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Quick Remicade question

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Posted 4/17/2013 12:43 AM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

I had my first Remicade treatment last Friday. Yesterday, I noticed the inside of my left wrist (which is the arm I had the infusion in) was itchy and today I started to develop a rash, primarily on my left inner forearm, but also a bit on my neck and some individual bumps elsewhere. Is it possible to have such a delayed allergic reaction (3-4 days) or could this be something else (other meds I'm taking, a new food allergy, etc.)? I've called my GI and left a message but haven't heard back so thought I'd check in with the "experts." :)
Posted 4/17/2013 12:46 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, it is possible. You could gave also been exposed to lots of other things in the time since the infusion. Make a list for when the doctor calls back.
Posted 4/17/2013 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
It can take up to two weeks for things to show. If a mild rash and itching could be an allergy. We all react differently to the Biologics. antihistamine, benadryl might help if you don't get a call back. the benadryl wears off in 6 to 8 hours. It may cause drowsiness but then again it may help out.
Posted 4/17/2013 3:52 PM (GMT 0)
I used to get a rash a few days after my infusion but it didn't bother me and soon cleared up after like a week, I figured it was worth the rash lol. If it bothers you could be worth getting into see ur GI
:)
Posted 4/17/2013 8:00 PM (GMT 0)
They often put an something with the infusion to help prevent that.  Tell them next time and have them add the antihistamine with the dosage.   This should help.

Best of luck. 

Posted 4/17/2013 8:24 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, I'm having the infusions done at my GI's office and they say they prefer to not start with the antihistamines as most people don't need them.

My GI called back and seemed a bit surprised at the delayed reaction (assuming this is Remicade related). She said to take Claritin or Allegra and Benadryl (which I've been taking since last night) and call her tomorrow if it gets worse. It's slowly been spreading up my left arm and is now showing up on my right arm too. Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with a rash if it helps me feel better in the end--I'm just glad I can still find the humor in yet another "complication" after the amount of bad luck I've been running into in the last nine months.

Here's hoping it stops spreading and goes away quickly (because I am ITCHY!!).
Posted 4/17/2013 8:25 PM (GMT 0)
Oh yeah, and she added a note so that for my second infusion next week I'll get the allergy medication up front. :)
Posted 4/24/2013 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like a reaction to me. Did you see your doctor the next day? And how did the second infusion go? So sorry you are having this problem. Remicade worked wonderfully for me. I was like new after a month or 2 can't remember but I know I was doing good soon. I ended up with 2 fistula so had to have surgery in 2007. This was about 5 or 6 months after starting Remicade.
My small intestine was just so bad that they did a resection. Which actually saved my life, because as I said I was feeling great. One of the fistula was to the bladder so they found it because of the bladder infection. When they did the surgery they found a small cancer in the middle of the mass of intestine. It was found early and no further treatment was needed. Will be 6 years the end of June.
No flares and cancer free.
Good luck
Jayne
Posted 4/24/2013 5:37 PM (GMT 0)
So I'm 10 days into the rash and the worst parts are starting to fade although it still itches a lot and there are lots of places where the rash is still "active" or there are individual bumps that itch. I've been on 20mg/day of prednisone for six days now and have switched from Benadryl to Zyrtec (more for asthma issues than because of this). My doc saw the rash five days in, wasn't fully convinced it was from the Remicade but said we'll pretreat for my next infusion (which is tomorrow). She's been a bit of a space cadet lately and we have been communicating through messages (me to her staff, her to my vm), with her either not getting the messages right from staff or not interpreting them right, so I'll just talk to her tomorrow. I'm just hoping that the second infusion doesn't cause the rash to re-emerge just as it's starting to fade.

I've also heard that if people do have issues with Remicade, it usually happens with the second infusion. So fingers crossed for tomorrow!
Posted 6/7/2013 9:13 PM (GMT 0)
Hello...Im Pretty New To The Site...Just Wanted To Know, How The Second Remicade Infusion Went??? I Have To Go On Biologics Soon...But They Really Want Me To Go On Humira, And Im Just Trying To Figure Out What Is Going To Best!!! Hope Everything Went Well...
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