i recently started having my infusions every 6wks.my flares were getting closer together so my GI wants try this first.i did go every 8wks but a few months ago my flares were as close as every 4wks.this friday will be my second infusion at the 6wks,so i am praying this helps.
heres what i dont understand with my insurance.there is blood work that can be done to check the levels of remicade in your system 1 week before your infusion to see if its wearing off too soon and my insurance doesnt cover that test.so my GI is winging it hoping that the 6wks will help.why wouldnt an insurance company pay for a test like this?doesnt make sense.you would think they would want you to get the proper dose and maybe not have the infusions as often as you do. Prometheus lab wanted $250 from me for the test.
Ack insurance companies! They drive me crazy...
Just found out my work is switching companies for health benefits come June... Going from Manulife to Green Shield... Gonna have to go through the approval process all over again for Remicade! Hope Green Shield doesnt have a problem with it
They'll put you on a comfy couch or chair (hopefully!), probably give you Tylenol and Benadryl to prevent an allergic reaction or small discomforts, and start an IV - my nurse always puts it in my hand, which I was pretty surprised by on my first visit. But it just makes it easier to move around. Then basically you stay there for two to three hours while the Remicade goes in through the IV, and when the bag runs out you're done!
Welcome Melmonkey!
Take a good book or movie, Tuesday might take a while
Good luck
since your immune system is being suppressed and all.
Thanks for the suggestion though! I may try only drinking water that morning.
.hello all. I just had my first dose last week. Had no issues bar nearly fainting when the nurse stuck the cannula in my wrist. Not sure why that happened as I am not scared of needles, and have had an IV several times before with no problems. Perhaps I was just nervous, I do know that I had a really high resting heart rate of 130 when I went in (was down to a normal 85 by the end of the infusion).
Now I don't want to jinx things but it appears as though it has had an effect already. My bowel movements are down to 1-2 solid, normal ones per day compared to 3-4 loose with some blood before the infusion. My appetite has also increased quite a lot (in fact I can barely stop eating), and also the huge number of painful ulcers that I had on my tongue (which I have had for the last 4 months or so) have been healing very rapidly and are now basically almost gone.
My Doctor also has me on methotrexate 15mg/week (which I also recently started) in order to protect the response to the remicade. Hopefully this will do the trick. I was on humira and azathioprine for a while, which worked for a few months, until the azathioprine started making me ill (I started to develop pancreatitis so had to stop it). When I stopped the azathioprine a few weeks later the humira stopped working as well and I had a massive flare. I am hoping I can tolerate the methotrexate properly because I don't want the same thing to happen. So far so good though, no ill effects from either of them so fingers crossed
