11 year old daughter taking remicade for AS

My daughter has taken her second infusion of the remicade and got really sick so they stopped it and gave phen. then started back slowly. She had second infusion on 5/1/07 then on that Thursday she fainted we rushed her to her ped doctor and they said she had influenza but no fever or any other symptoms of the flu so they put her on tamiflu. She also take sulfazalisin 1000x 2 daily. We have taken the 50mg of enbrel with no relief. so doctor suggested the remicade. since the infusion last week her stomach is killing her cramping and she feels sick on her stomach. I was just wondering if all this is normal with the remicade. Thanks in advance.

Buffy, There is a reaction called serum sickness that can occur in people who recieve Remicade. This occurs when the immune system reacts to the Murine protein causing inflammation. I think you need to discuss this with your daughters Doc. The reaction can be severe enough to warrant stopping the infusions.

Humira works quite similarly to Remicade, except it's protein is a synthetic human protein and so the risk of serum sickness drop way down. This might be an option for her and could be a little easier than the hours long Remicade. It would be a loading dose of up to 4 injections, but after that, it drops to one injection every one to two weeks, depending on the patient's response. I need it every week, but my AS is WAY out of control right now and I need the extra dose to get things settled.

I hope that you can find the best treatment for her and that she gets the kind of relief I am finally starting to see. Since going to weekly dosing just last week, I've been able to reduce my narcotic intake and it's amazing to be able to move. I even danced a polka at a party last Sunday! I haven't done that in years.