Skin ulcer

[Sunshinereturns]

I am on adalimumab and methotrexate. Together my symptoms are kept at bay. Unfortunately 8 months after starting adalimumab my wbc and neutrophils are plummeting. My RA nurse has suggested cutting out my methotrexate (25mg) for a fortnight and seeing if things improve. Terrified I might need to stop adalimumab when it works.

For the last two months or so I’ve had a sore on my finger. It hasn’t healed. It’s an open wound and is all inflamed around it. For some reason I’ve tried to ignore it. I’ve now googled and it’s clearly a skin ulcer and can be a serious side effect of either medication. I’ve had small finger sores ever since starting adalimumab but this is another scale. Seeking help tomorrow but wondering if anyone has any experience. Thanks

[dwsurquhart]

when I was on adalimumab, I had a very weird reaction to it as well. I had doughnut shaped hard blisters form all over my hands and feet. They came in after around 4 weeks of starting it. At 6 weeks i saw a dermatologist who advised I stop adalimumab. Lo and behold, all blisters went away. I started a new biologic a few months later.

[allanah in reply to dwsurquhart]

Same experience here currently with leflunamid

[Sunshinereturns in reply to dwsurquhart]

Did your new adalimumab alternative work as well for you? Thanks

[dwsurquhart in reply to Sunshinereturns]

I am on tocilizumab now. Adalimumab is an anti tnf inhibitor,

Tocilizumab inhibits the induction of biological activity due to IL-6 in cells that have expressed both membrane-bound IL-6R and gp130 molecules, and also inhibits the induction of biological activity due to IL-6/IL-6R complex formation in cells that express gp130 alone.

[dwsurquhart in reply to dwsurquhart]

Been on this for 8 or 9 years now and it is still working o keeping my inflammation in check. Normal levels of c reactive protein (CRP) in the blood is under <0.2 mg/100ml. 3mg/100ml is considered high and at risk of a cardiac event, mine was 159 when I started on the toci and now it is fluctuated between 0.2 and 2.0mg/100ml. Very happy with this.

[Sunshinereturns in reply to dwsurquhart]

Really appreciate all the info. I’m very glad to hear it’s successful for you. I think it looks like I’ll need to switch biologic. Just hate the waiting and the flare ups until I’m stable on a new one.

[dwsurquhart in reply to Sunshinereturns]

The flares while waiting can be brutal, that is for sure. I really hope you find one that works for you. Toci is my 3rd biologic.

[WilfDog]

I too had plummeting neutrophils and wcc. I was on etanercept and methotrexate, the latter having been on for many years, but they decided to stop the methotrexate. It helped for a while, but my neutropenia continued for some time. A few years ago I tried adalimumab and it gave me permanent sore throats so I returned to using etanercept.

I eventually sought out complementary meds to help my system and it definitely made a difference.

I think you probably need to have a chat with your rheumatologist and look at changing your biologic.

Loads of luck. I hope you find something that works for you. I'm sure you will, it just takes time and trial and error. Take care xx