And another infection after taking Humira

To be fair, Humira really didn't have a chance and wasn't really to  blame.
After the last flu, I went back on Humira and methotrexate.
A month after I started the medicine again my "flares" were gone.
You know, I don't like to call them "flares".
It makes it sound like fashion accessories.
It, actually, feels like I have a little crew of dwarves who consider my body a mine, and are busy drilling and blasting away at all my joints.
So let's call them dwarves.
Okay, so the dwarves were gone and I was a happy little clam.
Then, suddenly, (this is where the scary music starts), I started feeling 'not well'.
I was nauseated and my abdominal area was uncomfortable. It wasn't bad, and I deal with side effects from all the stuff I take, so I ignored it.
Then my kidneys started feeling sore. So I did an over the counter UTI test. Inconclusive.
Then I found lots of blood in the toilet.
Well, that's embarrassing, which is why I posted it on this blog for the whole world to see.
So, of course, I didn't tell anyone for two days.
Then my fever started. At this point, you'd think I would go to a doctor.
Nooooooo! It's not that bad, I thought.
The fever was only 101.
I didn't have severe pain, just discomfort.
My kids wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo and Disneyland.
So, of course, I went to California and got worse.
So I finally went to the doctor when I got back.
He ordered a cat scan.
Whamo!
7mm kidney stone obstructing ureter with acute kidney infection.
Go Directly to ER, do not pass GO, do not collect $200.
So, of course, I went off the Humira and methotrexate, and three bouts of antibiotics later, I'm well.
At least, my kidneys are well.
My joints on the other hand ... dwarves.
Yesterday the dwarves mined into my shoulder.
It felt like they were inserting little pieces of glass in my shoulder.
After further research, I deduced that the medical establishment calls this "bursitis".
Today, the dwarves moved to my hip, where they are blasting away at the bursae there.
Tomorrow, I see my rheumatologist.
I hope he doesn't put me on a immune suppressant, but on the other hand, I think the dwarves need to go back into hibernation.
I have AP's to prepare my students for, Peru to go to, 30 students to take care of while in Peru, weight to lose.
Maybe if I sing a lullaby to the dwarves, they'll sleep.
Let's see if it works.

Grades are due! So apparently my joints have decided that this is the time to act all needy and beg for attention

So trimester 2 is over.
Grades are due by midnight tonight. 

I have about 5 hours of grading and 6 different classes to prepare for before tomorrow. 

Why did you procrastinate Marizza, you ask.

I was sick, is my excuse.
At this point, however, I don't accept that excuse. 

So now that I'm totally stressed out! 

As if to corroborate my naturopathic doctors claim that stress is really the trigger for my flares, I woke up today with FLARE!!!!!!

Yes! I had flare! Fashion sense, style, .... 

wait .. no! Not that type of "flare!".  The other kind of flare. 

Oh, Right! I have no style. 

So , here is the list:

Heels feel like I'm walking on glass ... check!

Ankles tender and feel like someone has decided to punch them ... check!

Elbow tender .. check!

Wrists swollen .. check!

Knees swollen ... check!

Yay! 

Leave no joint unnoticed. 

All joints will have equal representation!

Anyway, I'll de-stress on Wednesday. We'll see if I get back to normal.

In the mean time... back to grading!

You win today RA, but next time.....

I'm back

So, I started working again, and never found time to write in this thing. I mean, who cares really. No one will read this except me, but since my RA has been misbehaving, I should probably figure out what triggers the "flares".

So here is the summary of the last few months. 

I went on the crazy diet, and it made me feel great. 

Unfortunately, various joints in my body would still swell up randomly and unexpectedly every single day. 

This made it very difficult to teach math. 

So, I went to see a new Rheumatologist and he put me on Humira along with injectable 1 ml of methotrexate (an increase from my last prescription). After 1 month, my flares were gone, my knee pain was gone, my wrists barely hurt. I felt like my old self again. Something I hadn't experienced for years! I started walking my dog, going on hikes. It was beautiful. 

Then, I went on a business trip to San Antonio, and on the first day of the trip, came down with a fever of 103. By the time I got home, it was 104. The intriguing thing about this was that there were no other symptoms. Just a high fever. When it went up to 105, I went to see both my primary care physician, and my rheumatologist. The primary care did all sorts of tests and couldn't figure out what I had, so he gave me antibiotics and antiviral medicine. The rheumatologist told me to get off Humira and methotrexate until I was all better. He measured my CRP at 337 and my RF factor at 112. Apparently, this was pretty high so everyone got nervous. But, my fever went away, and after a couple of weeks, my flares returned. Yay!

Back I went on Humira and methotrextate. A month later, my flares were gone. Then a month after that, I got a flu. Again I had to stop the Humira and Methotrextate. Again my flares returned. Now I'm back on the meds. It's been a week. I have three more weeks to wait before my flares go away again. 

So what is flaring. Right now, they just started again. So far I had 

Sunday: Wrist flares, and heel bursitis (until 9am)

Monday: Left shoulder bursitis heel bursitis (until 12 pm)

Tuesday: NOTHING!!! YAY!

Wednesday: heel bursitis (until 9am)

Thursday: heel bursitis (until 8 am)

Friday: Right Shoulder bursitis (not that bad though)

Saturday: heel bursitis (until 9am)

Sunday: heel bursitis (until 2 pm)

The naturopathic did some labs and found I have hypothyroidism, Vitamin D deficiency, and low adrenals. 

So, I'm on all these supplements.

Zing, Magnesium, Fish Oil, Vitamin D, Oregano Oil, Folic Acid, Naturthoid, Vitamin B-12, B-6, and other B's. 

So my job is to find out what flares when.