A funny thing about RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis)... don't let Lymphoma side effect scare you off a drug

By Booboo711 Monday, December 26, 2011

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First things first I would like to say hi again to everybody. It has been a while since I have posted on here, but it has been a great summer and until the weather changed the flares were minimal and with a move back to where I am from in Kentucky, a new job where I work from home, and being able to wonder the 200+ acres of wooded land back in the beautiful hills of Eastern Kentucky!

I recently started seeing a new Rheumatologist since I moved to Kentucky that would be a given since I used to live in Ohio! Duh..Right? We were talking about the side effects of some of the medications and the side effect which is rare that keeps coming up on the biologics which is lymphoma. My rheumy started laughing and said let me show you a study and reasearch that was completed my John Hopkins, Mayo, and the Clevland Clinic. So we went into his office and he showed me the study and it stated they found if you have Rheumatoid Arthritis you are SEVEN TIMES more likely to get Lymphoma than the rest of the population. So these hospitals, notice the names (not very high on the good hospital chart right..LOL{insert sarcasm here}), don't like the fact that the Govt makes them place Lymphoma as a possible side effect when someone was taken the medication when it would have probably was going to happen anyway with the person having RA and it was coincidence of being on a biologic at the time.

This made me laugh and made me realize I should stop worrying about some of the side effects and enjoy how much these drugs having given me back of my life. I am back hunting again, I am hiking, I am doing archery competetions, and also back to training as a world class powerlifter and Highlands game athlete for the first time in more than 10 years! I am back baby!!!

I will keep this up each day and I am looking forward to posting pics from around my property and walking it each day with a new focus on life!

The hard lesson learned when I stopped my meds..

Comments (4) | Add comment

V, Health Guide

12/26/11 7:42pm

I am so, so happy for you!!! Thank you for sharing this information re: Lymphona, and also the success you are having on biologics. I read a study saying the same thing about two months ago. It eased my mind about taking Humira. Like you said, the risk factor seems to be having RA itself, not taking a biologic. And, the thing is, without the biologics, what kind of life would some of us have, anyway? There is a lot to be said for quality of life. Contratulations on your biologic success!

Peace,

Ellen Galo

12/27/11 8:56am

Hi Booboo,

Thanks for your post, its 'very interesting.'

Lymphoma is now making history in my family: The RA runs on my mother's side, her mother and her sister both had it. (She didn't have it herself, but now I do.)

Her sister's daughter (my cousin) currently has both RA and lymphoma and her brother (who never had RA) also has it! Go figure .... My cousin has had RA since her early 50s (like me). We are now 60 and 61. Her brother/my uncle is around 84 and his lymphoma appeared in his lungs about a year ago, a year after my cousin was diagnosed with it in her gut.

I'm just waiting and wondering....

Meanwhile, our best man has had RA since his 20s. He has had a bad two years with two squamous cell cancers removed, 1 from mouth, 1 from throat/neck. He got the best surgery from a medical center two hours from his home in NJ (he went to Philadelphia) - trans-oral robotic surgery (TORS) from its inventor, and though it's been a miserable experience (eating and drinking will never be the same), he has survived and is just hoping to hang on to his job until he reaches the age of Medicare at the end of this year. Things are tough all over.

Good to hear from you!

Ellen

V, Health Guide

12/27/11 10:14am

Just wanted to pop in and say hello, Ellen. Hope you are doing okay w/your asthma and RA. I know your asthma was causing you problems the last I read. I found your information about the family ties interesting. I just learned of some autoimmune diseases in my biological family. I did not grow up w/my mother, and so I just recently discovered that my mother's sister has RA, one of my first cousins has Lupus, his sister has MS and another cousin has MS. All autoimmune disorders. Quite enlightening for me. Hope things are going okay for you know.

Peace,

Lene Andersen, Health Guide

12/27/11 3:11pm

Boo! So nice to see you again!

I'm so glad to hear that you're doing well - kind of an understatement, based on you powerlifting and being Highland games athlete (I'd love to hear more about that. back when I could travel in a regular car and my manual wheelchair, I used to go to the Highland games in Fergus, Ontario every year). That's not going well, that's doing spectacularly well! It also sounds as if you found a terrific rheumatologist and that brings me to my second point. Thanks so much for sharing this perspective on lymphoma as a side effect. Very definitely food for thought that can calm many a nervous heart.

I'm very happy to see you back in the community and look forward to hearing more about your new place and your adventures.

A funny thing about RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis)... don't let Lymphoma side effect scare you off a drug

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