- Joined
- Jul 17, 2023
- Messages
- 3
I've been on Remicade for years with varying success. It started great and worked perfectly for a couple years, but circumstances led me to missing treatments for nearly a year and a half, and once I restarted it it hasn't been as potent. A few days ago I spoke with my doctor, for all of two minutes, and he said he's putting me on Rinvoq. He wouldn't, or couldn't, tell me about side effects, or provide me with any documentation on the medicine. He just told me to Google it, start taking it, and he'd see me in two months.
I did Google it, and it's a very new drug, just approved for Crohn's by the FDA this year, it has nasty side effects, and it's ridiculously expensive. Over 6k for a thirty day supply. I asked about alternatives, and he said he'd do Rinvoq, see if it worked, and if it didn't he'd refer me to someone else. I looked up the producer of the drug, Abbvie, and it turns out that the company pays my doctor a variety of general payments. If you're curious, you can look up your own doctor through openpaymentsdata.cms. It's required by federal law for payments to doctors like these be available.
I will say this, and his general behavior makes me quite angry. In the two or three years he's been my GI doctor he has never remembered that I need Remicade every four weeks, not eight, or my first name, or in general seemed to care at all. The sum of our conversations is less than half an hour. I've had bloody stool and ulcers for months, and he has suggested nothing, just tells me to Google over the counter things. Despite this Remicade just isn't working well anymore. I feel ok for a couple weeks before falling into a full flare, vomiting, constant bathroom trips, no energy. Searching for a new doctor, getting another referral, doing more tests, all while being in that condition will be miserable. And I'm trying to start my first year of Uni in August. Has anyone tried this Rinvoq? The symptoms I read were worrisome, and since I'm on public insurance I'm not sure I could afford it regardless. Has anyone here had to change doctors quickly and continue medicine before things get too bad? I've read a lot about Remicade alternatives like Humira, Stellera, etc, have has anyone stopped Remicade and had good luck with something else? I've lost fifty pounds this year, missed a lot of work, and I just want to go to school.
I did Google it, and it's a very new drug, just approved for Crohn's by the FDA this year, it has nasty side effects, and it's ridiculously expensive. Over 6k for a thirty day supply. I asked about alternatives, and he said he'd do Rinvoq, see if it worked, and if it didn't he'd refer me to someone else. I looked up the producer of the drug, Abbvie, and it turns out that the company pays my doctor a variety of general payments. If you're curious, you can look up your own doctor through openpaymentsdata.cms. It's required by federal law for payments to doctors like these be available.
I will say this, and his general behavior makes me quite angry. In the two or three years he's been my GI doctor he has never remembered that I need Remicade every four weeks, not eight, or my first name, or in general seemed to care at all. The sum of our conversations is less than half an hour. I've had bloody stool and ulcers for months, and he has suggested nothing, just tells me to Google over the counter things. Despite this Remicade just isn't working well anymore. I feel ok for a couple weeks before falling into a full flare, vomiting, constant bathroom trips, no energy. Searching for a new doctor, getting another referral, doing more tests, all while being in that condition will be miserable. And I'm trying to start my first year of Uni in August. Has anyone tried this Rinvoq? The symptoms I read were worrisome, and since I'm on public insurance I'm not sure I could afford it regardless. Has anyone here had to change doctors quickly and continue medicine before things get too bad? I've read a lot about Remicade alternatives like Humira, Stellera, etc, have has anyone stopped Remicade and had good luck with something else? I've lost fifty pounds this year, missed a lot of work, and I just want to go to school.
