big improvement from TOCILIZUMAB... hope it is not a fluke

charleeh

Hi all,

Well, I am off to the hospital to see my Rheumy Dr tomorrow and hoping to tell him that I am going self employed (provided that I get to see him and not one of the nurses!)

I am hoping his response will be positive and not moaning at me that I am not well enough

I feel I have been so much better these past two treatments of Tocilizumab. I mean, I am not cured, I still get the aches, tiredness and stiffness but compared to how I have been it seems like a miracle drug for me.
[I will just add that I have been incredibly ill with various infections and often unable to walk for the last 12 months while they got my dose on this very strong drug sorted! - indeed I am still only having a 75% dose, but this seems to be working]

But I am feeling really positive and hope I get the go ahead from Doc tomorrow!!!

Fingers Crossed

I hope everyone else is doing ok.
Best Wishes,
Charleeh

Kittkat

Sounds good charleeh hope you continue to improve what wiill u be doing( for your employment )

dreamdaisy

I hope this proves to be the one for you, it sounds positive and that is always a good start! Good luck, I wish you well. DD

DebbieT

I hope things go well. Please be careful of 'jumping the gun' & setting ureself back ... Then again you & ure rheumy know ure body best!!

Best of luck

Xx xX

Boomer13

That sounds like a great start! Hope it continues to work for you.

stickywicket

Good news! Thank you for sharing it. I hope the upward trend continues.

villier

Great news Charleeh hope you had positive result today as well.....................Marie x

Toots

Great news Charleeh! Fingers crossed for you xxx

charleeh

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I saw my specialist and he is happy with my progress now too

my inflammatory markers are now at a normal level for the 1st time in 18months!

I will be staying at a 3/4 dose though as if I have more the TOC will could make my white cells drop again.

I will be looking at going self employed now in the new year, as you say I don't want to jump the gun and undo all the hard work my meds have done.
.......... but......
Having uncomfortable pain in my back but it feels different from 'regular joint pain'and I get pains going down my bum too so I am off to have a scan on my back to see if I have any permanent damage to my spine and hip on Tuesday. If I have no arthritis damage I can stay on the dose of TOC I am on now and hopefully keep improving. If not and I have damage the DR wants to increase the dose but that risks upsetting my white cell count again :roll:
Having been a bit of a weight training and fitness lover before I had arthritis my DR is concerned I might have a slipped disk if it's not arthritis pain, as I did love yoga .... plus my mom and my granddad both slipped disks.... mind you, they didn't put any strain on their backs like I did.

hopefully the scan will reveal all!!!!! although I don't know what is the lesser of two evils, I hope they say they can fix it!

again, thanks for the replies everyone.

I hope you are all well and preparing hot water bottles, fleece blankets and woolly hats for this cold snap!!! ... I know I am!

Best wishes,
Charleeh Xx

Boomer13

That's really good to hear. Hope the med keeps working and you can stay at the 3/4 dose. Best wishes for the MRI

xAnna

stickywicket

That does sound positive. Good luck with the scan.