Hi...just checking in ie. Remicade and update

I haven't been on in a while..I think things are moving in the right direction. My joint pain is so much better.. still there but not anything like it was. For that I am thankful. I had my second infusion last friday... I am having trouble with the nurses finding good veins. I blew a vein in my one hand.. very painful.. but survived.

Strangely after this infusion, I have felt pretty bad. Very flu like and I have had an increase of diarrhea and very urgently.Seems like it is increasing. I am not sure if I caught a bug or if its side effects from the remicade.

Can anyone offer any insight on Remicade..diarrhea..how long until the diarrhea corrected itself?

Thank you.

I am suppose to start Remicaid (possibly as early as next week). I put a post up because I am very nervous. I read someplace about getting flu like symtoms after getting an infusion and when I asked the doctor about it she did say it was common for a lot of people. The people that wrote me back on my post hadn't experienced it when I asked about it. Did you start to have the symtoms right after the infusion or within that week? Are you running a fever? When you received your first infusion did everything go fine with no problems? Do you get premedicated with benadryl before the infusion? I heard that for people who do get the flu like symtoms it can last for about a week :-(. Nobody mentioned to me about having a increase in D. I don't think I would be able to handle a increase and urgency in D because it is bad right now. I actually woke up this morning and tried to make it to my bathroom which is not far at all and it was already coming out before I could get my pajama pants down :-(. This whole this is making me feel so embarressed and I can't even leave the house because of the fear of going to the bathroom on myself :-(. I just was discharged from the hospital and I was doing so much better while in there and they didn't even start any new meds (I was only getting saline through the IV). They admitted me so I could get clearence from cadiology to start Humira or Remicaid and did a x-ray and took blood to check for hepatitis. Also my potassium was low so I had to get 3 bags of that through the IV (which burned so bad). The only medication I am taking for crohns is Asacol and this morning when I had my accident I saw one of the pills still whole like it just ran right through my intestines. I have had constant D for 4 years now since I found out I had crohn's and haven't had a formed stool at all :-(.

Is there a number to remicaid that you can call and ask a nurse like they have with Humira? I hope someone is able to give you some answers and you start to feel better.

The flu like symptoms are extremely common and will subside within a couple days. Some infusions I don't get them at all but it does occur most of the time. I usually plan on laying low for a couple days after each infusion because of the fatigue and flu like symptoms. I would not do an infusion without my premeds of benedryl, zofran, and cortisteroids. These make my infusions so much better than the first couple years when I went with just remicade.