does anyone take Remicade? | Arthritis Information
dear forum folks, I don't read much about Remicade. Do you take it? Has it 'worked' for you, do you take it with methotrexate? *800 folic acid every day. I am on my 3rd dose and will have another at the 8 week mark (mid May). I've increased my methotrexate from 2 at 2.5 to 6 pills a week. I do feel better and am pain free (I give a lot of credit to 3 prednisones a day!)
Any info appreciated, Sarah
I have taken Remicade for about 2 years now. We have been playing with
the dosage and now I am at 600mg every 6 weeks. It does help. I am not
pain free and take 5mg of pred. and 20mg of Mtx. If I keep having the
eye inflammation then we may look to switching to Orencia.
I have also been on Enbrel and Humira. Remicade has provided me with
the most relief so far.
Becky
Please tell me more about eye 'inflamation', do you think you got it from the Remicade? do you get it after you have the dose? what do you do for it? (antibiotics?)Ok...Here are the two types of inflammation that I get:
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Keratitis is an inflammation of the cornea—the domed, transparent
circular portion of the front of the eyeball that lies over the pupil
Episcleritis is an inflammatory condition of the connective tissue
between the conjunctiva and sclera known as the episclera. The eye's red
appearance makes it look similar to conjunctivitis, or pink eye, but there
is no discharge or tearing. It usually has no apparent cause; however, it
is sometimes associated with systemic inflammatory conditions such as
arthritis, lupus, and inflammatory bowel disease. Rosacea, herpes
simplex, gout, tuberculosis, and other diseases are also occasionally
underlying cause
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The inflammation is caused by the RA. I have sjorgen's sydrome as well
which also causes eye issues. The Remicade is supposed to help with the
RA so the inflammation should be getting better. I also take pred and
MTX. When the eyes flare I also take steriod drops but the last time the
pressures in the eye were really high. That is a side effect of pred. I have
punctal plugs in my eyes. They are so small they are invisible. They plug
the tear ducts to keep more moisture in. This should prevent the keratitis
but it hasn't been effective yet.
The swtich of biologics may happen because the RA is still active. I have
liked Remicade until the last few months. I also don't have the large
number of joints involved that I initally did. Now it's mainly the knees,
chest wall, and eyes. The hands, feet, and elbows are much better since
having begun the Remicade.
Becky
rocckyd39180.3762962963I was on Remicade for about 2+ years. It worked at first but I kept flairing up before the next dose about 2 weeks before. My Rheumy doesn't think that if you aren't getting relief with the 500 mg Iv that he is not seeing better results with higher doses. I just switched to Humira. Only taken my 2 shot so hopefully it will kick in soon.
Good Luck
Elda
I loved Remicade - it just apparently wasn't all that fond of me!! I had immediate relief with it but as time went on (18-20 months later) I was on the max dose at every 4 weeks. No reactions to it and no infections from it just totally quit working for me. I did take mtx with it most of the time (my liver enzymes elevated too high and had to quit taking it), but by the 3rd or 4th dose of Remicade I was tapering off the pred!! I always suspected one reason the Remicade quit working for me was because I had to stop the MTX - the biologics are made to work with MTX which is really crazy since so many of us can't take it and many other DMards. Good luck. Hugs and good vibes.oh, just reading through this I read about the red eyes. my husband's left eye gets red like that every now and then for now apparent reason. we just assumed it was allergies and we've never asked the doctor. how wacky is that? I just sent it to him since it may not be a bad idea to get it checked.
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