Reactive Arthritis/hair loss

travelgirl

Hi
I'm a newbie, and wondered if anyone has reactive Arthritis as I have. It all started with a sore throat last March, and by the end of April I couldn't even dress myself properly. I saw a Rheumy in June and he tried anti inflams Diclofenic a steroid jab and the high dose pain pills plus oramorph. Nothing happened and just before Christmas they said i should start MXT, but wait until January tey put me on Prednisilone 25mg a day which was wonderful after 3 weeks I could walk and could hold my baby grandson with out feeling I would drop him. I now am down to 10mg pred and up to 15mg MXT still taking 15mg Diclofenic plus the pain meds. ut I have lost so muchhair this week I have had it all shaved off. ( I feel bettr for it ) Has anyone else had significant hair loss and to allthose who have asked yes to night day and anyold time sweats. sorry this a long one but had a lot to get rid of. :roll:

frogmorton

Hi Travel girl
WELCOME to this lovely forum.
I don't have reactive arthritis (RA apparently), but results are similar I think.
Also am not on MTX am doing ok on plaquenil so far. I do know though that hair loss is a side effect. Sounds like you were so pooorly that it might have been worth it.
Holding your Grandson is very good for the health too
I do get sweats in the night, which i think is the arthritis playng up and in the day too. I have e definite slighlty high temp too sometimes.
There are lots of people who should be able to get back to you on the other bits, but I am glad to have you on board!
Take care
Toni x

travelgirl

frogmorton wrote:

Hi Travel girl
WELCOME to this lovely forum.
I don't have reactive arthritis (RA apparently), but results are similar I think.
Also am not on MTX am doing ok on plaquenil so far. I do know though that hair loss is a side effect. Sounds like you were so pooorly that it might have been worth it.
Holding your Grandson is very good for the health too
I do get sweats in the night, which i think is the arthritis playng up and in the day too. I have e definite slighlty high temp too sometimes.
There are lots of people who should be able to get back to you on the other bits, but I am glad to have you on board!
Take care
Toni x

elnafinn

Hi there tg

I am very sorry to read your posting. No need to do any apologising. I sincerely hope you get some answers to your questions on here.

The person you need to see your thread is Fay aka Rainbow77. There is not much she does not know about Reactive Arthritis. That is if I am remembering correctly :roll:

So Fay, where are you? Help needed please!

In the meantime, welcome to the forum.

Luv
Elna x

lindalegs

Hi Travelgirl,

I'm on Mtx but haven't noticed any hairloss. Have you been prescribed folic acid because this helps reduce any side effects caused by Mtx - as Scotishlass suggested?

The sweats are probably due to the arthritis flare your having at the moment. I've started having them again but they're hot flushes due to the menopause - the difference between them (I find) is the hormone hot flush is quite short-lived whereas the night sweats caused by arthritis can go on longer.

Anyway welcome to the forum - and hope you're feeling better soon

Luv Legs

travelgirl

Hi
I have been gogling and there seems to be a lonk with diclofenic and mxt I have been taking Diclo for 6 years since I had an op for stenosis of the spine. i do take the folic acid everyday apart from MXT day.
Well the post has arrived and I;m the proud owner of a second hand wig it served my step Mum through her BC and as she is only a few years older than me the style and colour natural silver highlights are fab. So with my designer beanie hat and a silk head scarf and wig I van hold my head up. To be truthful I did cry but then I saw the photos of Jade Goody and stopped.

On another note I have been told RA lasts foe about 12/18 months but you guys seem to have had it for longer is that right?

Thanks for the support

colinone

Hi Travel girl welcome to the site, I have RA and Pa When i was first started on MTX i was warned abtout hairloss but in the three years i've been on iy i have lost very little. I asked my rheumy about the night sweats and she said Arthritis should no cause it. However looking around the site and talking to people its rather obvious it does either that or the medication. I'm sure you will get all the info you need they are a great bunch of people on here.
Take Care
Colin

Wonkylegs

HI

I think that your hairloss might b related to the Methotrexate - especially as you have not been on it for that long and have had a dose increase.

I take MTX and have had thinning hair (previously very thick) but it does settle down after a while.

Yours sounds t have been fairly severe though, so do tell your rheumatology nurse. If you are taking the MTX tablets, they may try you on the injections instead (side effects may be less on these) or increase your folic acid.

DONT, whatever you do, just try and get on with it if there is something that can be done about it - this disease is hard enough as it is.

PS - rainbow77 is not on here as much as usual just at the moment, but i will send her an email saying that there is someone new on here. If you use the search facility at the top of the page and look for Reactive Arthritis (Not RA as people tend to use that for Rheumatoid arthritis on here) then you should see some threads where it has been discussed before. i knwo there was a thread on it quite recently.

good luck!!!!

Rainbow77

Hi Travel Girl

My name is Fay - I also have reactive arthritis. Re hairloss. I did have hairloss when I first had all the symptoms and 1/2 my eyebrows also fell out on both sides. It is a scary symptom and I think it is worse when your arthritis is not controlled and the immune system is in such disarray and it is doing lots of nasty things.

I see that you are taking meth. I take sulphasalazine and hydroxycholoquine with painkillers. It could be the meth that is causing your hair to fall out or a combination of both.

Kelp is really good for your hair. You can eat dried seaweed or you can take the capulse. Check first with your GP though as some herbal remedies can interact with medication. Or find alternative natural foods - I will check for you. But seaweed is a good place to start. I also went to see a natural nutritionalist. Bascially eat a really good balanced diet with lots of variety of foods, stock up and eat little handfuls of seeds - sunflower, pumpkin, linseed etc with a variety of nuts. You only need a small handful a day but these will provide all the mirco nutrients that our bodies needs and should help with your hair and nails.

Mine has fully grown back, healthier than before and there is not problem.

The dmards will take time to work and they may need to tweak with your dose. For me I think it took 3-4 months to get over the side effects and then for the immune system to settle down and then it took about a year to really improve and build up my strenght etc. I have just gone back to work 1 week ago, I am a teacher. So it was a big day for me. But you will get there.

If you private message me, I can give you my email and we can arrange to chat. As sometimes you just need someone to talk to. I see that you have read the other read where I replied. If you need any other help and advice - let me know. We are all here to help. I thank all the people that have helped me through my 'nightmare', I could not of made it without them.

Take care and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Fay xxxx

PS I am back at work - so not on here as much!! Sob, sob, sob!!!

travelgirl

hi Rainbow girl

Thanks for having the time to reply, I have not met anyone in the last 8 months who has had or even heard of this horrible virus.
My family have been great, and my daughter is my real mainstay she comes to do my house work and my husband does the ironing etc. The feeling of as you said flu like symptoms is debilitating. I have not had any time off work even in my worst 2 months I carried on with the meds and oramorth, though I shouldn't have.
I will email on the private line Thanks everybody though you are all great.

Tricia

Rainbow77

Hi Tricia

Just to let you know that I have private messaged you. Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Take care

Fayann xxxx

elnafinn

Another thread bumped up for Vickymo.
E x

Wonkylegs

bumping this up to the top again

elnafinn

Bumping another thread on ReA for SS.

Luv
Elna x

sillyswede

Thank you so much Elna!

You've just help me realise there's (yet) another symptom!!! I've always been a cold person, but in the last few months, I've been the complete opposite. I've had the window open at night, regardless of temperature outside. Cold sweats, hot flushes etc... I never thought to put it down to the ReA! :shock: Learning lots in here guys - thank you! x