I'm newly diagnosed with RA. Currently on plaquenil but they are now talking MTX and beyond. I'm curious about how more experienced folks here have approached covid personally. I'm in Canada. I'm eligible for (and have had) 3 vax doses. If I was on MTX or another immunosupressent I would be eligible for a 4th. Like much of the world we have almost no restrictions in place where I live. (masks required in health care and public transit, and some isolation/masking requirements if you have covid or are a close contact only). Personally I continue to mask in indoor public spaces like shops. I go to the office 3x week, I go to shops multiple times per week, I visit with friends and family indoors unmasked, etc. I haven't done any major travel or large events such as stadium sports, concerts etc because I'm not quite ready for that yet. Enter RA and powerful drugs designed to shut down your immune system. Ack. There's a lot of online discussion about the risk this poses related to covid. When you are supposed to even avoid being around a person with a cold or who has received a live vaccine in case it lands you in hospital what does that mean for life in the covid-era? The internet, our fickle friend, seems to be all over the place on this. Am I supposed to head back to the "basement bunker"? Should I ask for an accommodation to work remotely all the time? Am I supposed to avoid family and friends? Insist on masks indoors at all times when I'm around? Stay out of the shops, restaurants, avoid busy outdoor areas even? Just stay home? Or is the panic and fear I've seen out there overblown? What have your doctors told you? What have you been doing? This newbie appreciates your insight, and I might add that I have found this to be the most rational and reasonable board going which is why I'm here. Perhaps because you seem to be primarily Brits and seem to be more level headed than us wacky north americans!
RA and covid: I'm newly diagnosed with RA. Currently... - NRAS
RA and covid
Hi there-I have the same concerns especially since I did somehow catch Covid at the beginning of May and ended up in the hospital for four days. I’m still not well and very nervous as the dr mentioned I would be more susceptible to additional viruses now. Sorry I don’t have any answers-just questions like you.
I have been on methotrexate and adalimumab throughout the pandemic. Initially, I avoided close contact with people but still went out for walks and to the allotment. Since vaccines I have lived life as normal. I go to the pub, have been abroad skiing and I am off to see Ed. Sheeran in a couple of weeks. I have never had any extra infection issues since starting meds, but others do. I did catch covid in January, I wasn't very ill with fewer symptoms than many colds. I was so ill when I started methotrexate I didn't really care much about side effects as my life quality was so poor at the time anyway. With covid I feel much the same, the RA meds keep me fit and active and I am fully vaccinated, so I am going to go out and enjoy life whilst I can.
Well, first of all you've just been diagnosed with an illness and a treatment for it and it takes most people time to come to terms with this, which you will. On top of this in steams Covid and the fact that you find yourself in a more vulnerable group. Another shock. I found out I had RA three years ago and take methotrexate for it. I've had time to adjust, and the covid business realization crept up on me, so more time to adjust.
In England pretty much everywhere is open up now. Hardly see anyone wearing masks and no legal requirement to do so in most places. I have had three primary vaccinations and a further two boosters. This gave me a level of confidence to mix more - restaurants friends etc. Everyone going on holiday.
Now , I went to Greece a week ago and yes I was unlucky and caught covid. I flew back home and am in the middle of a five day course of antiviral medication which I would presume you could access if necessary where you are. I don't feel really ill. Many people on this forum have caught it and got over it, most quite easily.
It takes time to digest new circumstances and I think that's what you're having to do. I took a chance and got caught out but, I read recently that about 70% of our population has now had covid and I think most people are resigned to the fact that they will eventually get it. At least Omicron is milder.
Many people have your concerns. We are all here!
I am an old lady diagnosed over 20 years ago …I’m on Rituximab, have had three vaccinations… had bad reactions to 2 of them …but not to the third. I shielded as well as I could… I now wear a mask indoors in crowded places but otherwise I just get on with my life.Of course I hope I don’t contract Covid but I don’t think about it 24/7.This pandemic has been a nasty experience…I don’t know about Canada but in the UK the Covid infection figures are coming down, and most people are trying to return to as near possible a normal lifestyle as possible.
I’m sure many will disagree with me but we can’t all just sit indoors wearing a mask ,washing our hands & hiding away for the rest of our lives.
We are all vulnerable to infection…so take sensible precautions…but don’t spend too much time worrying about something that most likely will never happen…that will just make you miserable.
Welcome to the group 😊 I’m on mtx (25 years) and a biologic and am concerned you think that mtx will shut down your immune system and you will have to shut yourself away. My understanding is that it will suppress your over active immune system back to a normal level. Yes some people get more infections on it but many don’t and mtx is the most prescribed drug for RA and the gold standard treatment. I’ve not found it made any difference to infections I got and I didn’t shield, I have been very careful, always wearing a mask and washing my hands etc. I’ve been around a lot of people through work throughout and haven’t caught covid, not even when I had to go and take care of my daughter who had it really badly. What I’m saying really is don’t scare yourself about drugs and read up if you need to on reputable sites like NRAS, you don’t need to go back to staying in and not seeing anyone. nras.org.uk/resource/methot...
Let us know how you get on 😊 🤞🏻
Honestly folks, this is the BEST forum site for RA I have seen. I usually stay away from forums because they tend to be filled with unhappy and negative (or at the very least unlucky) folks with laundry lists of woes and warnings. I appreciate the honest but positive vibe on this site. You are all a wonderful support team and a real breath of fresh air for those of us looking for the rays of sunshine in what so much of the literature and so many of the online communities seems to suggest is a dark storm!
I am so pleased you can accept that there is a good life with RA….it’s not 100% a bed of roses…..there are those iffy times but it’s a hell of a lot what you make of it.You go on following this site…..we are all positive…..even when we have to search for yet another drug.
I decided life is for living and though I have got many friends of RA as well, I am now out and about with 4 vaccines in me and do what makes me happy. If I feel uncomfortable about a place, I throw a mask on or don't go in. I have to say since I have had RA (3years) the one thing I don't get is a cold or even flu. I do take the flu vaccine though each year and I used to get 1 very bad cold each year but now nothing. Nothing scientific in this, just me noticing.
This forum is good , as we all have a view point on each drug, some work for many, others have to keep plodding through the list till they find something that works for them. It took me over 2 years to find something my body did not reject or make me unwell and I am now on Baritcitnib a biologic.
MTX in the UK is usually the first drug we are given and then it goes from there depending on your response and in some cases medical budgets in your postcode/zip code.
Welcome x
I had 4 jabs and got covid despite taking the usual precautions. I had the antibody infusion same day I was diagnosed and for me that is the game changer. So its not just about the jabs but the fact there are now treatments. I had nothing more than a very mild cough and headache for a day. All I'm saying is that we can't live in a vacuum and so I careful but not obsessive and life goes on. I take AZA and Orencia an anti TNF med and have CKD so am so glad our NHS now seems to have the virus on the back foot. PS I've now had 5 jabs and been told a 6th will come with the flu jab in the autumn.
I live in France, not the UK, and there was never really the same attitude here. I am on a biologic and MTX and have never shielded - nobody even suggested it. At the start everyone was much more restricted and we could only go 1km from our house, which of course made it easier as everyone was locked down the same. And we were given priority for vaccines, and could ask for extra consideration if we felt we needed it. But it was basically up to the individual.
But then things eased a bit and I felt that I was under 65, not obese, with no major heart and lung issues, not a smoker, diabetic or asthmatic so chances were I wouldn’t die. So I just got on with my life. And now having had 4 vaccines I feel the same.
So I have been on holiday, go on public transport (with a FPP2 mask), visit friend and family, etc. Basically live a normal life, just slightly more careful about hygiene and physical contact and wash my hands a lot (I now don’t kiss everyone in the French way!)
My dog has a live kennel cough vaccine, and I stay out of the room and don’t hug him for a day. That’s about it.
(Edit: the one thing my rheumy always mentions is to be scrupulous about cleaning little cuts and scrapes, and not letting minor infections run wild, that sort of thing)
I havn’t read other replies, but I’m sure you’ll get many differing experiences and opinions here. Your own personal circumstances will inform your decisions. I’m in my fifties, and on hydroxychloroquine sulphate (plaquenil) and methotrexate. I work in a very ‘exposed’ environment as I teach 4-7 year olds, and apart from a couple of weeks when I isolated back in April 2020 I have been working in school, with little chance of any social distancing because of the children’s ages. During this time I have also taken 6 flights on crowded planes. I finally tested positive for covid in February 2022 (probably caught during a staff meeting as a close colleague tested positive 3 days before me), but I only had mild illness. I have continued to use hand sanitiser throughout my day, (I wear a small bottle attached to my work lanyard) but otherwise I’m not taking any special precautions. I am careful, but not fearful
Great last line…..careful but not fearful. That is how I feel too xx
I’m on biologics, MTX, steroids and 2 other immunosuppressants as well as 2 high strength steroid inhalers. I did shield as advised through the last 2yrs. However this virus is here to stay, so I pretty much do most things. I go shopping, eat out in restaurants, and meet friends who are nurses on the frontline for lunches. I wear my mask when indoors or on public transport, which I don’t do often as I drive.i personally have had fewer infections since being on my immunosuppressants as my body isn’t distracted fighting inflammation and missing the infections trying to set in. I still see friends and family, and just use the precautions I took pre covid, of washing hands regularly. I’ve had 5 covid vaccines now, and we are due our 6th in the autumn. I feel continuing to lock myself away isn’t living, the only thing I’m not ready for is cinemas and crowded concerts.
I had Covid in March 2020, never recovered totally, had pneumonia, PE the works, I wasalmost locked up since, but I have youngsters in the house going out and about everywhere so it is fairly pointless. I caught some hideous virus last December which put me back in hospital was recover from that and then in late February this year my husband announced on a Monday that he had tested positive. Of course I got it and have had terrible problems with my asthma and RA ever since. I work from home, although I can barely work, shopping is delivered and if I go anywhere inside I normally mask up. I have had a 4th Jab and did get monoclonal antibody treatment immediately when I tested positive. However, life has to go on. I am currently on Croatia on holiday in the sunshine with my nebuliser and a medical bag close by. I just minimise the risks where I can . Life is for living, not being locked up like a prisoner. I see friends but try and sit apart rather than right next to them if possible. If not I mask up. We can do no more.
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