Re: Xolair use

[Guest guest]

It is great to have a forum to talk about this. Thanks for sharing

your story. I think that keeping a diary is a good

recommendation..both in terms of each one of us being able to track

our asthma/allergy/other associated problems with more care, but also

to track improvements and how they might be attributed to Xolair.

I have been an allergic asthmatic since I was three. Today is my

36th birthday. I got my first set of shots yesterday. I could talk

about this further but I get very emotional about this. I am hopeful

that we will all see some significant improvements. I know that I am

tired of feeling so bad on a daily basis. However, as I told my

parents, I don't think this will be the be-all-end-all, particularly

because a lot of us have other associated pathologies (like CSS) and

b/c most of us already have a lot of permanent damage (airway

remodeling, for example) that probably makes us hypersensitive

regardless. But I think most of you will agree that any improvement

would be welcome, particularly if we could all cut down on the

prednisone.

NovaFactor is my specialty pharmacy also and they are great. I had a

lot of trouble getting Xolair b/c initially my doctor's office

contacted another company and they were not only uncooperative, but

they called the nurse several times a day harassing her trying to get

them to pay for the drug up front and wait for the pharmacy to

reimburse them after the insurance paid the pharmacy. When the nurse

went to the dinner given by the Xolair rep, she reported the problem

and within 48 hours the rep called her back and told her that

NovaFactor would work with my insurance company and take care of

everything. NF took care of everything in very good time.

Here's to clearer breathing for all of us.

[Guest guest]

Happy Birthday.

I have had asthma since I was about 12, but it didn't manifest

itself in any severity until I was 15. I turned 41 last Friday.

As I am tall (6' 8 " ) I have endured questions about my basketball-

playing ability my whole life. It's hard to explain to the average

on-the-street person that you can't play basketball because you

can't walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded. Social

activities are also severely limited to clean-air environs, and my

wife would like to try perfume once in awhile.

I don't expect Xolair to be the cure-all that will allow me to start

running marathons or to rejuvenate a career in sports, and I have no

intention of taking up smoking.

However, it would be nice to get a good night's sleep, and not be

hoarse from coughing all the time.

[Guest guest]

Amen to getting a good night's sleep and getting rid of chronic

coughs et al. I would also like to visit my friends who have cats

without having to take an extra bag just for my meds and neb.

Does anyone know anyone who took part in the clinical trials? At one

time I found a posting by a woman who had relief within 48 hours and

another by a man who didn't get any relief until about 6 months into

taking Xolair and then saw a lot of improvement. Of course when the

trial ended he deteriorated quickly.

[Guest guest]

I was noticing a difference within two days of getting my first dose.

What has made things difficult to measure are:

1) Two weeks after the first dose I went to Colorado. While there,

I got sick with an upper respiratory infection. It cleared up

quickly after my return to North Carolina.

2) Since the second dose, leaves are falling fast and, coupled with

some wet weather, mold is growing fast.

Therefore, while I am FEELING good, I can't substantiate this with

actual measurements on the peak flow meter.