Hey sista, good luck on the Remicade. Hope it helps to get your pain levels down. Best wishes and maybe you will feel better tomm.

I appreciate your report. There may very well be some type of infusion medication in my future and need to know how it affects people. My doc's office is 90 miles away and had a feeling that I would not be able to make that drive afterwards.

I hope the adverse effects wear off quickly for you.

coal

remicaide is the heaviest hitter along with rituxan in terms of spending the better part of a day getting infused. they last months and months and months. that's why.

actemra and orencia can go in as fast as 20 minutes. and only last 4 weeks. no comparison.

i have zero effects on orencia infusion. i eat a meal i bring while doing it and cut out as soon as possible. only the drive ruins the day nothing else.

but my buddy who did the remicaide had systemic affects and needed benadryl and such.

the lightweihts it's nuisance and gas nothing else

depot

Coaltrain - I am now on my 6th biologic - Rituxan. I am also around 90 miles from my Dr. For the first time, I was told to bring someone with me, in case I would need help driving back. It took hours (5+). Turns out, no problem. You do get an benedryl (Spelling), a steroid shot, and large dose of Advil or Alever or something before the shot. My last infusion was in January, am scheduled for my next one June 5. It is painless. You can get up and walk around - IV is on wheels. I am running out of options for biologics, but thankfully, this one has been the most successful so far. I drive myself.

It is, however, a very long day.

Forgot to add - it took about 2 weeks before I felt the difference.

OK - thanks for the clarification with the different meds.

I would try to get them done at a local hospital anyway - 50 mile round trip is way better than 180 mile. Of course the doc's office might not like that since they setup an infusion center to make more money....

i'm rooting for you Coal, for the shorter round trip

either way, I know what the haul is like for the infusion. it's wicked quick infusion wise with humira or orencia. it's almost ridiculous given the drive and how long they take to get a line in me how quick it takes to put the bug juice in. hopefully there is a dairy queen en route for you.

:)

depot

The Remicade infusion took 2 1/2 hours to run. I saw my Dr beforehand and then they gave me Benadryl and normally would give Tylenol but I had already taken my Hydrocodone so they just did the Benadryl pill. I was wiped out all day then was in bed very early as I was extremely sick to my stomach and still had the headache. This morning I napped most of the day but was feeling back to normal by 3:30pm. Next time (in 2 weeks) I'll know to give myself two days to recoup instead of expecting just one. Just to be on the safe side.

wow sistah

orencia takes like 20 minutes going in, and you get nothing, not even a glass of water - you walk in they throw it into your arm, and you're done. i wish i could do it at home, it is so fast going in. the iv bag is more like the size of a ziploc snack bag. no issues no benadryl no shot no nothing. but that's cause remicaide and rituxan are 3 to 6 months dosing. the light weights like orencia the gentle are only 4 weeks. that means you go back in 4 weeks....more driving! more infusing! for me the only issue is the damn line going in. i think i could be own line in easier than they do.

remicaide and rituxan are completely different.

coal: what do you expect to infuse? humira or are you switching?

depot

I like learning the logistics of the mystery and newness of these remicade infusions. About half way thru they slowed it down for a bit due to my headache but she didnt check my vitals until right before it ended and my blood pressure was 108/66 which is abnormally low for me. She asked if I usually had low blood pressure I told her that not really and I was on medication for my blood pressure and even so its usually high. But I finished the IV and went home still with a small headache. This was Wednesday afternoon and it is now Friday night and I am still severely fatigued. I thought the RA fatigue was bad but this has been even worse. Im hoping it eases up tomorrow. My next treatment is a week from Wednesday (2 wks) then four weeks after that and then every 6-8 weeks after that. I appreciate hearing others experiences.

Buddhacat-thats amazing how long you have been getting the Rituxin. That's exciting. And Depot I also have not very IV friendly veins so I'm sure that would be the longest part of my visit if I was on Orencia just trying to find a vein. I'm trying to drink a lot the day before and day of to help plump things up. Thanks for sharing.

sure kiddo

glad you are on the other side

let's have a stong-er summer. sigh

depot

I was on Remicade for five years. We got our infusions at my doctor
s office. I named our group the "Drip Squad" for obvious reasons. I'd bring a treat and we would have a gossip session - families, jobs, kids, favorite books, whatever. It made the time go more quickly and turned what could have been difficult into something fun.

I actually miss the group but Remincade started causing problems with my liver. Be sure to get regular blood tests to screen out any problems.

I hope that remicade does for you what it did for me. It truly made a difference in my life for over a year. I felt like my old self and was in complete remission. It has only recently started to wear off for me.

I was on Remicade for a short while. I would also get the headache and fatigue. It didn't last as long as your has though. At first, it worked really well, but them it just decided to not work for me anymore. I am now on Orencia and only get a little fatigue on the day of the infusion. But it seems that even that is starting to work as well as it did at first. Best of luck to you and hope you start feeling better real soon!