Posted 5/2/2012 8:24 PM (GMT 0)
After four Remicade infusions, my fifth would have been last weekend but I never scheduled it.
I'm not actually sure if the Remicade is helping or not because I've been crediting my near-remission to the 80-billion Ultimate Flora probiotics I'm taking. I saw major improvement about a week and a half after starting, which was about halfway between my 3rd and 4th infusion. I stopped when I had an unrelated laproscopy (no good reason except that I was running out) and went back into flare mode. Started up again and saw the same improvement in the same amount of time, so I'm pretty convinced.
I'm also in the process of switching doctors, or at least getting a second opinion. The appointment with the new one is June 1. I'm not happy with my current's method of treatment - what she's doing with my meds doesn't make any sense to me, and I don't trust her to respect my desire for a drug-free-as-realistically-possible pregnancy in the near future.
I'm really torn on whether I should go ahead and schedule that next infusion, or how long I can safely go without risking not being able to go on it again.
The biggest deterrent is honestly the cost. I was close to hitting the out-of-pocket max on my insurance for the year already, but our deductible just went up. I don't want to put money in front of my health, but I don't want to go further into debt for a treatment I don't know if helping either.