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Remicade question

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/7/2009 12:34 AM (GMT 0)
Hello. Seeing as this is my first post i will give a brief back ground. I was diagnosed with UC a little over a year and a half ago. MY first bout was cleared up with 20 MG of prednisone and my doc put me on Lialda. Once i was off of the pred i went backwards and we decided to switch to sulfasomething (cant remember the exact name) This medicine didnt work at all and i was back on the pred. it was however discovered that i have a allergy to sulfa so i guess all was not lost. I then switch to 40 MG of prednisone and colazal. This worked great! i felt completly normal and couldnt have been happier. This worked good for nearly a year. in the last two months however i went back to feeling like i did before any meds. Im on a total of 100 mg of pred a day and it was not a good thing for anyone( including me) My doc decided to put me on Remicade, which brings me to my questions

The remicade seems to be working great. i just had my second infusion and im down to taking only 40 mg of pred a day including my colazal as well. for as good as the infusions seem to be i have been having severe muscle cramps lately. Ive also been having pains in my elbows and wrists. The only way i can describe the joint pain would be an arthritic pain.

So to end a very long post im wondering if these are common side effects of remicade infusions or if im just looking to far into it? thanks for the help in advance and sorry for the long post.
Posted 12/7/2009 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
The joint pains are almost certainly from weaning off the Prednisone. 100 mg. a day is an astronomical amount; most of us never take more than 40 to 60. The muscle cramps may be from a potassium deficiency, as this is common also with Pred.

So the most likely culprit is the Prednisone. It can take time, in some cases up to a year, for the arthritis-like pain to go completely away; the muscle cramps can often be alleviated by eating a couple of bananas a day or eating other potassium-rich foods.

Welcome to HealingWell, and I hope you find some of your answers here.
Posted 12/7/2009 3:05 AM (GMT 0)
Never heard of 100 mg of Pred-YIKES. So very glad you are weening. Go slowly though, you may notice changes at every dose reduction.
Remi. has some side affects, but usually not those. An allergic reaction is the most serious. Good advice from Judy. Talk to your doc too.
Posted 12/7/2009 3:33 AM (GMT 0)
i agree with everyone....i have had pains at times in elbow i think from pred. pred can do so many things. I'm glad the remi is working for you.
Posted 12/7/2009 4:34 AM (GMT 0)
I agree, it's probably the presdisone. I'm tapering from 60 (can't imagine 100!) where i'd been for about 3 months now and as soon as i got to down 40mg I started having the joint pains. I'm also on remicade (actually just recently stopping remicade but i just had my last infusion) But, the same thing happened the last time I did the whole prednisone cycle well before I stared remicade. It usually takes around 2 months after i'm completely off the prednisone to stop.
Posted 12/7/2009 9:49 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for all the advice. I didnt even think of the pred. ive been on this dose for almost 2 months and never had a problem before. however i am decreasing the dosage so maybe that is it. and ya 100 mg of pred was "great" for my marriage. im lucky my wife is understanding. thanks again for the replys
Posted 12/7/2009 8:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hi sleeperstang1994, and welcome to the forum! Yes, I agree that it is most likely tapering the pred that is causing the joint pain. If it persists or becomes too much pain, make sure you contact your doctor to let them know. Take care and again, welcome!
Posted 12/10/2009 2:42 AM (GMT 0)
Ya they tapered me down from 90mg of IV prednisone to 20mg oral, and I had alot of reactions. Knee pain like you described for a few days, terrible acne, and serious hunger. Seems the acne is starting to go down and the hunger is getting better. Im on Remicade also and it seems to work like a charm. Get my second infusion on Friday.
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