u/No-Confusion-4059

I have an Apple Watch and when I exercise it gives me a VO2 reading. Pretty much I do the same amount of exercise, the same amount of time, with the same amount of effort, very predictably.

But.

I notice my VO2 max readings are noticeably higher when my disease is not flaring, and noticeably lower when it is. Even if I’m managing to do the same exercise, same intensity, for the same amount of time.

It doesn’t make sense that someone’s “cardiac fitness” could vary so much according to whether or not arthritis is flaring.

Ever since Rinvoq started to kick in (thank the universe) my VO2 goes up and up each day. When I was between medications and waiting for the Rinvoq to be approved, it was going down and down each day.

It’s a little alarming in fact — is my heart inflamed and not functioning as well when my PsA is flaring?

Has anyone noticed this pattern?

I wanted to post a photo of my graph to show what I mean but it looks like no photos are allowed.

I work in California for a large employer and have several hundred hours of accrued sick leave because I’ve rarely been sick.

Recently I was diagnosed with a serious autoimmune condition. I need to work 2 more years and then I can retire.

Question: is it legit / allowable to use my sick days on a regular basis to manage my condition?

Obviously I know I can take time off for doctors appts. And I know (unpaid) intermittent FMLA exists.

But what I’m wanting to do is take a paid sick day off every two weeks, and use that to compartmentalize all this medical stuff, like my doctors visits and lab visits and frustrating phone calls to the insurance company and the specialty pharmacy.

Why? I often find myself distracted at work, trying to schedule all this annoying stuff during business hours. If I took, say, a planned sick day every other week and used that to manage my condition, my life would be a lot easier.

I have plenty of sick time accrued to do this for two years until I can retire. The question is whether my request would have any legal protection. Typically when I’ve seen other employees struggling with a medical issue, our employer wants to put them on FMLA (even if they have plenty of sick leave) and let the clock start ticking.

I don’t need FMLA since I have so much sick time accrued. And they don’t need to let the clock start ticking — I’m glad to leave in two years as soon as I can retire.

Obviously in this scenario I wouldn’t literally be “sick” every other Wednesday (or whatever). But I’d want to use that time to schedule all my stuff and be able to focus on managing my health.

Thanks.

Newly on Rinvoq. Got a bad UTI. Was prescribed Bactrim (sulfa) which I’ve had many times in the past with no problem. Took it before bed and woke up with a swollen upper lip, red splotchy face, hoarseness, extreme nausea.

Had a telephone urgent care appt, and the doctor suspects an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. So he prescribed cipro (different antibiotic) plus hydroxyzine (antihistamine) plus prednisone.

I thought you’re not supposed to take prednisone if you are on Rinvoq.

And

I thought you’re not supposed to take prednisone if you have an infection.

I understand why prednisone might be prescribed for a bad allergic reaction — but has anyone else been told to take it when you’re _also_ on Rinvoq _and_ have an infection?

Seems like two good reasons _not_ to take it.

It’s overwhelming. I’m trying to take the best possible care of myself, be responsible, educate myself on these various drugs, but it’s hard to know what to do.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation and what did your doctors do?

Maybe this is very common to take prednisone in this situation and I just don’t realize it.

Hi all, I’m new to Rinvoq. First few days, had bad headaches but those passed. Now I have bad vertigo - anyone else have that? Did it eventually go away? Any personal experiences appreciated!

Side effect question: after about six days on Rinvoq I developed mild vertigo. I ignored it since vertigo wasn’t discussed in the very long medication info I read. Now the next day, I’ve developed extreme vertigo.

I googled whether anyone else taking Rinvoq has had vertigo, since it’s not in the symptom list, and what do you know:

Among patients posting about their Rinvoq experiences on drugs.com, it is the second most commonly mentioned problem, second only to headache. (Wtf?)

I’ve got a message out to my doctor, but just curious — has anyone else here experienced vertigo and did it go away if you powered through for a while, or was it persistent and a deal breaker?

So I’d been very excited to start Rinvoq since nothing else has worked.

Two nights ago I took it for the first time and woke up with a headache, which lasted most of the day. Later decided to take my blood pressure just to see, and it was significantly higher than normal like 130s over 80s (versus usually 110s-120s/70s). Resting heart rate was higher too, like about 78 instead of about 60.

Same thing this morning. Took it last night, woke up with a headache and that higher blood pressure and higher heart rate.

Anyone else? Is this a passing effect of getting used to the med, or should I report it? I’m guessing I should wait a few days first to be able to tell them the patterns? Or to confirm that there even is a pattern instead of two random days with headaches and high BP (although this seems pretty clear cut cause-effect). And would I tell my rheumatologist, my primary, or both?

I’m so upset right now — I need at least one medication to work on my PsA, without deal-breaker side effects.

Had to stop Otezla because of headaches that were so bad I couldn’t work. Had to stop leflunomide, which seemed to be helping, because half my hair fell out and showed no signs of slowing. Had to stop adalimumab — no side effects, but my hand and foot were getting worse after about four months. And now this with Rinvoq. I can power through if it’s temporary, but immediate blood pressure effects in a med associated with heart attacks and PEs does not bode well.

I need a pep talk.

Finally got Rinvoq approved and it should arrive Tuesday. I’m a little nervous because of all the known side effects.

Were you told to avoid NSAIDs? What did you do instead? Tylenol just doesn’t do anything for me.

How often did you get labs? My doctor is using the same labs he used before I started adalimumab (5 months ago?) and then said he’d do more labs in 4 more months. That seems a little long?

I was also told that if I got covid I shouldn’t have Paxlovid which I hadn’t heard before.

And no grapefruit juice of course.

Did anyone with really bad hand stiffness / pain / swelling find that Rinvoq helped that? Adalimumab helped a lot of things but not my hand problems.

Edited to add: how about fatigue? Adalimumab seemed to help my fatigue and since I’ve been off it, the fatigue is unreal - worse than ever. Praying the Rinvoq does something for fatigue