remicade fear

I have seen a lot of people here without any side effects from remicade. I don't want to dismiss your fear, i get it, it's scary but we have to remember, a lot of people who come to the internet to post about a medication are coming because they are having problems. There are people who have really bad migraines and nausea from mesalamine too, if you read about that, you might be scared to try those medications but in reality, they are quite safe. I know remicade is not the same but it is one of our options and we don't have too many. Is there any other medication you would feel more comfortable taking? I don't know much about worms but i believe they come with risks too. The pig whipworm has to be readministered over and over and it's expensive. the human whipworm could tranfer conditions from the donor. You have to weigh out what you feel comfortable with. it's not easy.

You certainly have to look at the whole ball of wax and make your own decisions. Personally, I think people are way too accepting of the biologics like they were candy, often switching from one brand of candy to another brand of candy. If you are in bad condition it makes the decision easier. I can't remember your present condition off the top of my head but there are pros and cons to every medicine as notsosicklygirl mentioned. Most don't have major problems with the biologics but I think almost everyone has at least some minor problems with them like fatigue after infusion, if nothing else. I personally know a girl who almost died from a life threatening infection due to Humira she was taking for RA. Yes, those odds are pretty small but they aren't small if you are one of the unlucky ones. I think in the end your condition dictates the risk vs reward ratio.

After almost 4 lovely years UC symptom free, I forgot that it was Remi that got us there. The infections were difficult-lots of small things that others clear in a week or two, took 6+ to feel normal. Several hospitalizations for those(mono, sinus, even appendix). We wanted off---then the Remi stopped US! Hmm, good timing?
Then the UC started its relentless attack. One year later.....still a flare, and I soooo wish the Remi was back.
We tried too-back to 10mgs per kilo and 4 doses in 8 weeks. No antibodies before. It didn't' budge a nasty flare, nor is anything else.
I am sure there is wisdom in here someplace, lol. Risk/reward, yep. Maybe never take for granted a flare free day!

I took Remicade in 2009 and 2010 for about 8 months. It sometimes seemed to help for about a week, one time I had the treatments only two weeks apart and I had a remission for almost 10 days but then symptoms came back unless I was also taking Prednisone when I was taking it at 4 week intervals.

I had two infections that required hospital treatment. One time I developed a boil on the side of my scrotum that had to be lanced in the ER on New Year's Eve. The other time I was hospitalized for 4 days after a scrape on my leg developed necrotizing bacteria that caused swelling that made it nearly impossible for me to walk. I stopped the Remicade after that.

As for alternatives to medications and / or surgery, I had good results with the treatment regiment I pursued. After 12 years of illness that became resistant even to Prednisone, I ended up avoiding surgery through a combination of 5 weeks of fecal transplants, the drugs Prednisone, mesalamine (Apriso and Canasa suppositories,) and the antidepressant drugs Bupropion (which may be a TNF-a inhibitor) and Doxepin and also protein shakes. I've now been symptom-free and drug-free for 3 years now!

Oh no, these stories of infections and stuff are having me worried. I'm already having issues with getting sick all the time on imuran. :(