Unexpected Consequences

[Pierre42]

At the end of March I snapped my Achilles tendon playing squash.

The normal route to recovery from there is surgery to reattach the tendon.

It's been three months, I'm off the boot and walking "almost" normally now.

Today I had my regular checkup on my WG/GPA.

Only now does my specialist tell me "it's normal for your immune system to run a little rampant after surgery".

As in"your blood numbers say that you're having a flare, I'm not surprised because ...." (etc as per above). :ohmy:

Insert going back to a large dose of pred (50mg daily :predrage:) as well as Imuran (150mg daily):glare:, and weekly bloodtest-and-checkup cycles.

This is where I should be saying "yay! my first flare!", please forgive my lack of enthusiasm.

[Pete]

The flare kinda sucks. How do you feel otherwise?

[renidrag]

Lets hope you are back to squash soon. Good luck, sad it is a flare.
Dale

[Pierre42]

The flare kinda sucks. How do you feel otherwise?

I was about to tell The Doc how truly excellent I felt, when he jumped right in and told me all the indicators said I was not doing well.

On the upside that shows we've caught it early, on the other hand I start New Drugs tomorrow, I'm fairly sure I'll be feeling rubbish any day now :-(

[annekat]

You may be lucky enough to avoid "feeling rubbish". I certainly hope so. It's a good sign that you are currently feeling good. I hope the meds don't make you feel a lot worse, and that you don't have to be on 50mg. pred for too long. Good luck.

[Pete]

I was about to tell The Doc how truly excellent I felt, when he jumped right in and told me all the indicators said I was not doing well.

On the upside that shows we've caught it early, on the other hand I start New Drugs tomorrow, I'm fairly sure I'll be feeling rubbish any day now :-(

Where's that positive attitude - you're gonna feel good on these new meds (NOT I'm positive I'll be feeling rubbish...) ;)

[mishb]

Pierre it must be a Melbourne thing at the moment.

At the end of May the hospital thought I torn my Achilles tendon, but it ended up being my calf muscle. (just going up the stupid ramp at Flinders Street Station)
I too am walking 'almost normally' now. Stairs are still a little bit of a problem.

I presumed that the next lot of bloods I have would show up as increased inflammation, so I haven't been to have any done yet.

[LisaT]

Pierre, I'm on prednisone and Imuran and although I do feel rubbish, I feel less rubbish than before starting these meds. If you're not feeling rubbish before the meds with your labs spiked, here's hoping you won't. I don't find Imuran to have the same nasty nausea and similar side effects that plagued me when I was on mtx a few years back. I hope you can do a quick 'burst' of meds and get back to feeling well and off of them again!

[BookNut]

Pierre 42 and Michelle,

About your torn muscles...have either of you ever taken the antibiotic Avelox, Levoquin or others in the same class? These antibiotics have a black box warning here in the US, indicating that a side effect is torn muscles and tendons...especially the Achilles. The possibility of rupture can last for months after taking the drug.

Here is a list of other drugs in same class: Levofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, Moxifloxacin Hydrochloride, Norfloxacin, Gemifloxacin, Besifloxacin, Lomefloxacin, Nalidixic acid, Trovafloxacin, Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride, Ciprofloxacin/Hydrocortisone, Gemifloxacin mesylate, Ciprofloxacin/Dexamethasone, Ciprofloxacin/Hydrocortisone/Benzyl alcohol

[mishb]

Thanks Jacquie,

I have never taken any of these antibiotics that you mentioned.
My physio said that it is common with long term pred/steroid use.

[Psyborg]

Long term steroid use does definitely cause tendon and muscle issues. Sorry you two are dealing with that fallout :(

[Pierre42]

And the latest checkup says I respond well to being bashed with 150mg Imuran and 50mg Pred! :hug3:

Not even finding any side effect other than a little insomnia the first couple of days.

If my checkup in two weeks is also clear we'll taper back to maintenance, Doc says we'll stick with Imuran rather than Methotrexate.