Dilemma - remicade and social anxiety?

Hi, It is perplexing - my son has developed serious social anxiety since starting remicade Jan 2014. Prior to remicade, he was a very social kid. But we noticed it about 6 months after starting remi - and it has slowly been building up. Put him on zoloft after seeing a psychiatrist, also started seeing a therapist but we want to understand if it could be caused by remicade. GI doesn't think it is remi, although they do see anxiety among their pediatric patients. We are at a point where UC is under control but the anxiety is a more serious concern - especially after increasing remicade dose and decreasing interval. So I think there could be a relation.

How can I get a better answer if there is a relation? Is there anyone who has personal experience with onset of anxiety after starting remi treatment.

Anything's possible but I also vote for the UC itself, especially if he was like this before Remicade improved his condition. You get anti-social with these disease and it tends to play with your head, even after getting better.

Maybe it's just his age. We change a lot between 15 to 18 years old and maybe it's just a phase that he is going through.

I haven't experienced remicade induced anxiety. Maybe being a teenager on an infusion medication has made him more acutely aware or more concerned that he is different from his classmates and friends. 15 is a tough age without having a chronic disease. I'm doubtful it's the actual med causing his personality change. There are many other variables.

Being a teenager is tough but having UC would definitely make me go inside my shell. It's under control and that's great but it's still an awful thing to have in the back of your mind. It's also possible that he just has anxiety unrelated to UC or meds... hopefully the zoloft helps. Not everyone is social though, i've never been a very social person, even before UC. It's weird to flip like a switch though.

Your son's anxiety may be a delayed reaction to the past stress/trauma he's been through. Sometimes when we are flaring we are so busy fighting the flare-up, and so fatigued from the illness, that we don't have any room left over to be anxious or depressed. Then, boom, once it's finally over, it catches up with you big time. That's exactly what happened to me.

Are there any family tensions as well? You don't have to answer that one, but if you know the answer is yes, that will probably be having an effect on your son's mood/behaviour as well.

I developed terrible anxiety and had several panic attacks after starting Remicade. The only doc who thought there was a link was my rheumatologist. Once I stopped the Remicade, the anxiety stopped.

Good luck.

I started remicade when I was barely 19 and I remember it seeming like such a big step in my treatment plan. I dont think it caused me anxiety but it kinda hits you hard when you're in a big room full of chairs with people getting infusions, and you're the youngest person there - often by 2 decades. I would doubt it's the remicade itself causing anxiety but he's at that age where anxiety can get a lot worse and if he already feels different from his peers, that doesn't help.

I have had the same experience with my daughter. She was diagnosed when she was 7, she is now 21. She started Remicade when she was 17 and after one year I noticed she was developing anxiety. After 3 years she got to the point that she did not want to leave the house. While the Remicade was working she was in remission so I do not tie her condition to her anxiety. The Remicade stopped working and she has started Entyvio. I am slowly seeing her shed the anxiety and starting to get out and live life again. I do not care what the medical research shows, I am a mother and I know there was a correlation between the Remicade and her anxiety.