My First Year On Remicade: Curse or Wonder Drug?

Hi all, I hope you have been doing well. I started Remicade about a year ago for moderate Crohn's. It worked immediately and within a week of my first infusion the pain I was having was gone. I am able to eat a great variety of foods without issue. The night sweats and the Erythema Nodosum incident I had stopped too.
On the flip side, unlike many other Remicade patients, I am catching every single cold, flu, virus, whatever and have been sick almost constantly for the last 6-7 months. This has affected the quality of my life, leaving me feel weak and without energy much of the time. I am fighting what was a simple cold that has turned into a possible bacterial upper respiratory infection and have been prescribed Amoxicillan which I have not yet started. I never required antibiotics before. I went to the gym, weighed more, and was stronger before I took Remicade. But, I realize that I had inflammation in my small intestine that was not getting better.
I asked the Doctor about stopping Remi and I probably agree with his assessment that the Crohn's could come back within 6-8 months of stopping. I have such a love-hate relationship with this drug. I worry that one day the infection I catch could be a very serious one. I'm wondering if anyone has voluntarily stopped Remicade for reasons similar to mine, and if another drug was able to keep the Crohn's in remission. Not sure what to do!

I understand that many people here had no increase in catching colds or any other infection. I think it's reasonable to expect the greatly improved quality of life that Remicade can give. For some people it's a miracle drug. For me the Crohn's symptoms improved, but being sick all the time and feeling weak is miserable, and it takes twice as long to recover. Unfortunately I think all the other Remicade-like drugs you mentioned are Biologics and will also lower my immune system. I wonder if anyone here has voluntarily stopped Remicade in the absence of a major reaction or because the drug didn't work, but for a reason similar to mine, and more importantly, were they able to stay in remission by changing to a lower tier maintenance drug?

My remicade experience was not so good. After my 4th infusion i broke out in a rash and had to stop taking it.

I took Remicade for 2.8 years before it lost effectiveness. I went into clinical remission gut -wise after the third infusion. I worked wonders on my guts. As petitarte said, I also got fewer community type infretions like colds, etc.

My question to you Gumart1 is this - Have you upped your hygenic routine? Meaning, using hand sanitizer immediately after touching anything in a public setting if you can't immediately wash your hands? Getting flu shots yearly? Trying to avoid individuals that are ill? If you work in an environment where it is difficult to avoid all of this then there isn't much more you can do...

That said....some people who take biologics are more susceptible to upper respiratory issues. That's one of the black box warnings on all the anti-TNF meds. Unfortunately it is your tough decision which is more troublesome - the Crohn's symptoms or the multiple upper respiratory issues. I am truly sorry you are having to deal with this tough decision....

I've had 3 doses so far and i have a bacterial infection that i can get rid of. I've had a week of antibotics and they called me in antoher prescription today so we will see in a couple days if i feel better.