Myositis Q & A

What is the treatment for Dermatomyositis?

My husband is 36 years old and in relatively good health. He was recently diagnosed (through biopsy results from his hands and feet) with dermatomyositis-scleroderma overlap. His hands are rough, and he has a couple of patches that come and go on his elbows, tops of his feet, knees and eyelids, although none of them are serious at this time and they are smooth normal skin most of the time. He also has joint pain, but nothing very serious yet. He was hospitalized last summer for bilateral pneumonitis last year and has pulmonary fibrosis. He is on oxygen at night and very little during the day (just during exertion). Otherwise, he functions on a fairly normal level. I did read your response to another person’s question that there is not a specialty clinic within Johns Hopkins that targets dermatomyositis. I also read, however, that someone with the DM-SCL overlap disease participated in one of the Johns Hopkins clinical trials (it was a scleroderma trial, I believe). If he could not participate in one of your clinical trials, please let me know if you suggest someone else in the field.

My husband takes methotrexate for dermatomyositis. We have 1 child we conceived befoer he got sick. He has been on methotrexate for 2 years. How long does he have to stop before we can try to conceive? Will this affect his fertility?

Does the presence of these antibodies confirm polymyositis? ANA positive, elevated C-reactive protein, elevated sed.rate, symptoms of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue (debilitating)…7 year history of connective tissue disease, undifferentiated with symptoms including neuropathy. No elevation in CK presently. Results of Jo-1 was “500” with reference range of >120 being positive. LE neg., HIV neg. as well as anti ro, Sm, DNA, negative.

Can a statin drug like crestor cause dermatomyositis? If so, will the discontinuation of the statin drug able the body to return to normal?