Any current Rituxan users here? | Arthritis Information

 

Hi everyone, I'm fairly new here.  I recently was taken off Enbrel due to its losing efficacy with me, and switched to Humira which has not kicked in. Currently I'm on Prednisone to "tide me over" until the hopeful success.

Here's my dilemma.  My rheumie's plan is to try Humira, then try Orencia, then as a last resort try Rituxan.  She says I'm too young (51) and the long term effects of Rituxan aren't known yet.

Conversely, my sister called me this afternoon after a visit with her rheumatologist - who was my first rheumie after diagnosis and for 8 years afterward.  He recalled my issues and challenges and told my sister if he were still my doc, he'd bypass Humira and Orencia altogether.  His thinking was TNF blockers will never give me the former relief of Enbrel if it's worn off.  He gave her a Rituxan pamphlet to share with me tomorrow and discuss with my present doc.

I did some searches on these boards, and see some have been helped, others have been scared, some have been made sick.  If any Rituxan users have updated stories to share, I'd really appreciate your time and feedback.  thank you!
I haven't tried Rituxin yet but am on Orencia and doing pretty well.  Just wanted to make sure you know that Orencia is not a TNF inhibitor...it is a T cell inhibitor (if I remember correctly!)  I think Rituxin is a B cell inhibitor.

Hi, I'm one of those rare individuals who used Enbrel, Humira, Remicade and lost effiacy over a period of time.  My RD suggested I could go on to Orencia or skip and start Rituxin.  We discussed all the pros and cons and decided to retry Humira with an increase in MXT and added Sulfasalazine.  The combination worked like a charm for 18 months.  Humira worked better the second time around than it did on its initial run.  I wasn't in clinical remission but I was as close as you can get.  I had to come off all my meds for 4 months due to a gum abcess and I restarted 3 months ago and I haven't achieved the same level.  I'm now considering Simponi.  interesting that she is concerned with Rituxan when its an older med than orencia....the difference is that orencia was approved for RA first.  Rituxan has been used to treat lymphoma since 1997, RA since 2006.  Orencia was approved in Dec 2005.   I suspect we know more about Rituxan than orencia in the long term at this point in time.  I have been on Rituxan since Nov.2006. I had little or no relief from the other meds I tried before Rituxan. I never tried Orencia. I had level 8 pain 24/7 for 3 years. I even had to leave the job I loved as I wasn't well enough to do the work like I wanted to. It took 3 1/2 months for the Rituxan to kick in but for me it felt like a miracle. I am not back 100 percent but I feel like I have my life back and even better now. I just appreciate every little thing I can do now. Since starting on Rituxan I have started exercising, went on a zip line tour, spent 11 days on my son's Navy ship on a Tiger cruise, and traveled a lot. Before I wouldn't have been able to do any of these things because of RA. I take a set of 2 infusions every 6 to 7 months. For me it was scary to decide what to take, but in my situation I had to try it as I was losing hope of ever feeling better. Please don't think I am trying to convince anyone to take any medications...just sharing my experience with RA.

Whatever you decide upon, I hope it helps you to feel better very soon. I use Rituxan and have had very good results.  I've haven't had any significant side effects and I'm able to go anywhere from a year to 15 months in between infusions.