HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Remicade and skin outbreaks

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/1/2008 10:50 PM (GMT 0)
Since I have been taking Remicade, I have been having these terrible acne outbreaks. They are many times worse than when I was a teenage, and I am now 49 and haven't had skin problems for years. I am going to stop the Remicade, it was only partially effective anyway. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this experience, and if so, did they find anythng effective for them.

Thanks,
Posted 3/1/2008 11:03 PM (GMT 0)
Just curious -- Have you been taking any other drugs? What else did you change when you started Remicade? The reason I ask is that stopping prednisone can make your skin break out temporarily with an acne-like condition. A bunch of us who thought we had new adult acne had something called perioral dermatitis. Just curious whether you recently stopped taking steroids because it could be that.

Sorry that the Remicade wasn't totally helpful for you. Does your doctor have a plan for what you should try next?
Posted 3/1/2008 11:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Julie,

I have been off Prednisone for more than a year. So it is not that. I still take Acecol, but I have taken that for years. I am actually trying Accupuncture, Chinese Herbs and about 10 Grams of fish oil a day, and things are improving somewhat. Only 2 BMs a day for the last week and controlled urgency. I did 6 infusions of Remicade, and while it made things slightly better, the UC didn't go into remission. The skin outbreaks are really annoying, and while no where near as bad as UC. It is still not something I want to go through.

Thanks for writing. I am new here and it seems like a great forum. Another question I have is have you heard of anyone having major flares after a colonoscopy? A year and a half ago I went in for my routine colonoscopy and within 6 weeks had the most severe flare of my life. This is after 13 years of very controlled UC. It is what led me to the Remicade, after Prednisone and Immuran were ineffective.

I appreciate your comments,
Posted 3/1/2008 11:43 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the HealingWell community, UCwithquestions. I've never heard of skin outbreaks from Remicade, but we can all have weird reactions to meds at times. I hope you're successful in getting your flare under control.

It's common to have increased problems immediately after a colonoscopy, because the prep can be irritating and cause some additional inflammation. This usually clears after a week or so. A flare six weeks later I suspect may have had nothing to do with the c-scope, just one of those things of timing. Any time we flare, we tend to search the past few days, weeks or months for the cause. I've always felt I do that because it makes me feel more in control - if I just don't (whatever) again, I won't go into flare. When I know perfecly well that this DD comes and goes as it pleases.

Are you using any rectal meds? Whether you have left-sided or pancolitis, the rectosigmoid area is almost always involved in a flare, and can be the most difficult area to reach with meds because the orals don't get that far.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply