The Seated View

Biologics are notorious for increasing your risk of infections, especially those of the upper respiratory tract. In other words, sinus infections. Cue headaches, a feeling like your head is filled with cement, post-nasal drip, nausea, debilitating fatigue, thick brain fog, plus that awful smell that no one else can smell. There is nothing like it to convince me that I will feel like it for the rest of my life. But there are things you can do to prevent sinus infections or, if one shows up, reduce the impact. This rarely involves antibiotics. Medical science has discovered that sinus infections mostly resolve on their own — yes, even when you’re immunosuppressed. In the past two months, I’ve seen my GP several times, as well as an ENT specialist and neither handed me a prescription for antibiotics. However, I have picked up a number of tips on how to prevent and treat sinus infections that I want to share with you. We’ll get to those shortly.  How sinus infections h...

Today’s #RABlog Week prompt is Biologics can be scary . This is true and it has led to a lot of misperceptions about these kinds of medications. My goal today is to bust some myths about Biologics. Settle in with a cup of tea. To do this subject justice, I had to go a bit long. Your doctor has talked to you about starting a biologic for your rheumatoid arthritis (RA), so you do the natural thing for anyone with an Internet connection: you ask Google. Maybe you also ask other people you know who have RA. And that’s when you see and hear some comments that scare the crap out of you. Such as:   “Don’t take those drugs, they are poison.” "I’d never put that in my body. I’m going all natural.” “I went all natural and I’m in remission.”   I believe these types of comments reflect a lack of understanding of not just the Biologics, but the disease they treat.   A serious solution   I’m not going to lie to you. Biologics are a serious medication. The...