Hi everyone,
Have any of you had your Rheumy put you on CellCept as a "precaution"? I was diagnosed two months ago in the hospital and was put on Pred and Plaq. When I got in to see my Rheumy he wanted to put me on Imuran but changed his mind and decided on CellCept. My kidney functions are normal, my blood tests are normal, my UA is normal etc. When I asked him why he wanted me on either med he said he was concerned about my Platelete count dropping as I weaned off Pred so the CellCept was going to take care of that. My Platelete count is 267 and has been stable as I have been weaning off the Pred. and has actually been increasing (204 when i was on 60MG and up to 267 on 30MG).
I decided to seek a second opinion by a Rheumy recommended by some of the local members of the Lupus club. He was aghast at the fact I had been put on CellCept w/o kidney involvement or other indications that I had organ involvement due to the potential side effects of the CellCept. He stated "in 30 years of Rheumatology, I and my colleages have never used such a harsh drug to treat a condition prophylactively". He also stated CellCept and Imuran are typically used as a last ditch "save the kidneys" sort of effort.
Any thoughts on this? I am probably going to change to this new Rheumy as I feel he is more competent in treating Lupus rather than being a Rheumatoid Arthritis specialist who happnes to treat Lupus as well.
Thanks,
dave
Have any of you had your Rheumy put you on CellCept as a "precaution"? I was diagnosed two months ago in the hospital and was put on Pred and Plaq. When I got in to see my Rheumy he wanted to put me on Imuran but changed his mind and decided on CellCept. My kidney functions are normal, my blood tests are normal, my UA is normal etc. When I asked him why he wanted me on either med he said he was concerned about my Platelete count dropping as I weaned off Pred so the CellCept was going to take care of that. My Platelete count is 267 and has been stable as I have been weaning off the Pred. and has actually been increasing (204 when i was on 60MG and up to 267 on 30MG).
I decided to seek a second opinion by a Rheumy recommended by some of the local members of the Lupus club. He was aghast at the fact I had been put on CellCept w/o kidney involvement or other indications that I had organ involvement due to the potential side effects of the CellCept. He stated "in 30 years of Rheumatology, I and my colleages have never used such a harsh drug to treat a condition prophylactively". He also stated CellCept and Imuran are typically used as a last ditch "save the kidneys" sort of effort.
Any thoughts on this? I am probably going to change to this new Rheumy as I feel he is more competent in treating Lupus rather than being a Rheumatoid Arthritis specialist who happnes to treat Lupus as well.
Thanks,
dave