Someone brought Aspirin up....

Speaking of Aspirin.. I've been taking it to control inflammation. My rheumy prescribed taking nine (yes 9) Aspirin that is 325 mg. every single day since November. I've been doing so and it brought the numbers down beautifully. My stomach isn't complaining anymore whereas it used to hurt, felt empty all the time.

Every other doctor that I see shakes their head and asks "WHY?" and my response is that nothing else was helping. I have been through chemo, 4 biologics, have taken numerous pills to lower the numbers and to lessen the stiffness, pain... I'm off of everything except Aspirin..

I've heard the risks of taking so many Aspirin including losing my hearing or getting ringing in my ears for life. I can't say that I haven't thought about Quitting Aspirin and staying on Chemo for the rest of my life.. it's Rituxan which is chemo... but that causes numbness of the feet too or neuropathy which I do have...my whole body is suffering from that.. so I'm at a crossroads and it's difficult to make these choices.

I have CIDP - it's a severe form of neuropathy with marked weakness that didn't show up yet but maybe, just a maybe starting in my legs?? They treat that with Chemo and steroids. I had one chemo so far.. didn't do anything - I think.

So now it's all about treating RA... which otherwise affects my wrists, 2 fingers. (So far) and it looks like it's Aspirin or Rituxan. Flip a coin??

[Ali_H]

In my opinion I'd look at both, why?

Because the aspirin is taking care of the inflammation but is not addressing the over active immune system which is what the rituxan is designed to do.

I had rheumatic fever in 1976 and have periodically used aspirin over several months to stop recurrent inflammation in my knee and gargled it to get rid of recurrent strep throat and it worked lovely but it did not stop my immune system slowly cranking up until I developed full blown RA - luckily it was recognised early so no bone degradation and I will undoubtedly return to aspirin again when the inflammation interfers again!

Just for the record 'chemotherapy' is not exclusively for cancer the term actually means using chemical therapy to treat systemically thus taking aspirin, penicillin even caffeine to treat fatigue is technically a form of chemotherapy - sorry but the over/miss use of that term irritates me!

All the best

Ali

[Hidden in reply to Ali_H]

I agree with Ali entirely. As someone who has suffered similarly to you with symptoms - and having been off DMARD therapies for 9 months now I can verify that Aspirin is not going to address the underlying disease as Rituximab hopefully would. I haven't met the criteria for Biologics yet - but I know you are in the States where things are different re paying for these drugs through insurance companies. Here in the UK you would probably have to have more aggressive RA markers than a couple of swollen fingers and wrists to meet the criteria.

Have you been offered IVIG infusions for your CIDP yet? If not this might be worth discussing if your RA isn't very aggressive yet and I believe it works very well for people with CIDP?

I was put on 900mg Aspirin a day recently and ended up with worsening nose bleeds and worsening upper abdominal problems. But I'm on two lots of antibiotics just now for pneumonia so my poor tummy has had a bellyful lately and longs for respite from all medication so it tells me. Once my lungs are clear I will hopefully get to start Imuran/ Azathioprine.

Hope the Aspirin continues to do magic for your symptoms anyway - it has much to commend it I know - but I wouldn't see it as a cure all for RA if I were you. Twitchy

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Massive steroids, on talking 2 weeks wide awake amounts on some sort of schedule for x amount of times is coming up if next dose of Rituxin doesn't change some neuropathy happenings and certain numbers for me. I am a case thrown from Mayo clinic to John Hopkins and Cleveland clinic for additional help. I'm a true study with weird findings in the blood and urine. I am not fitting any true diagnosis. Mayo clinic sent me all around their clinic. It's not really symptoms except neuropathy and lower backache, restless legs. It's test results that they are worried about. I get infections more frequently. They are not mesa but are resistant to common antibiotics.

[Azabat]

I agree with Ali, as well. I'm still a new diagnosis to RA but not to inflammation issues. If your stomach is okay with the aspirin (mine's not) and it works...well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. In the meantime, do what you must. It utterly sucks to be a medical mystery, I know. Sometimes we just don't fit into the tidy little definitions that doctors expect, and I truly believe most doctors are allergic to the words 'I don't know'. All the best from a northern neighbour, Bat