Category: treatments

Time to add methotrexate

Posted on Posted in amyopathic dermatomyositis, autoimmunity, dermatomyositis, dermatomyositis, treatmentsTagged , , ,

My rheumatologist and dermatologist agree with the Mayo Clinic dermatomyositis guru: After ten weeks on hydroxychloroquine, with few results, I need to add methotrexate and folic acid to my regimen of medications and supplements.

Otrexup: subcutaneous methotrexate
I’ll now be injecting myself with methotrexate in the thigh once a week with a cartridge that looks like a Soviet torture device. And I’ll be taking one milligram of folic acid every day—2.5 times the amount pregnant women take to stave off birth defects.

Methotrexate suppresses the body’s immune system. Developed in the 1940s as a chemotherapy agent to treat cancer, in low doses, studies and clinics have shown it effectively treats many autoimmune disorders. It’s a first-line treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and a second-line treatment for psoriasis. (Interestingly, it also used to induce abortions.) The drug is affordable, generally safe, and well tolerated by autoimmune patients.

Only time will tell whether or not the methotrexate relieves any of my rashes and itching. Medical journals show mixed evidence of its efficacy. In this dermatology study, only 1 of 4 patients with amyopathic dermatomyositis, in this one, only 2 of 3. However, this 1998 study showed it helped all 13 patients, whether they had muscle involvement or not. This 2011 study also found methotrexate reduced skin lesions in 8 of 11 patients.

Risks of Methotrexate

Liver toxicity is a risk of taking methotrexate. Though most of the above studies tout few adverse effects, one cancer-dermatomyositis patient had hair loss. These doctors observed psoriasis and dermatomyositis patients are at higher risk to liver damage than those with rheumatoid arthritis.

That said, methotrexate side effects are much more common in cancer patients. They take much higher doses of it than autoimmune patients. Brain damage is a real possibility for them.
 
I talked to all three of my doctors about side effects and risks. All three say the medication is generally safe and not to worry. Issues listed online and discussed in medical journals mostly affect autoimmune patients also battling obesity, drug or alcohol misuse or abuse, or cancer.
 
I will need regular blood tests to check for early signs of liver toxicity before the drug causes irreparable damage.

 

Itching and burning and the rashes from hell

Posted on Posted in dermatomyositis, existentialism, kyphosis, Scheuermann’s disease, symptoms, treatmentsTagged , , , , , ,

The severe itching has returned. My arms are inflamed and covered in rashes that resemble first degree burns just before they turn into blistering, second degree ones, that vivid ruby rose color that looks like I feel asleep in the Arizona sun. I feel like a shell of the creature who was once called a man.

Today marks week five since I started taking hydroxychloroquine. It is not yet working. I try to stay optimistic, to remind myself many patients only notice effects after six weeks, most notice nothing until months later. But until then, am I supposed to live in hell?

Meanwhile, my primary rheumatologist has been tapering me off steroids, slowly reducing the dosage to keep my immune system from overreacting. Taking corticosteroids for more than a few months could cause damage to my immune and endocrine systems.

Must I choose between damaging my body years from now and living in this itching, burning hell? Is the price of a quality life today a shorter tomorrow?

Some evenings, I curse my doctors’ treatment plan. Other evenings I curse myself. Others still, I curse whatever natural or supernatural entity decided I must suffer yet again, as though Scheuermann’s disease wasn’t enough, as though ADHD and depression haven’t been enough, as though life isn’t already hard enough. What kind of being would cripple his creation with a rash that makes you wish you were dead?

In reply to some twisted medical corollary to French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal’s famous wager, I told my girlfriend I would gladly trade a long life in hell for a short one in paradise.

Must I make this choice?

To quote Djimon Hounsou’s character in Gladiator, Juba, “Not yet, not yet.”

One more week. Can I make it? Yes, but will six weeks be enough?

Diagnosis confirmed: amyopathic dermatomyositis

Posted on Posted in amyopathic dermatomyositis, autoimmunity, dermatomyositis, dermatomyositis, lupus, symptoms, treatmentsTagged , , , ,

After three weeks, seven vials of blood, one vial of urine, and a computer tomography (CT) scan, my doctors have once again confirmed I have dermatomyositis.

Yet in true House episode fashion, this is an atypical presentation of dermatomyositis, called amyopathic dermatomyositis. In this instance, my skin itches, burns, and aches from the rashes on my arms, shoulders, and chest. But my muscles have not wasted enough to diagnose me with myositis.

Underneath my skin, my aldolase levels are still elevated. My breaths are sometimes shallow. I lost some muscle weakness. (But this could just as easily be all the corticosteroids I have been taking.) And my creatine kinase levels, which would indicate systematic muscle destruction, are within normal range.

Apparently, my body has decided having a very rare autoimmune condition does not make me special enough. According to Callander, Robson, Ingram, and Piguet, amyopathic dermatomyositis affects only 5‒20 percent of dermatomyositis patients. Doctors have only known about the condition since the early 1990s.

Good news at last

For the most part, this is great news. Exagen’s AVISE® test confirmed I do not have lupus, which can affect multiple organs. My urine and blood tests ruled out any kidney or liver damage. Functional muscle strength means I can maintain the quality of life I want.

However, amyopathic dermatomyositis is more likely to affect my lungs. Since my CT came back normal, for now, my doctors are not concerned. But interstitial lung disease remains a possibility. My immune system may also decide to begin attacking my muscles more severely.

My doctors and I will continue to monitor my disease. My rheumatologist has prescribed hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), an antimalarial drug used to combat autoimmune diseases. He has also started tapering down my steroids. And my dermatologist gave me a large tube of fluocinonide cream to keep the itching at bay.

Sometimes, being medically special is a good thing. A smile has returned to my face.

Living on the edge while working on the frontier

Posted on Posted in dermatomyositis, treatmentsTagged , , , ,

I manage and help write proposals at a university placed by the Times Higher Education in the world’s top 1 percent. Few places on earth are better for studying and advancing research in industrial, computer, electrical engineering; materials science; earth and space exploration; and biotechnology.

In doing my job, I see even before other academics and researchers how the world’s best scientists and engineers expand the frontiers of their chosen fields.

One engineer has a method for getting rid of dendrites in lithium batteries. I cannot say anymore than that, but in short, he and his partners know how to overcome one of physics and chemistry’s biggest obstacles to higher-capacity, longer-lasting lithium batteries in smartphones, drones, laptops, and electric cars.

A team of biochemists is folding nucleic acid nanostructures into geometrical shapes that can be used to reinvent biology on a nanoscale. Some day soon, they may be able to fold DNA and RNA—nature’s genetic instructions for life to grow, develop, function, and reproduce—into cures and treatments for cancer and infectious diseases.

My hope is they or someone else uses such methods to invent a cure for autoimmune diseases like dermatomyositis.

Living on the edge of what’s possible in modern medicine in a chaotic world seemingly controlled by corrupt institutions can be discouraging. Not knowing what cures and treatments await me induces as much anxiety as simply having the disease and as much frustration as dealing with hospital and insurance bureaucracies.

But it helps knowing such people are out there, looking at ways to improve humanity and society, to make our lives easier, is encouraging—especially for those of us waiting for a miracle.

Exercise and dermatomyositis

Posted on Posted in autoimmunity, dermatomyositis, treatmentsTagged , , , ,

Exercise is important for all of us. For me, it may save my life.

The worst symptom of dermatomyositis is muscle weakness. This happens because when you have myositis, anti-inflammatory cells meant for fighting infection attack your muscle cells. Over time, without regular use, your muscles waste away faster than they would in a healthy person.

Exercise is one of the best ways to combat the muscle deterioration caused by dermatomyositis.

This, of course, means I will have to give up my dreams of becoming a fitness model for a Slavic-language bodybuilding magazine or the National Football League’s oldest rookie wide receiver. Similarly, I will no longer be moonlighting as a piano-moving, tuxedo-clad male stripper. Sorry, ladies.

But muscles are not just for opening safety-sealed jars and trying to embody all that is man. You use muscles every time you move, talk, blink, wink, beat, or breathe.

The body’s diaphragm and external intercoastal muscles operate the lungs and help expand and contract our chest cavities. If these become weak, breathing becomes tough. If they get weak enough, you can’t breathe at all.

The heart is also a muscle. If your anti-inflammatory cells begin to attack it, without treatment, your heart would eventually fail. Fortunately, heart involvement in dermatomyositis only occurs in about 10–15 percent of patients. Fortunately for me, my last electrocardiogram revealed no abnormalities.

Exercise is important for all of us.

For me, it may save my life.

To keep my lungs and heart healthy and regain the lost strength in my muscles, they need to be exerted and stressed. They need to continue to break down and rebuild themselves to combat my immune system.

My whole life I have stayed active, so working out adds nothing new to my routine. At times, I lifted weights, ran, or played touch football with friends as many as five days a week. The last several years, I added protein or creatine or other workout supplements to help build muscle and soften the jump over age 30—at which point, almost all men start to see their athletic performance decline.

So I’m ahead of the game. And doing more of the same—exercising, eating well—can only help me for now. Plus, turns out, creatine supplements are a safe, relatively inexpensive way to improve muscle performance and function in dermatomyositis patients.