28 posts shown.
Scott Bennett4 said:I am well aware that these medications come with an astronomical price tag. My inquiry stems from some research I’ve been doing regarding various administration protocols, which is why I’m asking.
Does the hospital board or the insurance commission approve coverage based on a specialist's recommendation—say, a physical therapist or someone similar—or is there a different bureaucratic process at play?
Forgive my persistence; it just seems as though you're the only one here with any actual clarity on the matter.
You aren't being annoying. We're all here to help.
In our case, it went through her rheumatologist's recommendation. Then they pull the labs and everything goes before a board—I think at the hospital—and then you just wait for approval. So far, we haven't had any issues getting the medication approved, but I know plenty of people who have been denied. I suppose it all comes down to the severity and the stage of the disease.
It’s been four years now... dealing with this miserable, draining disease. 😢
Enbrel comes in injections, while Remicade and Actemra require an infusion... You have to get them at the hospital because you need someone on hand in case of adverse reactions. And look, you have to be perfectly healthy before they even consider administering them. These drugs are insanely expensive, too—they're handled through the hospital, and some insurance board or medical commission has to sign off on everything first.
Scott Bennett4 said:I’ll go ahead and drop this question here as well... it's part of a more recent discussion.
If any doctors in this group could weigh in—or perhaps those currently managing their condition with biologics—could you clarify how these treatments interact with gonarthrosis in the knee and general osteoarthritis across other joints? Specifically, do they work to dampen inflammation and alleviate pain locally (for instance, targeting just the knee), or is the effect systemic, impacting the entire body?
Thanks.
My daughter is already on her third biologic in a row—she's using Actemra. She has JIA. It definitely works to calm the inflammation. And yeah, it likely affects the whole system. We failed with the first two biologics, but thank God she's doing better now. I just don't know how long she can stay on it since it really tanks her white blood cell count.
Is anyone else here still using Actemra?
Hey everyone...
I'm curious—has anyone here actually tried those biologic drugs? Specifically for arthritis or maybe something else entirely? I want to know if they actually work in your experience. Are they really the miracle cure people claim, or is it all just hype?
Jonathan Mendoza31 said:I’ve been through the ringer with blood work and all those different tests more times than I can count, and honestly? Everything comes back negative. My rheumatologist mentioned it might just be caught in the early stages, which is why it isn't showing up in my labs yet. On the flip side, every single orthopedic specialist I've seen says there's definitely inflammation present—specifically synovitis in my knee..
In principle, it doesn't even have to show up in your blood... Are you on any medication right now?
Jonathan Mendoza31 said:Hey everyone,
Is there anyone else dealing with reactive arthritis? I feel like I’ve only been finding posts about rheumatoid arthritis on here. For five years now, my knees have been chronically swollen, and honestly, none of the orthopedists could figure out what was going on until one finally sent me to a rheumatologist. Even then, we're still hitting walls. My labs come back totally normal, but they did find Ureaplasma on my cervical swabs. On top of that, my HLA-B27 typing came back negative, so the doctors basically ruled out reactive arthritis altogether. Now, I’m seeing a different rheumatologist who actually thinks it *is* reactive arthritis after all. It’s super confusing. Does anyone here have this specific diagnosis? How are you guys managing the joint swelling? Most of my other joints are fine—I had one episode where an index finger swelled up, but that was it. My inflammatory markers and MRIs for all my joints look okay, except for my knees, which show significant synovitis. I’ll probably have to go in for a synovectomy on my knee soon, so I’d really love to hear from anyone who has gone through something similar. I haven't found much info on these specific issues on the forum yet. Peace.
Has anyone actually gone through the ringer with ANA and RF testing... maybe even AST-O?
I could really use some insight here....
So, I just got hit with a garnishment notice from AT&T... This account was actually settled way back in August 2002. There was an attempt to collect in 2003, but they couldn't find any funds to grab!! Then, out of nowhere, another garnishment pops up in 2010, which we immediately contested... Basically, nothing happened between 2003 and 2010... No warnings, no notices, absolutely nothing...
Now, they’ve rejected our appeal. They're insisting on moving forward with the garnishment through an employer where the person hasn't worked for five years...
The paperwork claims they couldn't collect before... but the person has been steadily employed this whole time...
One more thing... the documents claim there was also a garnishment attempt in 2007, but we pulled court records proving we received zero communication from them between 2003 and 2010. Is the court still going to push this garnishment through regardless?
Have you guys looked into finding a vestibular rehab center yet? I can't even remember the exact name they use.