Benepali - and other biologics

BettyMac
BettyMac Member Posts: 201
edited 22. Jun 2018, 12:18 in Living with Arthritis archive
I'm just about to start Benepali and wondered about the incidence of infections requiring antibiotics.

What have other people found?

I'm hoping a biologic will get my RA under control - but it sometimes seems that every drug requires another to control the side effects of the previous one.
It reminds me of one of those lines of dominoes; push the first one and ..................

Comments

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I have been taking biologics for years and have not been any more ill with bugs and infections than I ever was. I am scrupulous about hand hygiene, as is my husband, and I always have anti-gravity wipes to hand:. oh I love auto-correct! I type what I want and my machine ignores it! Anti-bac wipes was the intention. Blasted technology.

    I established my normal body temperature some years ago, I hover between 36 and 36.5. If I feel more under-the-weather than usual that is the first thing I check. My digital thermometer happily shows 37 or more in the green zone but I know for me that that is an indication that things are not right. My hospital has always told me to stop the meth and humira if I have a cough, sore throat and/or temperature so I do. I used to bother telling them, now I don't as they never reply. I avoid people with coughs and colds (they rarely understand the import of a suppressed immune system) because I know from the experience of others that one can be very ill and not necessarily know it.

    I have found over the years that maintaining a quiet vigilance is all that is required. My spouse is also meticulous about hand hygiene and guests are usually quite accepting of a blob of hand gel on arrival, a ritual I introduced when I was working as a personal tutor and had pupils coming into my home. It is a big deal but best treated as though it is not - and don't forget the anti-gravity wipes. :wink: DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I've never done biologics but deal with DMARDS (meth and hydroxy for me) exactly as DD does. I don't think I am prescribed antibios any more now than I was 18 years ago before I started on these meds. Go for it, BettyMac and I hope it works for you.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • BettyMac
    BettyMac Member Posts: 201
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Anti-gravity wipes!
    Love it
    😍

    Thanks for your replies.
    I haven't noticed any more infections while I've been on methotrexate but it obviously pays to be sensibly careful about things.
  • daffy2
    daffy2 Member Posts: 1,636
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Now that would be a really useful invention, anti-gravity wipes, can think of many situations where they would make my life so much easier, lacking A N Other to help with lugging duties.