I'm wondering if any one has nausea or increased nausea with flares?
In the past prior to a flare I would have flu like symptoms and with a big flare I would get a lot of nausea with intolerable pain. I assumed the nausea was because of the increased pain.
Currently my flares have increased to more then one joint and every week I'm having a big one, rotating joints (some new, some old). Left thumb, right middle toe, hips and shoulders. Thumb and toe are both swollen, hips (can't tell) and shoulders no swelling I can see.
Right now I am taking MTX and Sulfasalazine and I am finding the pain level with the big flares has decreased (probably the meds working?), however I'm wondering if this increased nausea is because of the flares and not the increase in Sulfasalazine?
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Upon standing my eyes were in pain, massive headache and my head felt like my heart was in it.
I have low blood pressure (told because I'm so fit, ya right) and also have a hard time with having enough salt in my body(staying hydrated). I also have sleep apnea (like to hold my breath) and have fainted in the past because of all of this.
However I have never had the eye thing with the painful head aches.
I woke up this morning and was fine.
I've been staying well hydrated, knowing that I have to due to the meds, so I'm thinking that's not the problem. I also know I need to deal with the sleep apnea and was doing really good for a while until this recent incident.
I stopped a drug or two because of the said side effects, only to have them when I was no longer on them. When I get a major flare, im hunched over a toilet. Also, try drinking gatoraid or whatever. Dehydration is going to amplify your symptoms or may even cause them.
Have you seen someone for the sleep apnea? Even if it’s not that bad there are machines that will help out tremendously. My wife is now much improved with hers. Any pressure in the eye can also be serious, especially with PsA and the drugs. Could also be some sort of headaches, but I wouldn’t take the risk.
Thanks mataribot, currently drinking a powerade . I'm going stay on the meds and hopefully try and enjoy some of this Thanksgiving weekend ;-) Good to know I'm not the only one who feels sick with flares, not that I'd wish it on anyone but trying to figure out what is happening. My pain levels are fairly manageable however it's increasing along with the swelling in that foot and I am traveling later today...now I'm contemplating on whether or not I bring the crutches or even go....
mataribot said:
I stopped a drug or two because of the said side effects, only to have them when I was no longer on them. When I get a major flare, im hunched over a toilet. Also, try drinking gatoraid or whatever. Dehydration is going to amplify your symptoms or may even cause them.
I have talked to my doctor about the sleep apnea and am aware of the machine :-) My husbands aunt has one and it's made a huge difference. My husband actually had a machine sent over for his sleep apnea (common) and wore it through the night, sent it back, only to be told it didn't record properly. Maybe we will do the testing together :-) I just had my eyes checked and all is good, some dry eye but nothing more. I'm thinking I got up too fast and maybe fighting a bit of a head cold as our son is currently getting over one.
mataribot said:
Have you seen someone for the sleep apnea? Even if it's not that bad there are machines that will help out tremendously. My wife is now much improved with hers. Any pressure in the eye can also be serious, especially with PsA and the drugs. Could also be some sort of headaches, but I wouldn't take the risk.
I ended up stopping sulfasalazine which I was taking with Enbrel because the sulfa was giving me horrendous nausea. I had dry heaves in the office at work, while walking to my car, weekends in bed with it. And one of the most irritating symptoms was that it made my heart beat so loud in my head that it would wake me up. What the hell is that??
My rheumatologist's philosophy is to get me to the point that he's happy that the disease is in check and I'm happy that my quality of life is acceptable. I know we're supposed to tough some things out and to give things time, but being able to function is really important, too. Hope you get to be able to strike the right balance.
I haven't had any nausea with Sulfasalizine and I've been on it close to a year. Mtx is a different story...I had to stop taking it due to the many, many side effects. Mtx affected my quality of life on its own.
Sulfasalizine can cause both nausea and / or headaches so they say. Are you eating enough before the meds? I know I can have just a small snack with Sulfasalazine but maybe you need more in your stomach with it. Or maybe adjust when you take them. Do you take them close together ?
Anything is possible. I do get nausea on occasion but haven't associated it with a flare up. I'll have to keep an eye on that.
I started the Sulfasalazine due to still having flares while injecting 25mg MTX. You're absolutely right Dini, I have to make sure I eat enough when taking it or the nausea is worse. I'm taking the morning and night sulfa at least 8 hours apart. I've increased the folic acid. Unfortunately it's not looking good as I have had an increase in flares along with an increase of joints flaring at one time. I'm waiting for a call from my Rheumy, it's a long weekend here (thanksgiving) so it won't be until mid week. I'm still toughing it out however I seem to be worse then ever. My husband made a comment today about the increase in flares and I seem worse since adding the Sulfasalazine.
I'm feeling rather hopeless at the moment and to be honest today was a brutal day. My husband and I traveled for an over night trip to shop and this was my fist time going anywhere while flaring, I had no choice as I haven't had a break for the past three weeks. We brought my crutches but I refused to use them, he wanted me to drive a cart but I refused that too and toughed it out. I know if this continues I'll have to utilize devices to help, but I'm not ready for that yet. So the stubborn side of me will tough it out.
Sybil, my sed rate hardly ever goes up. Only a few times in all the years I've had PSA. I can have massive swelling and the tests still show it's fine! It's frustrating because the nurse made a comment the meds must be working because it's fine, however I told her that means nothing for me as they are always fine. My doctor and I had a discussion about it when I was just there this past week. He sees the swelling and knows the rate never rises. He has really changed his was of thinking since I have been diagnosed and I can tell he has been researching a bit about PSA too :-)
I've been off work for a few months this round. I went back for four days and had to leave the morning of the fifth day(back in June). I work on a ship, physical job as a deck hand/bridge watch and in order to go back I have to be 100% as my job also requires me to be part of the emergency team, I'm the designated first aid attendant too. I miss work and I miss the crew. Right now I'm hardly able to do daily tasks at home with out having increased pain and flares, so my future is not looking too bright at the moment. I am definitely willing to try biologics, my rheumy believes there is something that will help me get back to a function life. That gives me faith, along with hearing about other peoples success with their meds.
I was really lucky as I made it through all of my 30's with only a few flares a year, I never imagined I could get worse! My life was highly functioning with a few set backs but I always got better:-) I was working shift work, training for a marathon and half marathons, Local President for our Union (representing almost 200 members) and oblivious to what this disease could do, I was clueless and living in the moment. That was my 30's...fast forward to 40 and here I am...reality check....
sybil said:
I'm on Mtx and Sulfasalazine. Pretty stable just now but I think that's because of my fairly rigid routine & working from home so I can rest when I need to. In other words I appreciate the DMARD combo for finally getting my ESR down ('sed rate' I believe you call it across the pond) and for possibly preventing flares but I'd like to be able to push myself more & that's when I hit a brick wall.
I think I spend a lot of time fending off side effects of the drugs - there's no way I could look after myself so carefully if I was going out to work. This particular combination of drugs strikes me as being just about satisfactory, just about effective for some of us but at quite a cost & I can't help wondering what life would be like on biologics.
Thanks Janeaitu. I'm looking forward to finding the right balance. Hopefully one day soon :-)
janeatiu said:
Hi TaraLynn,
I ended up stopping sulfasalazine which I was taking with Enbrel because the sulfa was giving me horrendous nausea. I had dry heaves in the office at work, while walking to my car, weekends in bed with it. And one of the most irritating symptoms was that it made my heart beat so loud in my head that it would wake me up. What the hell is that??
My rheumatologist's philosophy is to get me to the point that he's happy that the disease is in check and I'm happy that my quality of life is acceptable. I know we're supposed to tough some things out and to give things time, but being able to function is really important, too. Hope you get to be able to strike the right balance.
I never had nausea because of a flare up, just pain and misery. However, MTX made me infamous at work for bolting in the middle of meetings to get the nearest bathroom and throw up.
You'll find balance at some point. I know what you mean, that in the beginning people don't understand PSA and think, oh just an ol' lil arthritis, couple of Ibuprofen and good as new. HAH!!! but the important is never give up. I have been going through 2 bad months and two hellish last weeks, yet next week I will be sailing taking my ASA certification for sailboats. If my back hurts, too bad so sad, I will grit my teeth and plow through it :) I am sick of PSA trying to push me back, I am in war mode now.
Dini, I had some side effects with the MTX when I started. Nausea and fatigue, however when we switched to injections it made a big difference. I was doing alright on 2 sulfasalazine a day and even managed 3 alright but adding that forth one sure has made a difference. Again, I'm not sure if it's the sulfa or flares because since increasing the dose I have been flaring non stop.
Dini said:
I haven't had any nausea with Sulfasalizine and I've been on it close to a year. Mtx is a different story...I had to stop taking it due to the many, many side effects. Mtx affected my quality of life on its own.
Sulfasalizine can cause both nausea and / or headaches so they say. Are you eating enough before the meds? I know I can have just a small snack with Sulfasalazine but maybe you need more in your stomach with it. Or maybe adjust when you take them. Do you take them close together ?
Anything is possible. I do get nausea on occasion but haven't associated it with a flare up. I'll have to keep an eye on that.
Janeatiu, I have only been 5 weeks on the Sulfa and not sure how long it takes to work. I am thinking it's fairly quick because my rheumy picked sulfa over Enbrel because she said if the sulf works, it will work fast. Hopefully when my rheumy calls she switches me over to Enbrel.
janeatiu said:
TaraLynn, I think you and I have had VERY similar drug experiences (MTX and sulfa). I tolerated four pills for a couple months then no more.
I was put on sulfa while already taking Enbrel. The Enbrel wasn’t getting all my inflammation. It really helped and I had to go up and down a few times with the dosage. If I got up to four pills and the inflammation went down for a while I could reduce the pills to two and stay there until I felt a flare coming then I upped the pills. But once the Enbrel really stopped working I was on four pills daily…hello nausea! Enbrel was terrific at first. Instantly. Just my body got sneaky and stopped letting it work and fought it instead. I’d give it a couple more weeks to see if it works. But then I’d be taking that Enbrel in a flash.
Yes, I almost always suffer from nausea that comes and goes with the severity of the flair. This is one of the first things I noticed when the disease really started to catch up with me three years ago. My flu like symptoms can get really intense for several days at a time. I have even had to have ER treatment for this as it has been so severe they thought I was having a gall bladder attach. They gave me Omeperazol for it and a ten day course usually helps.Sounds like you may be starting to have the migraine issues that come with the eye involvement. Check with your eye doctor and see if you have high pressure in your eyes. I am still waiting for my new reumy to schedule me so I am on a hold for Humira, been doing Kenelog as needed for two years. Lack of insurance did not help but hope to start new treatment very soon. Also my reumy and derm do not agree on treatment course so I don't know about the drug reactions. Hope you feel better soon.:)
This is something that can lead to glaucoma and should be checked out . I just had an MRI last week to make sure that the intense eye pain and nausea I have been having in the last six weeks is nothing more than a flare. Good news- it is a migraine cluster and they are treating me with Summatriptan, 1000 mg. of Naproxin a day and and ten day course of anti-biotic to rule out an underlying infection. That said. Yes, nausea is an issue for some people. I have had several doctors tell me this.
Thanks crazylady, I had my eyes checked just recently and the only issue was dry eye. The nausea seems to come and go. I'm finding ginger tea and making sure I eat something solid when taking the pills has helped. I think increased flares are also causing more nausea. It seems to come in waves, I'm going to continue riding it out until my Rheumy.
crazylady said:
Yes, I almost always suffer from nausea that comes and goes with the severity of the flair. This is one of the first things I noticed when the disease really started to catch up with me three years ago. My flu like symptoms can get really intense for several days at a time. I have even had to have ER treatment for this as it has been so severe they thought I was having a gall bladder attach. They gave me Omeperazol for it and a ten day course usually helps.Sounds like you may be starting to have the migraine issues that come with the eye involvement. Check with your eye doctor and see if you have high pressure in your eyes. I am still waiting for my new reumy to schedule me so I am on a hold for Humira, been doing Kenelog as needed for two years. Lack of insurance did not help but hope to start new treatment very soon. Also my reumy and derm do not agree on treatment course so I don't know about the drug reactions. Hope you feel better soon.:)
This is something that can lead to glaucoma and should be checked out . I just had an MRI last week to make sure that the intense eye pain and nausea I have been having in the last six weeks is nothing more than a flare. Good news- it is a migraine cluster and they are treating me with Summatriptan, 1000 mg. of Naproxin a day and and ten day course of anti-biotic to rule out an underlying infection. That said. Yes, nausea is an issue for some people. I have had several doctors tell me this.
Thanks Janeatiu :-) good to hear you the Enbrel worked fast, however it's too bad it stopped working :-( I'm going to continue on until I talk with my rheumy. I also decreased the dose when I started having increased nausea, but ended up having a flare. The flares are coming more often now and lasting longer then usual, even on the full dose.
janeatiu said:
I was put on sulfa while already taking Enbrel. The Enbrel wasn't getting all my inflammation. It really helped and I had to go up and down a few times with the dosage. If I got up to four pills and the inflammation went down for a while I could reduce the pills to two and stay there until I felt a flare coming then I upped the pills. But once the Enbrel really stopped working I was on four pills daily...hello nausea! Enbrel was terrific at first. Instantly. Just my body got sneaky and stopped letting it work and fought it instead. I'd give it a couple more weeks to see if it works. But then I'd be taking that Enbrel in a flash.
Yeah it's hard to beat that "Opps, all of a sudden I can't do this anymore or I will throw up" feeling. Glad to hear that you are feeling a little better. Hope the ginger tea keeps working. A good healthy diet does seem to be the most important thing here. If the headache comes back and you still have severe nausea and pounding do check with your GP. Hope it doesn't for your sake. Have a great day and do something just for you today.
TaraLynn said:
Thanks crazylady, I had my eyes checked just recently and the only issue was dry eye. The nausea seems to come and go. I'm finding ginger tea and making sure I eat something solid when taking the pills has helped. I think increased flares are also causing more nausea. It seems to come in waves, I'm going to continue riding it out until my Rheumy.
crazylady said:
Yes, I almost always suffer from nausea that comes and goes with the severity of the flair. This is one of the first things I noticed when the disease really started to catch up with me three years ago. My flu like symptoms can get really intense for several days at a time. I have even had to have ER treatment for this as it has been so severe they thought I was having a gall bladder attach. They gave me Omeperazol for it and a ten day course usually helps.Sounds like you may be starting to have the migraine issues that come with the eye involvement. Check with your eye doctor and see if you have high pressure in your eyes. I am still waiting for my new reumy to schedule me so I am on a hold for Humira, been doing Kenelog as needed for two years. Lack of insurance did not help but hope to start new treatment very soon. Also my reumy and derm do not agree on treatment course so I don't know about the drug reactions. Hope you feel better soon.:)
This is something that can lead to glaucoma and should be checked out . I just had an MRI last week to make sure that the intense eye pain and nausea I have been having in the last six weeks is nothing more than a flare. Good news- it is a migraine cluster and they are treating me with Summatriptan, 1000 mg. of Naproxin a day and and ten day course of anti-biotic to rule out an underlying infection. That said. Yes, nausea is an issue for some people. I have had several doctors tell me this.