DELAYED ALLERGIC REATION TO REMICADE | Arthritis Information

right after my 1st remicade treatment i was so tired for 5 days then my toungue started to hurt with sores all i just figured it was the ra then the corners of my mouth cracked and then 10 days after the treatmen i broke out in hives all over my trunk and face and they are painfull i saw the dr and he told me to take a anti histamene(sp) and to double my predisone. he phoned my rhuemy well it is a delayed allergic reaction remicade has phoned me 2x and i was supposed to have the iv tomorrow well they had pushed it back 1 wk. and i see both my gp and my rhuemy on monday and tuesday i will not let them give me that stuff again the sad thing is i have been allergic to everything i have tried so far and it has been 1 3/4 yrs of torture. i do not know if the drugs are worse than the ra anyways i wanted to know if anybody else has had this? please help

teresa

Merry, I have not tried Remicade but I do have multiple drug allergies and I read about many others on this board having similar problems. I'm allergic to sulfa, penicilin, and all NSAIDs including aspirin. I can't take anything for pain except Tylenol. One time when I was given Lodine, an NSAID, my throat got itchy, my breathing labored and I broke out in giant hives all over which eventually turned into one huge hive.It was an anaphylactic reaction which sounds like what happened to you. You should probably wear a medi alert bracelet. Allergies are also an auto immune problem so it is no surprize that those of us with autoimmune diseases like RA and lupus also have allergies. Are you seeing an allergist too? If you have other sensitivities you probably should.

I already had problems with chronic hives for several years and had been taking a very low dose of an OTC allergy pill that always worked very well. After my 2nd dose of Remicade I started get hives (about a week after the infusion) that were so bad and completely resistant to my allergy med. I cant take pred. so I went for Clariton and it has worked really well so far.

They would always give me a Clariton at infusion time, but since I am now taking it at home and take it at night, this last time I had an infusion he didnt give it to me. ( it is only to be taken once every 24 hrs.) So I had had it 12 hrs before instead of right before. During the infusion (my 4th one) I got this really tight feeling in my chest and throat and felt very anxious. Like I couldnt breath. My face got real flushed too. The nurse saw that I was lookin kinda funny and stopped the infusion. He gave my an IV push of solumedrol (steroid) and then started it up again. Even as soon as he stopped the drip my symptoms started to disappear and the steoid worked. I was able to finish the infusion with no other problems.

I still take my Clariton every day, and I also continue to have frequent (4-5 per week) migraines as a side effect.

My doc seems to think the Remicade is working. I am up now because I am in pain. So I am on the fence now about continuing the remicade...I mean I will continue for a while..but we will see.

I started out on a higher dose of 5mg/kg and I would think I wouldnt be having this much pain right now.

Good luck to you.

Merry, I'm sorry you are still having troubles. Crunchy's doctor seems to have a good solution and seeing an allergist is a good idea.

I so hope something works for both of you.

Hi Merry,

I have not had an allergic reaction to remicade (thankfully) but I know they are common. I understood it's ecause they are made with mouse proteins that you can react to. In the Uk I think they usually prescribe a low dose of MTX to try to stop the reaction or they give you steroids before the infusion to try to prevent it. I take 7.5mg MTX weekly which helps. I think that after this experience your Dr's will talk to you about which treatments are less likely to cause reactions - I know the issue with remicade is well known because they were undecided at first about giving it to me as I am allergic to fish, eventually they dicided to try it nad I have been fine, althoug have been taking the MTX alongside it. I hope you get something sorted out soon!

I went through a bout of giant hives (lasted 6 months) really horrid never did figure out what caused them, and they stopped. I have had small 'hiviness' (red blotches on chest, minor itch, but no bumps) from remicade and I always get a 24 hr headache from an infusion unless I take benedryl with it. Then I'm ok.

Sorry it didn't help you. It is always such a disappointment not to have the drugs work....

I am always scared to try anything new now.

MTX is supposed to be taken while on Remicade to improve the effectiveness....even the manufacturer of Remicade mentions this..but I didnt understand it to be a preventative for reactions to the Remicade. In any event...I dont think the Remicade is working any better than the Humira..though my RD seems to think I am in remission..I think it is because I filed for ssd...I sure hope not..I am going in Tue to talk to him..in the hopes that maybe I have not relayed my symptoms to him clearly enough.