Hi every one. I hav,nt posted for sometime ,but would really like to find out if any one on cimzia has had the side effect of a really persistant dry cough, I have been on cimzia for just over 2yrs and found it very good for my RA but had to come off it qui te a lot last yr. due to 3 kidney stone removal ops. & 3 mths after restarting I,ve had this cough for 3mths.
knowing you can get upper chest infections my gp got me an xray, they thought it was heart failure.luckily its not! asthma?
The rheumatologist seems to be leaving it to the GP to find out,so am in limbo at the moment without any anti tnf just steroids,I tried taking cimzia again, & it made the cough worse, so I think it is the culprit, but how to get rid of the cough? greatful for any informatoin. Best wishes Rosex

Dear jenni, THank you so much for your so down to. earth reply & especially taking your time out to reply. In truth I,me rather sick of being ill(as we all are!I know) just wanted somehow to get to our flat in Spain which we havn,t been able to get to for 18mths sorry about this pathetic moan especially when you are so I'll. I,ve been the ostrich. So your honesty has stopped me running away, even after having RA for 11yrs my husband will be pleasd I,ve seen sense. IHope you are at your best, IHavn, posted for so long that don,t know how you are. I do recall that you started cimzia about the same time as me. Well take care & keep well,best wishes Rose xx

Hi Julia, I,ve just read your post, I didn,t realize I,de had a relevant reply, Interesting that you have had the dry cough, It came out of nowhere for me just before xmas. I am sure it isn,t stress related but a real symtom of something. I went to my gp as my upper chest wastight & whezzy, apparently evey thing else was clear they gave me antibiotics & ventolin which gave some improvement so having stopped the cimzia ,i tried it again & the cough returned with a veangence. Iwas sent for a chest xray & as a result sent to a heart specialist .they thought I had heart failure but thankfully this wasnt the case. So after4 mths of coughing & in the middle of a very painful flare up & after a lung function test which was ok, I saw the consultant & have been told to start the cimzia again, I havn,t had the courage yet as Ime just getting over e cold which caused paroxysms of coughing .One good thing had a lovely jab of hydro, now out of pain!

They seem to think its asthma but donte have a proper answer, I have heard that lots of people have had coughs for a long time & I thought it could be whooping cough. I have allthe symptoms, will ask for a test from the GP. sorry this is so drawn out but between us I thought we might get to the bottom of this! hoping that you are better ,but would like to hear of your progress, still coughing, keep us posted love Rose x will look forward to your post after your chest clinic, take care

Dear RA friends!

I have been on Cimzia for 2 years and 2 months and am also coughing, mostly at night, when I am lying down to sleep. I had my usual blood tests this week, and my CRP is still high, despite taking 25 mg mtx, 4 mg predniselone and Cimzia. During the last 2 years my CRP have been up and down, but not really good enough to carry on with the Cimzia.

I have just talked to my rheumy nurse, who told me to stop the Cimzia, but also make an appointment with my GP. I can't get to see her until May29th. I don't really want to see another doctor, as they don't know me. The rheumy dept. will not send me for a chest Xray, but leaves it to my GP. I feel worried about leaving it for so long, although I don't have any other symptoms. Should I just wait? I don't have a rheumatology appt. until july.

Merete