Guest guest Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Fran - thank you much for that superbelchfire explanation which explains everything - including my reaction to xolair 20 hrs after my first injections. My mother was frightened by a mouse while she was carrying me, a massive burden unto itself, and I, as a result, on a postpartum basis, never liked the little blighters either - nor does my spouse, Gwynne, or our dog, April, who would probably kill and eat the little bugger. I highly doubt, however, if Gwynne would eat one - more likely she'd call Terminex, as she has in the past, to try to get rid of me and the mouse on a group rate basis. I apologize for the above aberrant discourse, but it is well into fruit of the vine hours, and my cup ranneth over, allowing Satan to make me do it. Terry a.k.a. Ohldepharte ----- Original Message ----- From: tiredofsteroids Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 4:50 PM Subject: [ ] Re: Glad I am not in that small 0.1% Xolair is what is called a humanized monoclonal antibody. This kind of antibody is created in the lab by attaching a piece of a mouse antibody to a backbone of a human antibody. In the case of Xolair, the piece of mouse antibody comes from whole mouse anti-IgE, that is antibody developed against IgE, specifically against the portion of the IgE molecule that attaches to mast cells to trigger allergic reactions. The portion of the anti-IgE antibody that binds to the mast cells is the piece of mouse antibody that is then attached to a backbone of human antibody. So Xolair is a mouse-human chimera. Antibodies are very large proteins and any protein can act as an allergen (as can a number of other types of molecules, even steroids). Since Xolair is partly mouse protein, a foreign substance, it's easy and reasonable to theorize that it can be an allergic trigger. The application Genentech made to the FDA for approval of Xolair (http://www.fda.gov/cder/biologics/review/omalgen062003r1.pdf) documents 3 anaphylactic reactions that were assessed by the investigators to be related to Xolair. In each case, the anaphylactic reaction occurred 1.5-2 hours after the injection. Other allergic reactions, inlcuding hives and other rashes, itching, facial flushing, and facial swelling, were also documented and assessed to be related to Xolair. You can read about these cases starting on page 84 of the study at the website I gave above. I hope you find this information to be illuminating and interesting! Even though the percentages of anaphylactic reactions (0.1%) and other adverse reactions prompting discontinuation of Xolair(2%)are small, it behooves us all to recognize that there is no way of predicting who will or will not react in an adverse way and we should protect ourselves by erring on the side of caution in terms of waiting after receiving an injection. This is no different than for allergy shots themselves, which can cause serious 1st and subsequent reactions even after years of uneventful injections for a given patient. And, as I've mentioned in a previous post, deciding to start or continue Xolair treatment is like anything else - you and your doctor need to weigh risks vs. benefits for your individual situation before making the decision. Fran I > have been on Xolair since September 2003. Two shots every two weeks. > > After all those shots, not ONE reaction. Nada, Zip an Zilch! I > can't > > even tell where the injection was given 5 minutes later. > > > > I cant count how many of my regular allergy shots hurt swolen up > > around the injection site. Xolair never has. > > > > I sure am glad I am not in that very small 0.1% > > > > Doug > > Group Founder > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels > > in 45,000 destinations on Travel to find your fit. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Addy Group co-owner pleased to announce that spring has come to North Carolina and my sinuses are protesting. Or maybe they're protesting the fact that the Duke men's AND women's basketball teams both lost to State in the first round of the ACC tournament. (Not that it isn't State's turn, b/c they are long overdue, God bless 'em) Insert your own soapbox statement here. As a loyal Duke alumnus, I can only predict that those are the last two games NC State will win this season. Boy howdy, spring is here i NC, along with the seventies. Hallelujah!! On a connected note, is there any explanation why xolair is so bloody expensive? I mean, mice are cheap - free, in fact, in my attic during the winter. Terry ----- Original Message ----- From: pyle456 Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 5:11 AM Subject: [ ] Re: Glad I am not in that small 0.1% I, too, would like more info about the .1%. not that I'm worried, but I want to know things like 1) how many of those people ever had an anaphylactic reaction prior to Xolair. 2) did they have exposure to anything else that might have triggered the reported reaction? 3) what is the percentage of patients and doctors reporting reactions to Xolair vs the average percentage of reports on other drugs (for instance, are Xolair docs and patients reporting things that they might not otherwise report since Xolair is so special) 4) like you, I want to know what is the mechanism for the anaphylactic reaction. 5) do these folks have an associated or additional condition that might make them more prone to have an anaphylactic reaction that would indicate that that condition in combination with Xolair creates a slightly higher risk? Addy Group co-owner pleased to announce that spring has come to North Carolina and my sinuses are protesting. Or maybe they're protesting the fact that the Duke men's AND women's basketball teams both lost to State in the first round of the ACC tournament. (Not that it isn't State's turn, b/c they are long overdue, God bless 'em) Insert your own soapbox statement here. I > have been on Xolair since September 2003. Two shots every two weeks. > > After all those shots, not ONE reaction. Nada, Zip an Zilch! I > can't > > even tell where the injection was given 5 minutes later. > > > > I cant count how many of my regular allergy shots hurt swolen up > > around the injection site. Xolair never has. > > > > I sure am glad I am not in that very small 0.1% > > > > Doug > > Group Founder > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels > > in 45,000 destinations on Travel to find your fit. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Those are all my questions exactly. I think I've mentioned before, the doctor who is monitoring my xolair shots has a research clinic and one of the ongoing studies is on xolair (Isn't that right JoAnn?--She works for my doctor and is the one who gives me my shots.) I am not part of any research, but I always tell them how I have fared after each shot. I think when I asked the last time, if I recall correctly, not one of their patients has had an anaphylactic reaction. So====Addy, thanks for posing those questions. When my husband and I were talking about this, I posed these exact same questions to him, in reassuring him that as far as I could determine, this would not pose a problem for me since I have never ever had an anaph. reaction to anything. But then I have already taken my allegra, nebbed, and used my AdVair and my spiriva before I go get my shots. I am also wondering if maybe the reporting is a little skewed with the docs reporting on those bad reactions and not reporting the number of shots given with NO reaction or very little reaction. Just wondering......... Adah pyle456 <coachmac@...> wrote: I, too, would like more info about the .1%. not that I'm worried, but I want to know things like 1) how many of those people ever had an anaphylactic reaction prior to Xolair. 2) did they have exposure to anything else that might have triggered the reported reaction? 3) what is the percentage of patients and doctors reporting reactions to Xolair vs the average percentage of reports on other drugs (for instance, are Xolair docs and patients reporting things that they might not otherwise report since Xolair is so special) 4) like you, I want to know what is the mechanism for the anaphylactic reaction. 5) do these folks have an associated or additional condition that might make them more prone to have an anaphylactic reaction that would indicate that that condition in combination with Xolair creates a slightly higher risk? Addy Group co-owner pleased to announce that spring has come to North Carolina and my sinuses are protesting. Or maybe they're protesting the fact that the Duke men's AND women's basketball teams both lost to State in the first round of the ACC tournament. (Not that it isn't State's turn, b/c they are long overdue, God bless 'em) Insert your own soapbox statement here. I > have been on Xolair since September 2003. Two shots every two weeks. > > After all those shots, not ONE reaction. Nada, Zip an Zilch! I > can't > > even tell where the injection was given 5 minutes later. > > > > I cant count how many of my regular allergy shots hurt swolen up > > around the injection site. Xolair never has. > > > > I sure am glad I am not in that very small 0.1% > > > > Doug > > Group Founder > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels > > in 45,000 destinations on Travel to find your fit. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 terry - your bit about free mice made me laugh! from what i read early in my xolair process, the xolair is actually made up of something in chinese hampster ovaries. what i wanna know is who in their right mind decided to grind up chinese hampster ovaries, inject them into themselves for months and months and then realize, " hey, my asthma and allergies are improving " . i'm glad for those scientists, because i know i'd never go to a pet store looking for something to help my asthma - LOL as far as the price and its insanity, my thoughts, in addition to addy's are that i'm guessing we're still paying for the research that went in to develop xolair....and quite honestly, if we're willing to pay that much money for something, why would they lower the price. its the ol' supply and demand thing. heather pyle456 <coachmac@...> wrote: ( I think) says that the antibodies are actually chinese hamster. So I'm guessing that in addition to paying for all those wonderful clinical trials, we are paying some sort of tarriff (spelling) for importing the hamsters from china. I wonder if they're required to prove that they can't find work in their own country or if their required to prove that good old North American hamsters won't provide the required antibodies for a particular reason. No, Terry, State's gotta beat Carolina tomorrow. You know the rules. Addy I > > have been on Xolair since September 2003. Two shots every two weeks. > > > After all those shots, not ONE reaction. Nada, Zip an Zilch! I > > can't > > > even tell where the injection was given 5 minutes later. > > > > > > I cant count how many of my regular allergy shots hurt swolen up > > > around the injection site. Xolair never has. > > > > > > I sure am glad I am not in that very small 0.1% > > > > > > Doug > > > Group Founder > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > > Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels > > > in 45,000 destinations on Travel to find your fit. > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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