I show you the world as I see it. Subjective. Not what most people think it looks like - or should look like.
The world is very different from what "common sense" leads us to believe. Sometimes, it seems more like a dream than like reality. At the same time, it is very complicated, and yet very simple and logical. Just look around you, and try to understand.
Watch. Listen. Ask. Learn. Experiment. Investigate. Don't be biased. Stay greedy for knowledge.Some things are banished only into the realms of our rich imaginings - but this does not mean that they do not or cannot or will not exist - they exist! They exist! (Michael Moorcock, The Revenge of The Rose)
All truth goes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed or distorted. Then it will be fought. And finally it is taken for granted. (Arthur Schopenhauer)
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) said in a statement to SELF that a “task force” has been assembled to ensure patients can continue to access methotrexate. “The ACR is aware of the emerging concerns surrounding access to needed treatments such as methotrexate after the recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,” the statement says. “We are following this issue closely to determine if rheumatology providers and patients are experiencing any widespread difficulty accessing methotrexate, or if any initial disruptions are potentially temporary and due to the independent actions of pharmacists trying to figure out what is and isn’t allowed where they practice.”
I need y'all to read that article and fully understand how absolutely fucked this is. RA is a progressive disease. There is no cure. The ONLY option is to slow it down as much as possible and hope for remission. Methotrexate is one of the most effective drugs in doing this. I currently take it.
And with it, I can function normally, most of the time. I can be symptom-free, most of the time. Pain-free, most of the time. But without it?
Without it, my fingers start to feel like they're broken in several places. My hands swell up and turn red and lose movement and dexterity. My shoulder joints swell up so much that they no longer fit into the sockets quite right and routinely slips out when I move it. Just...dislocate at random. My ankles double in size and lose freedom of movement. My jaw hinge and knees begin to ache and don't stop.
I am in agony. I can't work. I can't sleep. I can't exercise or take care of myself. Nothing helps except taking my meds--the methotrexate--and waiting for the flare up to end. And every single time, irreparable damage is done to my joints. My disease progresses just a little bit and I can't walk it back.
Withholding medications from RA patients like this is cruel and inhumane. It will lead to permanent disability, shortened lifespans, and agonizing deaths for RA sufferers. It is essentially telling all people with RA who could get pregnant: your actual life is worth less than the hypothetical babies you might have. It is unethical and downright fucking evil.
Patients who have experienced difficulty accessing their medication need to reach out to advocacy@rheumatology.org, the statement says. The Arthritis Foundation also has a hotline for patients having trouble accessing methotrexate (1-800-283-7800)
Difficulty accessing methotrexate is only the latest in what is sure to be a slew of restrictions that will keep people who can, technically, get pregnant from the health care they need, in contexts far outside the realm of reproductive health.
I can’t believe it. Even the fucked up Polish government did not go that far. To inflict this cruelty on women because of POTENTIAL pregnancy is inhumane.
catchymemes