Hi, everybody -
I usually post on the lyme board. I have lyme disease and reactive arthritis. I am being treated for the ReA with long-term antibiotics and Arava. My rheumatologist started Arava after trying the other typical drugs, including Arthrotec. I have been approved by my insurance company for the Arava, and I have taken both the generic and the brand. When I took the generic, I got extremely fatigued and had terrible diarrhea. I have not had these problems with the brand. If I want to take the brand, however, I am going to have to order it from Canada because my insurance will only pay a small percentage of each dose and I would have to spend about $500 a month out of pocket. I am debating over whether I should try the generic one more time before a final decision and wondered if anyone else had a similar experience. Also, I am curious if any of you are seeing a rheumatologist that is willing to treat ReA with long-term antibiotics? I have to take the abx anyway because of the lyme disease, but my doc has had success with this protocol. She made me have my gallbladder removed first because she said it could harbor the pathogens that are causing my ReA.
Any perspectives on the Arava are welcome - and would be very interested to hear from anyone with reactive arthritis (Reiter's syndrome).