Hi Everyone!
Please note, I am NOT advocating that anyone should stop taking their prescribe medication. Everyone reacts differently to meds. What works for you may not work for me. I am just giving a time line of lupus medication.
Research on Lupus in western medicine began in earnest in the 19th
century. In the mid 1800s, leading Viennese physicians Ferdinand von
Hebra.
and his son-in-law Moritz Kaposi wrote the first treatises recognizing that the symptoms of Lupus extended beyond the skin and
affected the organs of the body too.
In 1894 Dr. Payne introduced quinine use for discoid lupus. An antimalarial made from the bark of the cinchona tree that is native to S. Africa. This is to rid malaria parasites, especially in the red blood cells. However, it is also found to have anti-inflammatory effects.
4 years later salicylates in conjunction with quinine was a significant step in lupus therapy.
Salicylates, ya know aspirin.
A revolutionary discovery in 1935, the cortisone hormone, led to Corticosteroids. It wasn't until 1948 that they were available. Today there are close to 20 Corticosteroids that doctors prescribe. Most often for lupus it is prednisone, or Dexamethasone. Pred is my cortisone of choice. When I am flaring it works. There are many uses for Corticosteroids such as; asthma, allergic
reactions, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, adrenals, blood or
bone marrow conditions. It decreases inflammation, slows an overactive immune system or replaces cortisol. When I worked, as a Vet Tech, we called it the miracle drug. Then, I never thought I would be taking it for my life.
In 1955 Hydroxychloroquine was approved in the US. It is also sold under the name of Plaquenil. It is also for the treatment of malaria, RA, Lupus and porphyria cutanea tarda. Uh yeah, I had to look that one up. I have taken this medication and I will never take it again! For me the side effects were horrible. Head pain that NEVER stops, brain fog to the point of not being able to do anything, stomach cramps, vomiting, muscle weakness, hives, blurry vision, can't sleep, hallucinations, and feeling like I was going to die.
This medication can cause blood disorder, low blood sugar, severe rashes, can cause heart problems and who knows what else. When the "thing" that sits in the white house told people to take this for covid I wanted to scream.
IT DOES NOT WORK ON COVID!!!! and can cause other medical issues.
OK, next comes immunosuppressants. In the 1960s lupus research was significant. With the knowledge of hyper-active immune system in lupus patients the next logical step is to suppress. If you are old enough to remember the 1960's there was a fast growing medical field for organ transplant. These transplants allowed shared information for suppressing immune responses and reducing inflammation. One of the earliest medications was Azathioprine. Also, and I am so impressed with this, Cytoxan, an alkylating agent derived in the 1960s from WWI mustard gas. It saved lives by preventing mortality from kidney failure and other severe lupus manifestations. In the late 1990s, CellCept was introduced as an alternative to Cytoxan.
It is a complex medication and used for lupus patients with kidney disease.
In the 2011 Rituximab, a biologic came out. So what the heck is a biologic? It's a type of medication obtained from living organisms. Ya know, like bacteria, viruses or human cells.
They are used for a lot of things, autoimmune, cancers, and infectious disease. They work by targeting
specific components of the immune system or by providing missing
proteins or other substances that the body needs. Ever since I've known about biologics,
it just freaks me out.
In 2011, the Food and Drug Administration finally approved Benlysta, the first
drug that was specifically developed for SLE. Benlysta works by suppressing the
B-lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) protein, a key mediator of the immune
response. Patients with lupus have elevated levels of BLyS, and it was
hoped that inhibiting the protein would quiet the disorder. Phase III
clinical trials showed that Benlysta, in combination with standard
therapy, significantly reduced the severity of symptoms and lowered
several blood biomarkers of the disease compared to standard treatment
alone.
So far, no matter what new med comes out you still have to take other immunosuppressants and cortisone.
I do not take any lupus medication with the exception of prednisone for flares. I take a host of vitamins and herbs. Decades ago I did "extreme" research and made my own medication. It doesn't matter what meds you take you will still flare, have medical issues and at times feel like you have been hit by a mac truck. On the other hand, in the past I have been in remission for years at a time.
If you have read through this to the end, YAY for you. Please leave me a comment to let me know how brave you are. LOL
Well wishes to all of you.
Nicole.
Source citing
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