Trump's 'Miracle Drug' Talk Could Kill Me

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

We all have that relative who brings his craziest internet conspiracy theories to Easter supper to rile up grandma and set mom’s teeth on edge, or the co-worker who swears that some half-baked internet theory is the gospel truth, facts be damned. You can laugh that off, because it isn’t going to kill you to let that ignorance stand.

It’s different when that person is the President of the United States, going off half-cocked on national television from the White House podium in the middle of a worldwide pandemic about a drug that is vital to keeping you healthy, and whose personal theories are endangering your access to it.

Lupus entered my life like a runaway truck 15 years ago. Initially, I thought I was just fatigued from a new baby and a move to a new house, and that rest would help my hands stop being painful claws and my joint pain to subside. That was until the night when my husband had to literally push me from behind to climb our stairs just to crawl into bed, tears leaking out of my eyes, as every joint in my body screamed for relief.

It took over a year of testing to find out that it was lupus, an autoimmune disorder. It is a difficult disease; the initial cause is still murky, and it cruelly pushes your own immune system to attack joint tissue, and sometimes even your eyes or other vital organ systems — not something to take lightly. We tried medication after medication, and they all made things worse. Then my doctor suggested a riskier treatment, hydroxychloroquine, the only medicine that has kept this disease at a simmer instead of a painful boil.

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-miracle-drug-talk-could-084714777.html

[marybourg]

1. When I developed lupus, about 25 years ago,

Plaquinil was the first drug they put you on. It was considered a mild drug-compared with prednisone or methotrexate—having few serious side effects other than possible eye damage which was monitored by semi-annual eye exams. Later, I suppose, they started using newer drugs right off the bat and Plaquinil became the old-fashioned drug. I was on it for 15 years, until a new eye doctor claimed she detected retinal damage and I stopped the drug. I was fine after I stopped it and have never needed another drug for my very mild disease.

[Rebl2]

2. I also took hydroxychloriquin and

had retina damage from this drug. Luckily it was caught in time and did not lose my sight. My RA flared up, but just increased some of my other medication and brought it under control.