No more remicade

[crohnie2]

Question for all: I began taking Remicade while in a flare that doesnt seem to ever go away. I've tried Humira, steroids, had surgery, etc. Nothing has worked for me. My doctor put me on remicade and for the first time ever, I started noticing improvement in my GI symptoms. Then on my 4th infusion, I told my dr that I had been experiencing severe joint pain. My knees would lock up, elbow joint pain, even pain in my fingers, into my wrists. So long story short, my dr took me off remicade stating that this could be a side effect to the remicade.

So now i'm off remicade and still have joint pain. The doctor is going to put me on cimzia now to see if I have any response to this. My question is, if I determine that my joint pain is NOT related to the remicade (as I still continue to have joint pain), do you think that my doctor could put me on remicade in the future since i noticed improvement in my GI symptoms?

I appreciate any thoughts!

 

[PsychoJane]

Have you ever tried Methotrexate? Did your doctor ever mention it?

 

[chrisnsteph1022]

Stopping and restarting Remicade increases your chance of developing antibodies and having a reaction to it. It's possible, but many aren't able to do it.

 

[crohnie2]

My dr said that he may put me on methotrexate or azathioprine. My concern with that is that my hair will fall out

 

[PsychoJane]

Methotrexate is one of the first treatment when it comes to RA. If that would be the reason of your joints pain, that could help, both your joints and guts. About your hair falling out, it's hard to tell if it is going to happen or not before trying it but it is rare that it does. I don't know about the azathioprine, I have not done a lot of research on that med but I know that it does not occur to often with the methotrexate at the dose prescribed for crohn/RA treatment. You also have to keep in mind that if you take methotrexate, you will be asked (technically, some doctor seems to forget to mention it... ... ...) to take some folic acid at the same time. Taking that supplement minimize the side effects of the treatment as MTX inhibits certain enzyme and that the folic acid fight for that same enzyme and reduce significantly the potential side effects. Don't avoid that treatment strictly based on the fear of losing your hair as the risk is not that high of it to happen, plus, it would not be instantaneous so you could stop the treatment if it were to occur and the hair grows back after.
I hope you will find a solution that suits you soon! GL!

 

[BritNicole]

I get Remicade every 2 months and I have noticed that it has actually relieved any joint pain I have experienced during a flare up, depending on how bad it is.