2nd Remicade Treatment Tomorrow

Well, tomorrow is my 2nd Remicade treatment and I hope that I see some difference.

I am now on 30mg Pred and have had 1 round of Remicade and the symptoms have actually gotten worse

I call it cycling because it seems like my body moves thru cycles but I'm back to the sporadic bouts of vomiting in the middle of the night

The bleeding, urgency, # of movements and even accidents have increased since the first Remicade treatment

I am finally starting a food diary to see if I can pinpoint foods that trigger stomach pain

I ate Mexican last night and would have loved a pain pill but alas, I'm all out

Ate Chinese for lunch today without a problem, go figure.....

I wish I had some sort of idea of whether or not the Remicade was going to work and how long it would be before it did

I've read some posts where people seem to have an immediate response to it

I definitely have not

I did not feel any different after the treatment except for the fact that 3 days later, my ankle hurt for about a day and I'm wondering if that had anything to do with the Remicade

Nothing good for the gut though

I've been on Pred since the middle of Nov and started off on 40 mg which wired me to the max and knocked all symptoms out - reduced down to 20 mg which was like I was on nothing - doc moved me back to 30 mg and now it is almost like being on nothing - I don't want to go back to 40 mg and right now, I will have been on Pred for almost 3 months which I don't think is healthy

My eyes are blurry which I don't know if that is caused from the Pred or if I just need to get my eyes checked as it has been awhile

After much reflection, I really believe that I have had this problem for years and years but it didn't really start causing me real issues till 2008

I had my gallbladder out in 2005 and have read that seems to be the first organ to go when you are diagnosed with Crohn's or UC - once my gallbladder was removed, even the docs said that although there were stones in the gallbladder, it was not bad enough to have caused all the pain - I think that must have been my first bout with Crohn's and no one knew it

As a teenager and young adult, I was constipated and usually bled once I finally went but I never thought much about it

Anyway, just another long rant

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year's and those of you from Bama, maybe we'll run into each other sometime - Birmingham's not that big of a place - LOL

Wish me luck tomorrow

Peace Out

I've started a food diary

I have to admit that I have been dragging my heels about doing it for years because I really enjoy the taste of food

With this disease, you already have so many limitations that I rather stubbornly clung to the idea that at least I was going to continue to enjoy what I ate even if I paid for it in the end but last night changed my mind

I HURT and did not have any pain pills

Decided that being stubborn wasn't necessarily doing me any good

I went to the ER with reactions to it monday(delayed reactions)so I'm getting off the Remicade but I felt some of my symptoms not get better/worsen some on it. I only had the 3 loading doses.


I wouldn't give up on it yet though! I know of people who it took a few months but they finally reached remission with Remicade! It can take 6 months or a little longer to get results. You have to remember if you were flaring for a while before starting Remi it'll probably take some time to get it under control.

Best of luck to you fellow alabama Crohnie :) !!


(P.S: I have an eye appointment this friday because my vision has worsened too. The GI was the one who told me to go see a specialist about my sight because it's likely from the evil Prednisone I've been taking since October.)

Keeping Faith

Let me know what the doc says about your sight

My eyes are blurry and like burn some

Like if I blink enough times, I can clear a fog or something

Could just be me needing new glasses but after everything I've read about Pred, I'd be willing to believe that it is caused from it