Re: RESEARCH - Response to Remicade or Enbrel as monotherapy...

[Guest guest]

I just started Remicade and had my second infusion yesterday(6-22-06). I am

in a bad flair because I have been without meds since the end of March while

I waited on insurance to go through. I haven't had any problems with it.

The only side effect I have had is I don't sleep for several days after taking

it. It seems to give me a burst of energy. Yesterday they had to give me

an IV steroid before giving me my Remicade because I am in such a bad flare

with severe swelling and pain. So far I haven't noticed any improvement with

my RA but I think that is because I have been without meds for so long. If

they hadn't given me the steroids yesterday I wouldn't be able to type today.

Hope this helps.

Hugs,

Wanda in TX

In a message dated 6/21/2006 6:23:05 P.M. Central Standard Time,

lubrazzi@... writes:

Hi all,

My Dr. wants me to try remicade infusion. I could not tolerate the

Methrotrexate after just a few months. My Ins co pay is too expensive

and I dont qualify for any assistance for Enbrel injections. Anyone

care to comment on side effects , etc while taking the remicade

infusion treatments?

Thank you all so much.

M

PS Anyone take any multi vitamin to help a bit with low energy?

--- In , " " <Matsumura_Clan@...>

wrote:

>

> Arthritis Rheum. 2006 Jun;54(6):1786-94.

>

>

> Comparison of the response to infliximab or etanercept monotherapy

with the

> response to cotherapy with methotrexate or another disease-modifying

> antirheumatic drug in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Results

from the

> British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register.

>

>

> Hyrich KL, Symmons DP, KD, Silman AJ.

>

> University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

>

> OBJECTIVE: To compare outcome at 6 months in unselected " real-world "

> patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with etanercept or

infliximab as

> either monotherapy, cotherapy with methotrexate (MTX), or cotherapy with

> another disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD). METHODS: A

total of

> 2,711 subjects starting treatment with their first biologic agent (1,453

> infliximab and 1,258 etanercept) were followed up for 6 months.

Outcome was

> assessed using the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response

> criteria. Ordinal regression was used to model the response in the

MTX and

> other DMARD cotherapy groups relative to the monotherapy group

separately

> for the 2 anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha agents, after adjusting for

> baseline differences. RESULTS: Etanercept-treated patients had an

increased

> likelihood of achieving a higher EULAR response category with

cotherapy with

> MTX (odds ratio [OR] 2.0, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.5-2.7)

and with

> another DMARD (OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.9-1.6) as compared with monotherapy. For

> infliximab-treated patients, the likelihoods were 1.4 (95% CI

0.9-2.0) for

> MTX and 1.3 (95% CI 0.8-2.1) for other DMARDs versus monotherapy.

Cotherapy

> with MTX or another DMARD produced significantly higher rates of

remission

> with etanercept (12% and 11%, respectively) as compared with etanercept

> monotherapy (5%). Infliximab-treated patients showed similar

remission rates

> in the MTX and other DMARD cotherapy groups (8% and 5%,

respectively) as in

> the monotherapy group (7%).

>

> CONCLUSION: In this study of real-world patients, the use of MTX

and, to a

> lesser extent, other DMARDs as cotherapy with etanercept was

associated with

> a higher likelihood of response. Although the infliximab guidelines

suggest

> that MTX be used as cotherapy, in clinical practice, both

monotherapy and

> cotherapy with DMARDs other than MTX are used. These data suggest that

> either of the latter strategies may be useful in patients who are

intolerant

> to MTX.

>

> PMID: 16736520

>

>

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids

=16736520

>

>

>

> Not an MD

>

> I'll tell you where to go!

>

> Mayo Clinic in Rochester

> http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

>

> s Hopkins Medicine

> http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

>

------------------------

[Guest guest]

>

>

> I just started Remicade and had my second infusion yesterday(6-22-

06).

I had my first Remicade infusion 6/19 and I starting itching terribly

in the middle of it so they stopped and gave me steroids and benedryl

IV and then finished the infusion. They said next time they will give

me the benedrly and steroids first.

I have been sick to my stomach ever since the day after, but am feeling

a little better each day. I can't tell if the Remicade is helping yet.

I was really nervous about starting it. The support I got here really

helped.

in St. Louis