Tag: health

does rose have rosacea?

So, as I like to say, the hits just keep on coming.

I get used to a certain amount of pummeling on my body and, bam, here comes a left hook that sends my head spinning.

About four months ago, I started experiencing pimples on my brows and forehead. I had thought I wasn’t washing my brows well enough. Since they are getting sparse and gray, when they have no pencil on them, I look a sight. So, I would sometimes not wash all of my brow pencil off. at night before bed. Well, after I stepped up my hygiene routine, I saw some improvement, of course, and felt like needing to wash more thoroughly was all that it was.

But the pimples were also along my hairline. Then they started on my nose, and from there, I developed what I thought were psoriasis plaques below the corners of my mouth, followed by the right side of my mouth. The skin on my nose would sometimes peel because at times I would put acne treatment on it. So, I stopped that. But even without the acne care, I still was noticing some peeling.

I notified the pharmacy that dispenses my biosimilar for my RA so they can put this in their files. I was pretty certain this biosimilar, a drug that is similar to but not the exact same as the brand-name drug I was taking, was the cause.

I also informed my rheumatologist at last week’s appointment. She did a quick glance and said it looks like rosacea. I told her I’d never had that before, just acne in my teens and twenties (and thirties . . . ).

I had an appointment with my dermatologist for today, but yesterday, I had canceled it, thinking I needed to get some work done and that my skin was actually clearing up. Then just this afternoon, I started noticing red skin, not just pimples, but flushed skin, on the right side of my mouth, starting just under my nose. This is definitely something new.

I did a little research on it, and it most definitely could be rosacea. I learned today that the autoimmune pathways that trigger RA also trigger rosacea. My niece has a bad case of it, so I will let her know. Her uncle on her mother’s side has RA, and her aunt on her father’s side (yep, that’s me) also has it. Her younger sister is starting to get aches and pains, migraines, too, and I warned her to get tested when it gets bad.

Back to the rash: Since it is similar to a malar rash, I’m now wondering if it could be lupus. If you have one autoimmune condition, you’re very likely to get another. I was recently (maybe within the past year or just before that) retested for some of the blood markers for other autoimmune diseases, and lupus did not come up. But I still wonder . . .

I just went onto the web portal for my medical group and reinstated my appointment. It’s now for August, but so was my last one; the group has a very active wait list, and I will be informed when an opening pops up. I will take the very next appointment.

I’m finding that when you have a disorder like RA, you are never in the clear. There are so many new symptoms that can arise that you never would have thought had a connection to the disease, like rosacea and the spinal stenosis and hypertrophy I just learned I had in my cervical spine.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

ra, ra, sis boom bah

Having rheumatoid arthritis (ra): one person’s perspective

It’s been a while since I’ve written. Life is still hectic, maybe more so than ever. I watch my two granddaughters two days a week and work 25-plus hours as well (actually, more like 30-plus) from home.

The biggest news is that in April of 2023, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. For those who are unfamiliar with it, RA is an autoimmune disease, a condition in which a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells. The immune system is supposed to work for us, but turns on us and works against us (kind of like the new administration in Washington, but don’t get me started).

The disorder I have, RA, mainly attacks the synovial lining within joints, although other body parts are also involved. There is no stopping it, but there are ways to slow it down, namely with medications. I am on an injectable immunosuppressant and methotrexate (MTX).

My disease is up and down. I had been seeing a rheumatologist for four years before my blood markers actually showed I had RA. For years, I had had symptoms of something: carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, migraines, knee problems, TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorder, and more. Many of these, I just chalked up to aging or as isolated events, although I had thought something more was going on, something bigger was behind it all.

In the winter of 2023, that something definitely wanted to be noticed and labeled. At that time, I would wake up stiff. My left arm was bent, my knees were buckling as I walked, I was so stiff and in so much pain that I had to take the stairs one step at a time while holding the railing (and I was still trying to be a caregiver to my toddler granddaughter).

I made a new appointment with my rheumatologist and asked for all the tests to be run again. She, and the doctor who was working with her under a fellowship at the time, agreed. My RF (rheumatoid factor) was 250, while normal is less than 15 units per milliliter (U/mL). But the clincher was my anti-CCP (anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide) test, which often puts the nail in the coffin, so to speak, on people with symptoms of RA who also have clinical presentations of the disease. Normal is 20 U/mL. Mine was nearly 1,000.

From there, I was immediately put on prednisone for a few weeks, which caused bloating and weight gain, but I looked at it as a miracle drug: Nearly immediately, it took away my pain and stiffness. I couldn’t believe it was possible. I was also started on methotrexate. I believe it was eight to 10 pills a week. MTX is a form of chemotherapy that is used at low dosages for autoimmune diseases. After a few months of experiencing side effects (namely, hair loss, a purpura rash, and heartburn). A few months later, I started a biologic. I had no side effects from that, but symptoms would still arise on occasion, such as trigger finger.

I also went to physical therapy. I had an excellent PT at a nearby facility. My knee and my elbow both improved tremendously.

I’m considering going back to PT because I have developed some new symptoms. A month ago, I started to get cervicogenic headaches. This head pain originates in the cervical spine (the neck) and travels up the back of the head to the top and behind the eye. I went to my neurologist a couple weeks ago, and my physician’s assistant gave me corticosteroid injections. (He’s a pro, having performed many injections on me when I had carpal tunnel syndrome. Incidentally, I had hand surgery with my orthopedist a few years ago: both hands, with surgeries being about a year apart.)

The shots, which went directly into my scalp and shoulder, helped with the head pain, but I still feel it in my neck and the traveling pain to my head hasn’t stopped completely. I mainly feel it when I lie back and a bit upright to read. Sometimes, I still feel it when trying to sleep. I bought a special pillow, which actually is helping.

I asked my PA about getting an MRI so we can see what the cause is. I had that on Monday and got the report back yesterday. In some of my joints, I have severe stenosis, as well as bone spurs and degeneration of the discs. Although I haven’t gotten a review of the report by my doctor, from what I can gather, the stenosis is putting pressure on the nerve that travels up my head. This is what I will need to go to PT for. My lower back is a problem, too, though, so I will have to learn how to exercise both areas, I suppose. I read that massage is also very good, which is the best part of PT, by the way.

I have had so many medical appointments, I feel like an 80-year-old at times. I see my rheumatologist tomorrow, my dermatologist next week (I have developed a rash with plaques on my face; it may be due to the biosimilar I was switched to), and I need to get a DEXA scan, as well as see my dentist in June. I had a tooth resorption, in which the bone deteriorates from inside. That tooth had to be pulled, and I now need a partial plate (speaking of 80-year-olds). Yet another symptom of RA, as is the cervical spine problem.

This is my life in a nutshell right now. I plan to keep track of my progress (or regress, if that’s the case) in these pages. Till next time, at which time I want to discuss my possible career downsizing, meaning I’m thinking of cutting back on work, which may be exacerbating my symptoms (so many hours spent upright staring at a screen).