Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Time for a change

Yesterday Jacob had an appointment with Dr. Foster, for the follow-up of his uveitis flare.
His eyes did look better yesterday because of the steroid drops, but we knew this was going to happen. The drops put out the fire. The problem is he cannot stay on steroid drops forever. Most vision loss with uveitis is from the overuse of the drops. They should only be used temporarily until the systemic med can maintain the remission ALONE. I knew going in to the appointment that this was probably going to be it for Humira. He had trace cells prior to restarting the med, in October. He restarted the Humira in November and the flare has only progressed. Dr. Foster has advised us that, in his opinion, the best thing to do right now is to put him on Remicade and add back in Methotrexate.
Jacob will start Remicade on February 1st. I'm hoping to start the Methotrexate this Friday.
Infusions are a new road for us. Jacob is not very happy about to change the med. He would prefer to stay on Humira.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Eye flare

Recently Jacob has been complaining that his "cataract" is getting worse. He has been seeing halos around lights. He has also been complaining non-stop that his glasses are dirty, when they are not! I made an emergency appointment with our local eye doctor to have a quick look. I had a feeling that his uveitis may be flaring. Sure enough it was! Not just a few cells but many! A full blown flare. Not only does he have all the cells, but he also has something new for him. He has KP's present. I still do not know much about those except that it means the cells are sticking his lens to his corneas. The doctor called into our uveitis specialist and they wanted Jacob on dilating drops and steroid drops. Jacob is not liking being dilated. His vision is very blurry. So the big question here is why are his eyes flaring. He has been back on Humira for 2 months. I am wondering if it is not working anymore. He is still having stiffness in one of his knees. I just started him back on meloxicam also. I have heard that once certain biologics are stopped and restarted, they don't work because the body has developed antibodies to the drug. Jacob has an appointment this coming Tuesday with the uveitis specialist, we will see what the course of treatment will be!