Immune system

[emma88]

Ive had RA for around 7/8 years now been in remission for two years my consultant says my bloods and immune system are all good i forgot to ask about it tho on my appointment and wont see him now till next year so thought i would ask on here before i phone and ask. Even tho ive had RA a while now im still learning new things basically i just wanted to know if your immune system is all good does that mean your body isnt fighting against it anymore? I know RA is an autoimmune disease so doesnt fight with your immune system like it should but since i got diagnosed years ago i seem to catch anything going colds sickness bugs etc i only have to be around someone for a few hours and ill catch what ever theyve got and it always lasts a while like it takes me a good week sometimes a month to get rid of it i have a cold now that ive had a week i take the cold tablets and anything else for anything ive got but they never seem to touch me. Would this be to do with my RA even tho he always says to me my immune system is ok?

[Jewels94]

Are you on any medication for your RA? It is the medication we take that lowers our immune system.

[emma88 in reply to Jewels94]

Im on mxt folic acid and hydroxychoriquin

[Hidden]

I agree you should ring and ask what they meant by saying that.

If you are with someone for a few hours who is unwell then you are likely to catch what they have whether you’re taking immunosuppressive meds or not and no medicines/cold tablets will get rid of a cold that I’ve heard just make the symptoms more bearable. You just have to sit them out. Of course the way you react will depend on what meds you are on whether it’s DMARDs or immunosuppressants. 😊

[helixhelix]

My guess (and it is only a guess as not a doctor) is that by saying your immune system is looking good he/she was saying that things like your neutrophil levels and white blood cell count were well within normal range. Sometimes the medications affect us and our white blood cell count drops, so we have to stop taking the drugs.

RA means that our immune system doesn't work quite the way it should, and starts to attack our own tissues particularly the lining around our joints. Methotrexate aims to calm down the bit that doesn’t work but still leaves you with a reasonably functioning immune system. After all if it suppressed it completely we’d all be living in plastic bubbles.

But everyone’s different, and your personal immune system is related to what you inherited, what you’ve been exposed to throughout your life, and how generally healthy you are. Sadly some people just seem to catch everything that’s going. Make sure you you have a balanced diet which gives you all the vitamins and trace elements need, sleep properly and if you don’t do any exercise then try to start.

[Leics]

I know it’s probably no consolation to you but my immune system is in my boots. My immunoglobulin levels will never return unfortunately so you would think that I would get every infection under the sun and my RA would be in remission. This is not the case on both counts lol. I’m pretty healthy don’t get many colds or infections but I am on a permanent low dose of penicillin but that’s because I’m on baricitinib which is a new treatment for me so is to hopefully keep me from getting any serious infections. The antibiotic cover is new too. Back to your point and the reason for your post, I feel that if your consultant says your immune system is ok that doesn’t mean you won’t get lots of colds and infections that will knock you for 6 it just means that you still have a working immune system that hasn’t been depleted by RA therapy and is still able to fight off some bugs or at least stop them from hopefully becoming serious.