ARAVA Reviews (LEFLUNOMIDE)Average Rating: 2.8 (217 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ARAVA with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on ARAVA: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ARAVA | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 2 | RA | Minimal hair loss, fatigue, muscle weakness, blurry vision, persistant cough, involuntary muscle spasms, loose stools, memory loss. | F | 42 | 1 months 20mg | 4/14/2014 | 5 | exhausted all other RA meds eccept | Diarrhea Many Times a day& frequent urination | F | 56 | 4 years 5 mg | 4/6/2014 | 2 | RA | I have been feeling nauseous a few hrs after taking the pill and will then throw up. I am always feeling itchy but there is never any rash. I get terrible headaches that can last almost all day. I also have been needing to constantly pee and have stomach cramps and occasionally chest pain. | F | 18 | 3 weeks 20mg | 3/16/2014 | 3 | Osteoarthritis | The worst side effect has been the hair loss. My Dr. put me on 1 mg of folic acid to help stop the hair loss, which seemed to help for a short time and then the hair started falling out again. I actually have a spot that has stopped growing. And, just recently my arthritis symptoms came back. My Dr. wanted to up my dose, but I decided to get off of it. I am now taking 2 mg folic acid and 10 mg Biotin, I hope this works to get my hair back.. | F | 45 | 4 months 10 mg 1X day | 3/5/2014 | 1 | Ankylosing Spondylitis | Horrible drug. Very harsh and irritating to my body. Got over the stomach issues that happened first, but got severe headaches all the time. The pain from inflammation and join pains got worse. I got off the drug after six days because I feared for my life. Felt like I was going to have a stroke. My PCP said that Arava made the inflammation in my sinuses worse and probably made vascular inflammation worse. Got off it asap. | I understand the drug stays in your system for two entire years. One has to take another horrible drug with side effects to 'wash out' the Arava. Never will touch this poison again. It's not worth it. | F | 67 | 6 days 30 MG 1X day | 3/3/2014 | 5 | RA | Arava has worked wonders in my life and I'm almost symptom free of joint pain, swelling and fatigue, BUT I'M LITERALLY ALMOST BALD AND IT DEPRESSES ME! | F | 39 | 8 years 10 MG | 2/18/2014 | 4 | Inflammatory Arthritis/Sjogren's | Hair loss! | Arava has significantly helped my arthritis and general well being. The down side is that I've had EXTREME hair loss. I'm trying various remedies, including high dose Biotin (10mg). I hope it works. I'm seriously considering going off of it. I'm on plaquenil as well and failed methotrexate. | F | 44 | 3.5 months 20 MG 1X day | 9/21/2013 | 3 | lupus | Big toenails PAIN w/horizontal indentation, dry itchy skin w/tingles/paleness, painful loose bowels 1st month everyday, moderate/severe head hair loss/GRAYING/brittleness, existing tinnitus Worse, dry nose/mild bleeding, existing calf/ankle/foot edema Worse, existing brain fog Worse | Lessened knee, hand, shoulder, arm joint pain for about 2 weeks, after 1 month, then increased somewhat. All over unwell feeling returned. I sometimes don't know if it's worth it. | F | 54 | 6 weeks 20 mg 1X day | 9/14/2013 | 4 | Rheumatoid arthritis | I've been itchy and had a little gastrointestinal distress but has been manageable | Starting to see a glimmer of my old self. Moving more and a bit easier. Woke up feeling rested for the first time on years. I'm hopeful that this will be a good fit. There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel and for a change it's not a train. | F | 63 | 2 months 20 mg 1X day | 7/29/2013 | 4 | mixed connective tissue diseases | I was excited over the weight loss as I need to lose a lot. However, after losing 61 lbs. I have now started to gain rapidly (over 5 lbs. in one week). I am so bummed because I do not want to gain it all back. It seems to have lowered my sed rate. I have also lowered my prednisone but since prednisone actually helps me LOSE weight and feel so much better I don't see that as a good thing. Prednisone has always been my friend. I am not sure now about the Arava. | So far my liver functions are normal. Plaquinil did nothing for me. Arava seems to help. | F | 62 | 5 months 20mg 1X day | 6/29/2013 | 2 | Psoriatic Arthritis | Hair loss, decreased appetite, weight loss, diarrhea, abdominal pain, ITCHING(!!!), pneumonia. | I started Arava for psoriatic arthritis towards the middle-end of April. Initially the side effects seemed to be tolerable...weight loss and mild diarrhea. Recently I came down with a chest infection that turned into pneumonia. I ended up in the hospital on IV antibiotics for 6 days. I have since resumed the Arava, and now I am noticing quite a bit of hair loss. Most recently, I have discovered that it is making me very itchy. I have stopped it and restarted it twice, due to the pneumonia. Each time I restart it, within a few days, I become very itchy again. It is literally from head to toe, but there is no rash that I can see. I was previously on MTX, which was helping, but I was diagnosed with liver disease and am unable to take MTX at this point in time. However, given these new side effects, I may talk to my rheumatologist about switching back to MTX. I am also unable to take biologics at this point in time, due to a rare Remicade reaction. | F | 31 | 2 months 20 mg 1X day | 6/14/2013 | 3 | rheumatoid arthritis | Dizziness in the morning upon waking is my only complaint so far. It only last for 2 hours and goes away. But so far my joints hurt less and I have more energy! I am super excited about the changes so far and I have only been taking it a few days. Hopefully I only get better. | F | 29 | 2 days 10mg | 6/8/2013 | 5 | Mixed Connective Tissue Disease | Texture change in hair, minimal hair loss. | Arava was a life saver to me! I have more energy and my joint pain and swelling has lessened. I am starting to see glimpses of my old self coming through after 5 years of trying everything from Imuran to Plaquenil. It took me about a month before I noticed a difference. | F | 44 | 4 months 20 MG 1X day | 4/18/2013 | 5 | RA | no side effects , works brilliantly for me. | F | 46 | 5 years 20 mg | 4/18/2013 | 5 | rheumatoid disease | Loosing my hair | F | 31 | 5 months 20 | 4/12/2013 | 3 | RA | Hair loss, fatigue | F | 35 | 6 months 20mg | 4/11/2013 | 1 | RA | Loose stools, bad stomach cramps, badly blurred vision, fatigue, nausea. I ended up in ER over holidays. Thought it was influenza but it was Arava and it was awful. Stopped med for 3 weeks and started again to be sure...it is the Arava. It works wonders for the RA but I lost three jean sizes in 3 weeks from the side effects...too sick to eat. | F | 48 | 4 weeks 10 mg | 2/3/2013 | 2 | RA | Considerable fatigue, constant dry mouth/eyes/skin, tingling in feet/fingers, some hair loss. Extreme joint pain/swelling/immobility and muscle achiness. | RA Dr. doubled my dose yesterday to 20 mg a day, because I haven't had any relief from the 10mg daily dose.After reading everyone's experiences here, I'm a little nervous as to the worsening side effects. Sure hope this helps because I don't want to go on Biologics. | F | 53 | 6 months 10 MG 1X day | 2/1/2013 | 5 | RA | no side effects at all | F | 46 | 4 years 30 mg | 12/18/2012 | 1 | RA | loose stools, nausea, blurred vision, tingling/numbness in feet/arms/face | I had no side effects with humira and mtx but after my baby was born, they weren't as effective. Changed to Actemra and MTX but rheumatologist was still not happy with results so replaced MTX with leflunomide. Worked wonders for my RA but the side effects negated the positives. Took cholestyramine to flush leflunomide out of my system 2 weeks ago but still recovering. Going back to MTX pills. | F | 34 | 3 months 20 mg 1X day | 11/14/2012 |