Talking About Rheumatoid Arthritis
Talking about a chronic illness like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be difficult. The people around you may not understand what you’re going through, or you may be afraid that your disease will put a strain on relationships or cause problems at work. However, discussing your condition with family, friends and colleagues is an important part of managing RA. After all, your loved ones and coworkers can provide you with physical and emotional support when you need it the most.
Open the lines of communication
- Learn all you can about the disease. This may make it easier to answer questions and let people know what to expect when you are experiencing difficulty due to RA.
- Encourage the people around you to ask questions about your condition.
- Find a book on RA that you can share with the people around you. Point them to a Web site with information on RA. RheumatoidArthritis.com can be a good start.
- Turn to your rheumatologist or a mental health professional for advice about how to talk with loved ones and colleagues about RA.
- Keep a positive attitude. When people see that you’re not willing to let RA get the best of you, they may feel more comfortable talking about it.
The printable discussion guides below provide good starting points when talking about RA. They include questions that you may have for the people in your life, along with questions you might expect in return.
This information does not take the place of talking to your healthcare provider about either your medical condition or your treatment with ACTEMRA. Talk with your healthcare provider if you have any questions about your treatment with ACTEMRA.
What is ACTEMRA?
ACTEMRA is a prescription medicine called an interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor Inhibitor. ACTEMRA is used to treat adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after at least one other medicine called a Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) antagonist has been used and did not work well
IMPORTANT SIDE EFFECT INFORMATION
Some people have serious infections while taking ACTEMRA, including tuberculosis (TB), and infections caused by bacteria, fungi or viruses that can spread throughout the body. Some people have died from these infections.
Other serious side effects of ACTEMRA include tears (perforation) of the stomach and intestines, changes in blood test results (including low neutrophil count, low platelet count, increase in certain liver function tests and increase in blood cholesterol levels), hepatitis B infection becoming an active infection again and nervous system problems.
ACTEMRA affects the immune system and may increase your risk of certain cancers.
Serious allergic reactions, including death, can happen with ACTEMRA. These reactions may happen with any infusion of ACTEMRA, even if they did not occur with an earlier infusion. Patients must tell their doctor if they have had a previous reaction to ACTEMRA. Patients should not take ACTEMRA if they are allergic to it or any of its ingredients.
Common side effects with ACTEMRA in patients with RA include upper respiratory tract infections (common cold, sinus infections), headache and increased blood pressure (hypertension).
Patients must tell their healthcare provider if they plan to become pregnant or are
pregnant. It is not known if ACTEMRA will harm an unborn baby. Genentech has a registry
for pregnant women who take ACTEMRA. Patients who are pregnant or become pregnant while
taking ACTEMRA must contact the registry at 1-877- 311-8972 or
register online
at https://www.otispregnancy.org/
forms/otis_survey-f161
and talk to their healthcare provider.
Patients must call their healthcare provider for medical advice about any side effects. Patients or caregivers may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088. Patients or caregivers may also report side effects to Genentech at 1-888-835-2555.
Please see full Prescribing Information, including Boxed Warning and Medication Guide, for additional important safety information.
The resources above are provided in Adobe® Reader® format (PDF). To view or print them, you must have Adobe Reader (version 3.0 or higher) installed on your computer. Download the free Adobe Reader here.
