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.) |
RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ARAVA | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
5 | Psoriatic Arthritis | It makes me a little sleepy so i take it at night. No other side effects so far. This drug has made all the difference for me. | I was taking a combination of MTX and Humira. The MTX left me in a constant state of nausea. Now on Humira and Arava and I feel like a new person. Out of all my symptoms the fatigue was the most debilitating. With Arava I have more energy, almost no stiffness and joint pain is minimal. I feel normal. :) I hope it continues to work for me. | F | 39 | 4 months 10mg 1X day | 11/12/2012 | 2 | Lupus/RA | Bad diarrhea for a day yesterday, but it hasn't helped feet pain so far | Was taking MTX for 5-6 years, but liver played up, so rheumatologist has switched me to Arava. Feet very painful still - I wonder if that will subside... | F | 66 | 3 weeks 10mg 1X day | 10/26/2012 | 4 | RA | Initially, I experienced reduction in the severity and length of flair-ups with the help of steroids. After 6 months, hair started falling out in handfuls, numbness in balls of feet and toes, rash under the arms. Also, weight gain from intermittent steroid use. Dermatologist cured rash, Rheumatologist recommended folic acid for hair loss (taking 2400 MCG per day to stop hair loss). Still have numbness in feet that is tolerable. Blood sugar has slowly creeped up along with cholesterol and am borderline diabetic. I moderate diet by almost eliminating red meat and sugar. Eating more salmon and chicken and eliminating wheat helps. I also take ibuprofen and Hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg when i sense the occasional flair-up coming to reduce symptoms. If the flair is severe, I have to add a dose of steroids, too. | Early on, my rheumatologist recommended a dose of MTX with Arava. I could not tolerate it, so have managed to moderate my RA for years with Arava only. I go through spurts of fair ups and then nothing for months. I guess you could call me lucky that I don't experience some of the more drastic counter interactions of this drug. I wish i could be off of Arava indefinitely but am glad that it has brought my symptoms somewhat under control. I am investigating taking an Indian homeopathic called Zyflamend recommended by a doctor to reduce inflammation. Have not tried this yet. | F | 65 | 8 years 20 1X day | 10/14/2012 | 4 | Inflamatory Arthritis | Loose stools but knee now much better. Started Avara after 12 years on methotrexate, this used to knock me for six once a week and had ceased to be affective. | So far so good, 3 weeks without metho and 3 weeks on Avara. Swelling has gone in knee, aided by gym/physio exercise. Bloods all cleat, exercise has kept blood pressure in the right range, even managed to walk and play 18 holes of Golf for the first time in 4 months... fingers crossed it keeps working... | M | 43 | 3 weeks 20 1X day | 10/10/2012 | 2 | RA | After MTX respratory problems, Enbrel severe reaction, no effects with Orencia after 9 months (even though tolerable),3 weeks on Arava, i am exhausted and the last three days have had heart palpitations and increased blood pressure (this am 160/100), cough like i had on MTX - not looking good | F | 49 | 3 weeks 10 1X day | 8/6/2012 | 2 | RA | I just recently started the med. Stomach tore up bad and cramping daily. Irritability. So far I have increased pain.. in areas where I wasn't before. Will check back often. | M | 51 | 2 weeks 20mg | 7/29/2012 | 1 | RA | Fatigue (more like complete exhaustion), shortness of breath, heart palpitations, persistant cough, hair loss (hair down to my waist. I had to cut it up to my shoulders. It was coming out in handfuls) | F | 36 | 4 months 20mg | 7/23/2012 | 5 | lupus/arthritis | None! My dose was increased to 20mg 4days & 40mg 3 days/week, alternating. I had great results after few months, with the severity & frequency of flares decreasing. Still had a few bad ones, though, so added the additional tab about 6 weeks ago. NO FLARES!!! I also take Plaquinil. Didn't want to take MTX & love my Rheumatologist for trying Arava!! | F | 44 | 9 months 20-40 | 7/14/2012 | 1 | rh | burning sensation hands & feet . Head aches .ulcr type rash | M | 54 | 4 months 10mg daily | 6/10/2012 | 4 | I am taking Arava/Leflunomide | SO FAR, I have had NO Diarrhea!!! No Hair Loss. BUT, had lost a whole Head of Hair on MTHX. I have Headaches and Ringing in my Ears, a little Stomach Pains, Tolerable Nausea, ON Arava. Arava Seems to be Helping so far. I had NOT had any Set Backs in this Short time. I Can Tolerate this Pill as Opposed to Methotrexate @ .06ml Injections (Which I did MySELF!) On Methx I Couldn't Keep Loosing Hair cause I was Near BALD. The Nausea was Horrible and the FATIGUE was WORSE! I was Drinking Tons of Coffee to Stay Awake and taking Sleep Pills to Fall Asleep, I was EXCELLENT in Reducing My Masses on my Lungs. It Arava Doesn't continue to work then Back on the Mthx;( ~ Jan | I am Taking ARAVA for SARCOIDOSIS. I was Diagn in 09, But Im Sure Ive had it for YEARS. My health(Fatigue, Breathing) became worse, and this is what they found, Masses in My Lungs. It has Now Spread to My Nose, Fingers and Arms... Hope this was Helpful! Jan | F | 47 | 1 months 20mg 1X day | 6/4/2012 | 5 | Reactive Arthritis | loose stools on occasion, burning/tingling feet | My symptoms were quickly treated by Prednisone while I waited for Arava to kick in. I was on Arava and Sulfasalazine for a year then just Arava for the last six months. I believe my loose stools are connected to the Arava and the burning/tingling feet. I will never know if my arthritis was kept away by the Arava or just b/c I'm in b/w flairs. Either way my experience with Arava was positive for the most part. I hardly felt like I was on any med at all. The loose stools and burning feet symptoms were infrequent and were tolerable. I think the Arava also helped clear up some eczema on my scalp. My liver checks were always clear. | F | 36 | 18 months 1X day | 5/24/2012 | 1 | RA | Started Arava 10 mg daily "test" dose late 2/2012 w/out obvious incident after a MISERABLE failure of methotrexate. Dose increased to Arava 20 mg daily 3/1/2012 w/immediate improvement in pain, fatigue BUT ALSO SIDE EFFECTS. These started w/ SEVERE BLURRED VISION, BURNING SOLES OF FEET, SEVERE BRUISING, RECTAL BLEEDING, NEW ONSET SUPRAVENTRICULAR TACHYCARDIA (SVT) REQUIRING HEART TO BE "STOPPED"/"RESET" IN E.R., NEW ONSET ANGINA. *I* am a Physician Assistant and know in my gut that this IS due to the drug as I have normal cholesterol, hormal blood pressure and no risk factors for heart disease other than family history. Was initially thrilled to be painfree for the first time in over a decade but AFTER READING THESE POSTS (FOUND AFTER MY HEART EPISODE) REALIZE THAT THE RISK:BENEFIT PROFILE IS **NOT** WORTH TAKING THIS MED. | Did Arava 10 mg "test" dose X 15 days, then was on 20 mg X 15 days before heart went into SVT and had to be stopped to "reset" in addition to multiple other side effects. | F | 50 | 15 days 20 mg 1X day | 3/19/2012 | 1 | ra | Just gathering data. Not taking it yet. Want to know what I'm doing. I have my rx on my nightstand, but I'm afraid. | F | 37 | 3 days 30? | 1/12/2012 | 1 | RA | I am a Senior Nurse Educator, so I know what I am talking about, and Arava almost killed me. I started taking it Oct 4, 2011, and by October 31, I was admitted through the Emergency with DKA, and I had never had diabetes in my life. My blood sigars were uncontrollable, I had nausea and vomitting, and diarhea the whole time I was taking the medicine. All food tasted strange with a horrible after taste ( when I could eat a bite). My Amylase, and ALT were extrememly high as was my Creatinine. They though I would need dialysis. I had a UTI, and uncontrollable blood sugars when I was admitted. I had problems with feet, numbness and tingling, and massive echymosis from any blood draw. I have a cough that makes me pee my pants even 2 months later. I will be diabetic, and take insulin the rest of my life, had foggy brain, and even forgot words at times. I almost died in the hospital where I was admitted for 10 days while they tried to get my body back to normal. It did work on my RA pain, but | F | 50 | 25 days 20mg 1X day | 12/26/2011 | 1 | RA | I went to see my RA doctor and she was out, her PA was there and told me she was starting me with Arava She told me that if I had diarrhea, not to stop taking Arava because after one month the diarrhea would eventually go away. I followed the doctors instructions, after four weeks of diarrhea I started having severe rectum pain, I was not able to move without hurting. I could not urine without my rectum hurting. I continued to take avara not realizing that it was the cause of my pain. After a month and one day, I stopped taking avara and my diarrhea stopped but, I still continued with severe rectum pain, I made an appointment with a Rectum specialist and two months later I was diagnosed with a fissure. A fissure is caused by repeated episodes of diarrhea, I ended up having surgery. One month after surgery I am still in pain and I have to wait until my appointment next month, Oct 2011 to see what else can be done. I would have rather put up with the pain and suffering of RA t | If you develop diarrhea don't let it go to far. Stop taking Arava. | F | 50 | 1 months 20mg 1X day | 9/25/2011 | 2 | Psoriasis flairing, no help with PSA | I have Psoriatic Arthritis and Psoriasis...my psoriasis is 100 x worse than when I started this drug and my arthritis is not getting bette...not to mention the bronchitis and asthma that has only started in the last two weeks! This drug sucks | F | 41 | 21 days 20 mg 1X day | 9/8/2011 | 1 | psoriatic arthritis | My brother was taking this and it killed him. | Don't take this, it is highly toxic and very dangerous. Look at natural remedies instead, they may take a little longer to work but they'll fix the problem rather than mask your symptoms | M | 34 | 1X day | 8/29/2011 | 1 | Arthritis | Enlarged Heart, Fluid around lungs and Heart, Loss of Hair and Eye Lashes, Severe Indigestion | Taken with Methotrexate. Would never take either of these drugs again even though Arthritis symptoms were a lot less. Far too many side effects. | F | 61 | 10 months 10 1X day | 7/6/2011 | 4 | RA | nausea, headache, diarrhea, metallic taste, loss of smell and taste | Within a few days of using this drug, I noticed a headache, nausea and severe abdominal problems. I started taking the drug at night and the nausea and headache stopped, I guess because I was sleeping! The diarrhea continues, but much less severe now. I have recently begun having a metallic taste in my mouth and have lost my sense of smell and taste. This is pretty annoying. I was wondering what was causing this so I happened upon this website. I hadn't associated it with the Arava until I read this, so I will be talking with my MD. I am taking the Arava along with 5 mg of prednisone and have found a ton of relief! I wonder, though, if it's from the prednisone, because I had to get a steroid injection every 3 months prior to starting the prednisone. I really need to get mroe proactive about my care since I was diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome and RA about 10 years ago and i've just been going with the flow and doing whatever the MD tells me. I am fortunate that I have never had any thinning of hair or rash, either with the MX or with the Arava. | F | 52 | 9 months 20 mg 1X day | 5/16/2011 | 2 | RA | diarrhea,red spots on chest, hair loss, muscle pain, and just now after 10 yrs, elevated ALT and AST(2x the norm), stopped taking due to ALT 84 ,now rash on arms and legs (symmetrically) that really doesn't itch, top lip numb. Why now??? Anyone know??? Please help. | Arava did help a little but I still had lots of pain. I knew when a storm was coming 1 day in advance. Taking 5 mgs of prednisone.I stopped taking the Arava 12-31-10 , and oh god I feel better than ever?? I don't know why. My doc prescribed the questran to get it out because of the rash and elevated liver enzymes. I hope this works.. I just hope this rash isn't serious. I am going to see my p.c.p. tomorrow and talk to a dermatologist to see what going on. I don't think this medicine is as good as it seems. I even contacted Arava makers and they didn't know what to tell me... UGHHH!!! | F | 43 | 10 years 20MGS 1X day | 1/18/2011 |