Originally Posted by
VillageGirl
Just wanted to shed some light on this issue as an RN and as someone who deals with the complications of Lupus and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia on a daily basis.
Can drugs like Enbrel and others in that category used to treat rheumatoid arthritis cause severe immunosuppression and other serious and or fatal side effects? Absolutely. However, many other drugs can often do the same, not necessarily always by immunosuppression, but by other mechanisms. They are just not on TV.
I am by far not a huge proponent of Big Pharma, but blaming Glenn's death on a medication he was on for 15 years and very likely regularly followed by a rheumatologist does not entirely make sense.
IMO, had Glenn not been treated for his RA many years ago, there would have been no way he would have been able to play to guitar, be able to endure the many hours of standing and sitting touring requires of you and would have been forced into retirement.
Perhaps this would have been a good thing. Who knows? Maybe a combo of the treatments and a less rigorous touring schedule may have improved his health as constant traveling as we age causes our immunity to drop even more. No one can say for sure.
But when I read things like Azoff suggesting that Glenn's RA treatment led to , "ulcer and colitis" ( he sounds like a buffoon as the term is ulcerative colitis), I wince as one of the treatments for ulcerative colitis is practically the same as for RA. Had he really been so deeply concerned for Glenn, he would have told him to take a break from touring a reevaluate with his healthcare team.
Personally, I beg my rheumatologist to place me on Enbrel because the joint pain and quality of life sucks and I am only 44 with a 10 year old. Because I have a chronic form of leukemia which is now at Stage 0 and could kill me next month or when I am 90, he refuses. He is considering a less powerful med, Methotrexate. Not sure if Glenn was on that one as that has been around awhile.
My point is, and I finally got my husband to understand, if I could have just 2 or 3 months of feeling half as good as I did before all this stuff( particularly joint pain and dislocations) started I would live my life to the fullest, not just for me, but for my husband, daughter, and parents. If it was the end of my rope at the end of those few months, then I would take that any day over living months in pain and suffering.
Not sure if that's how Glenn felt, but if he did, I hear you loud and clear brother. Thank you for everything and may you soar high.
P.S. This is just my opinion and apologies in advance if anyone feels like I offended them.