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Rituxan anybody?

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Posted 4/12/2008 6:28 PM (GMT 0)
My rheumie is looking at putting me on rituxan when I get back from Mayo if I feel lousy and don't have relief. He said it can help with Sjogrens. I'm wondering if anyone has taken it and how well it worked for them. If it will undo what interferon alpha did to me, I'd be doing great.  Also, the pred tapers mess with my existing endo nightmare, though he would still give me one if I asked.
Posted 4/14/2008 2:18 AM (GMT 0)
Amanda and I have been looking at this drug. Two people died from it? That is about all I got.
Posted 4/14/2008 3:24 AM (GMT 0)
I'm on Rituxan, I get it twice every 5-6 months for the past two years. I know I responded really well to it the first couple times and it's helped me with tapering prednisone. Before that, I've been trying and just bouncing back and forth between flares trying to taper and it just wasn't working out which why my rheumy suggested it. I'm really glad she did though.

It takes about 4-5 hours each time, and the first dose I usually feel okay. But the second one really drains me. But the feeling wears off in a few days and I feel okay again. I actually just had it last week.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'm happy to share my experiences.
Posted 4/14/2008 4:55 AM (GMT 0)
I have a bad liver so I figured my rheumy might be looking into something more like cellcept, also for my bladder issues. But that cleared up, and maybe this drug targets more my specific type of autoimmune problem. I tend to have bad reactions to the regular dose of things, but he knows this so he will hopefully be careful. Maybe he feels this will nudge my immune system back in the right direction, I don't know, but meeting with docs at Mayo will give us a better picture of my liver problems, how it is working and not working and perhaps whether this immune problem is liver related or just something I have on it's own. He wanted to put me on methotrexate but because of my liver I can't go on it. Hopefully this will be better. What kind of side effects do you get when you get bad ones? Can it cause severe depression or psychosis like interferon can? How long can it last? Can you undo it if you have a problem?
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