that should pass soon I hope.

Hot and Cold

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icepack.jpgIn our house, we’ve got about four heating pads and at least four ice packs that are in an almost constant state of use.

For rheumatoid arthritis, heat is generally considered best to soothe aching joints and muscles, but cold is better for dealing with swelling and inflammation. My wife is often trapped in a constant fluctuation of temperatures. In many cases, I’ve noticed that cold first, followed by heat seems to help her when things get really bad. I’ve also noticed that cold packs seem to help when she’s got a headache, and heat seems to make a headache worse.

The heating pads are pretty basic. I wish they would automatically shut off after a while, though. I occasionally find that one has been left on all night. It’s also important that they have a removable cover that can be washed.

The cold packs are pretty basic, but I recommend getting a couple of big ones. They can be expensive at that size, but they are totally worth the cost. The only problem I ever have had with them is that they don’t always get put back in the freezer.