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Weight Gain and Biologics: The Battle of the Pudge

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The Seated View has moved .  I am still bringing you the information and support you need to live a better life with RA and chronic illness, just on another site. I'd love for you to visit my new website ! - Lene If you want to leave a comment or question about weight gain, RA, and Biologics and are looking for answers or feedback, please jump to this post on my new site . It has the capability for direct replies, this site does not. You can also reach me at leneATyourlifewithraDOTcom. - Thanks, Lene I’ve known from the beginning that Biologics can affect your weight. When I was on Enbrel, I couldn’t keep weight on, and looked anorexic despite eating like a horse. When I switched to Humira, I started gaining weight. I, who had never before spent much time past a size 6, became a 10. After years of being   literally skin and bones, it suited me just fine.  And then the gaining continued, until finally settling around a weight that requires a 16 pant. Never havin...
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Study Finds Link to Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Microbiome

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Really exciting news! We're getting much closer to finding the cause of RA: "A new study has found a direct link between specific bacteria in the gut and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) -- an exciting discovery that could bring us closer to understanding the cause or causes of RA. Micro bacteria in the gut Each of us has a collection of microbacteria in our guts. The collection, which weighs roughly three pounds in an adult, is called the microbiome and is made up of about 1,000 different bacterium species. Microbacteria play an important role in our health: some protect us against illness, while others possibly play a role in the development of certain illnesses. Previous research has implicated certain specific microbacteria as being associated with RA , but the exact role and dynamic was not known." Find out more about this study and its implications in my HealthCentral post.  
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I Survived the ICU

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So, where was I…? The last time I posted, I had the flu and was pretty miserable. It was the precursor to a roller coaster ride into a very dark place. The flu turned into pneumonia, which sent me to the hospital in the middle of March. There was a trip to the ER, admitted into isolation, and then to the ICU with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS — only click on that link if you enjoy chills going up and down your spine). Interestingly, this may have had more to do with my asthma than my being immunosuppressed. Anyway, I was put in an induced coma on a ventilator, and had an emergency tracheostomy .   Photo credit: Ken Allen Soon after, I came as close as it is possible to dying, and actually flatlined for 10 seconds during another nerve-racking event. We figure that officially makes me a zombie. What? Too soon? I remember none of it. Well, that’s not entirely true. There is a blank space between the several days before I went to the ER an...
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