Remicade

Remicade works by blocking an important inflammatory compound, TNF-alpha. Because of this, your body may have difficulty mounting an inflammatory response to pathogens or tumors. Hence, if a neoplasm develops your body will have difficulty stopping its growth. In addition, TNF-alpha is important in containing the tuberculosis bacterium in granulomas in the lung, which is why it is very important to have a tb test before you start. I don't have any personal experience, though.

Works great for me, after decades of suffering.
I maybe get more colds is all, no other side effects or problems. My doc says she has had no patients experience those bad effects like cancer etc., just sometimes it does not work.

Remicade... We are still waiting for its effects... My daughter had her 1st treatment last week & the next one comes next week. In a holding pattern. On prednisone & steroid enemas and still have blood in stool & frequency hasn't really decreased. At least we are out of the hospital which is an improvement!

I have been told it sometimes takes a few loading dosages to see the difference. Holding onto that thought for now... Not ready to think of the alternative.

Hey Turpgates,

I know how you feel! I was given remicade while in the hospital as en emergency solution to save my colon, so I did'nt have time to think about it. But when I came back home I started to read online about it, ( and I spent hours online!) and I became VERY scared of this medication. SO scared that I did'nt show up for my third infusion! Well, that was a mistake... I had to be hospitalized again for my third infusion. I started being in remission after that infusion. It's been almost two years for me on remicade, and I have never had any of the bad side effects. I had a cold once last winter and once the winter before, and that's it. No infection other than that. Of course, I don't want to be on this for the rest of my life, but I'm thankful that I still have my colon . I also take very good care of myself with nutrition, rest, relaxation, positive thinking, etc. and I think that helps a lot.

Good luck with your decision

My mom has been on Remicade for 6 years now to treat her RA. She has no side effects at all from it and she doesn't get sick easily either. The only thing she is noticing now is that it doesn't seem to work as well as it used to. It's notorious for losing its effectiveness over time.

I worried about taking it too but the worry was short lived because it just didn't work for me. Best of luck with it. It has help many people.

been on it for two years and no issues what so ever with me.

I just had my 1st Remicade infusion a few days ago while hospitalized. I'm home now and still on Prednisone 50 mg and a hydrocortisone enema, but I only had one formed BM this morning with no blood! I am having issues with a rapid heart rate and palpatations but while I was in the hospital I had an EKG and an echocardiogram that looked fine, normal rhythms. The cardiologist explained that it is probably being caused by anxiety (which I suffer from), stress from this latest flare, being on Prednisone for the last 6 weeks and not being as active that whole time because I was so sick and the Benadryl they gave me via IV as a pre-med before the Remicade could have exacerbated the situation. He put me on a low dose beta blocker and I will follow up with him in 5 weeks to re-evaluate. I'm hoping it isn't a side effect of the Remicade but it is a possibility. We may not know for sure until I'm off the Pred and not in a flare. This is all so scary, but I have a husband and 2 young boys that I think about whenever I start to feel like I just can't handle another thing going wrong, etc... I would never want them to give up if they were in a similar situation so I can't give up either. All we can do is make the best decisions we can with the information we are given at the time and give the rest up to God.