Well THAT Didn't Work

2 weeks off my meds and I was doing ok.  So I went 3.

And that was NOT ok.

It didn't help.  I'm still losing gobs of hair.  And now I'm hurting too.

So I started back on my meds.  1/2 dose like he suggested.  Although, if it didn't work then I might as well go back to full dose I'm thinking.  I'll give it a couple more days and see if the flares clear up.  Obviously, I'd rather stay on 1/2 dose, but I'm to a point of needing to feel better.

My thoughts:  Arava did fine for me for 6 months without hair loss.  3 weeks out of my system and I'm still losing hair.  So it must be something else.  Time to check hormones.

I went back to my wrist brace but today Maggie worked on it.  She's amazing.  She really does wonders with my wrist, and shoulders, and feet, and everything. My wrist isn't great, but it is up to about 65% and that's workable without a brace.  Unfortunately, she's moving a little farther away.   Still doable though.

AND there's a naturopath is town too.  Hmmmm.........

Here's the low down:
Mornings hurt more than anything else.  But the rest of the day hurts too.  My feet hurt and I'm slower and hobble a little, but not too bad.
I wake up in the night when I move a certain way that hurts my wrist or elbows.
I'm going to push for a shot in my right middle finger in Dec.  It's gone too long...well over 6 months.
Emotionally I handle it pretty well, it's just a constant disappointment but there are worse things in life.
I'm glad it's me and not someone else.

I HATE appt days.  Especially when we have to talk about the hard things.  Like why all of a sudden I'm in competition with the family dog to see who can shed the most hair at once.    Sigh.....

But it wasn't that big of a deal.  He doesn't know either.  It could be my meds.  Hair loss is a known side effect of Arava.  It could be the fact that I was pretty sick, had vein procedures, planned a wedding, didn't sleep much, and moved all at the same time. 

Problem is that I'm at the end of the road as far as oral meds go.  Super expensive injections are my next option and the Arava has worked well for several months.   Not wanting to jump ship on that just yet, he suggested I stop my med for 2 weeks then start back every other day.  Good plan!  I've been doing the every other day for about 2 weeks and can't tell much of a difference. 

Then he said something that got my attention.  Kind of in passing he says, "You have a thin frame, it could be that 20 mg was too much anyway. 

AH HA!  So I got to thinking.  When I was sick I lost about 10 pounds.  I'm still there.  A move, a wedding, no sleep, and over medicated seems a logical reason to loose hair.

2 weeks.  We'll see.....