I've never been on rituxan, so can't give any insight. But I think that lexisgirl had success with it. Hopefully she will give you information. Best wishes on the rituxan.

Hi Dugrab. Never had use it but as its one of the treatments for Myositis I have researched it a lot. It is very effective and I believe you really start to feel the benefits after the 3rd infusion but we are all different. I wish you the very best and lok forward to you posting just how well you are soon to be doing. Best wishes. Autumm

Thanks for the input all, thought there were a number of you that had gone down this route... Seems a bit scary to be killing all those B cells. How afraid should I be of going out (germs)?

So far so good. No obvious side effects or anything. I have a 2nd start up treatment in 2 weeks

Hi Dugrab. Don't be frightened, just live your life. Were you in any great danger the docs would keep you in a bubble !!! Do go to the TMA site, find live discussions there by clicking on Community and scrolling down. You will find lots there about Rituxn. Do let us know how you are doing. Best wishes. Autumm

My hubby started Rituxan in Dec of 2014. He really didn't start feeling better for about 6 months after the first set of treatments. He then had his 2nd round of treatments in May and after that round he said he has never felt better! He is now in remission. He just finished his last round of Rituxan today and will not be due again for another 6 months. He is still on 2.5mg prednisone and on his Cellcept I think the dr is going to do two more rounds of Rituxan just for maintenance (if the insurance agrees!) but for now, he is back at work and doing great. He will still have an occasional leg or hand cramp but the muscle pain and weakness is gone! He really only has a reaction at the beginning of treatment which he takes a double dose of Benadryl for. And he has not been ill which is fantastic since we have two small children who I'm sure bring home germs all the time! I hope it works for you like it did for him... life saver!!

pmcki96ey, thanks for the input. I hope it works for me too! Ive had a 2nd treatment a week ago or so. I think the treatment regime now goes to every six months. I see my rhuemy this week. I havent seen a miracle yet. For a couple days after each treatment Ive felt like crap

I did Rituxan but for cancer, not Myositis. It is a miracle for me. My understanding is it doesn't kill B cells, it targets them and makes your immune system fight the violators in B cells.

For side effects, I had fatigue and some headache. But nothing I couldn't work around. For me, I started my Myositis symptoms while on Rituxan so they have not considered it as part of my Myositis treatment plan. Most side effects come during infusion. That is why they drip it so slow.

The TMA site has some information about Rituxan use that you might be interested in. I know 2 years ago, it was a session topic at the annual conference. Check out the site and see if you can find the information you gain regarding Rituxan use for Myositis.