First Id like to say Im so glad the board is back up and running I missed you guys.
The last time I posted I was having another bout of pericarditis and was also told that I have oa and ra in the cervical spine.
My rheumy decided to try remicade infusions to go along with the 17.5 mtx,10mg prednisone and my pain meds. The very first infusion which was last friday caused a reaction, I felt like a warmth in my chest that radiated up to my throat and then my heart started racing and my blood pressure went up.
The nurse stopped the remicade and the dr told her to give me benedryl through the iv and they went foward with the remicade and the burning feeling went away. I have to go back for another infusion on july 27th I hope I dont get another reaction, Anyone else have this when they started remicade?
I hope all you are doing ok.
usmmom,
I'm on Enbrel, not Remicade....but I had Perocarditis about 15 years ago, so prayers are sent your way!
Something is wrong with the way they are giving you the Remicade. When I was doing the infusions, they said that they always gave Benadryl along with it because of just this thing. In my doc's office they do it for at least your first three infusions. However, one of the guys in there you had been on it longer than that had a reaction while I was there. It sounds very similar.
You need to research this a bit more and talk to your doctor BEFORE another treatment. Evidently this is a common reaction, easily addressed with the Benadryl. If the Benadryl is not enough to counteract this, he needs to try something else.
Maybe the nurse was new to doing infusions, but it sounds like she fouled up.