i had my first remicade infusion for crohn's on wed. ....i feel like i have a little bit more energy and maybe thicker stools but i don't want to get my hopes up yet that it is going to help.......for anyone else that takes remicade, how long did it take before it helped you?? after a few days is this probably as good as it is going to get?? and, do you get blood tests done to monitor anything? i was told by the nurse at the remicade clinic that i would get blood tests but no doctor ever mentioned it and i have no appointments to see any of them for months now...

I think you will know more after your 3rd or 4th infusion. When I started I had one infusion, then 2 weeks later another infusion, and then 6 weeks later a 3rd infusion. Then after the inital 3 infusions I had one ever 8 weeks.

I think you are supposed to have blood tests, to monitor your liver maybe. I had it done every time I got an infusion for the first year or so. Then I got tired of them sticking me so I told them I would have my general doctor draw blood and send the results to my GI doctor. Of course I never had my general doctor do that, oops

Hope the remicade will work!!!

Scott

hey Niki,

Wow, I didn't know you had crohn's... That's a bit of a drag, but something I've noticed from friends of mine that have crohn's (I have a few surprisingly) is that the meds for it are excellent..

I took remicade when UC was just destroying me. It worked like magic for me. I felt amazing within 24 hours.. By about 3 days out I really noticed it. Problem with me was that I couldn't sustain it in between infusions. By contrast, I know a dude that has taken it for years and never had a single flare (he has crohns). He also said that he can feel it within 24 hours usually.. I hope it works for you, and that you feel better soon

When I took Remicade, I had blood test quite often to check for white blood counts and other things he was checking.

hi, thanks for the quick replies...
i am going to call the doctor and get a blood test i guess...
the whole crohn's thing is not for sure but i have had problems with fistula, abcess and chronic inflammation in the pouch so....they are saying it probably is crohn's now...
what annoys me is that i had surgery for UC to have my colon out right before remicade was approved for people with UC where i live, so i just missed the boat..i will always wonder if it would have helped.
my next infusion is april 2nd i think....so hope it helps...
happy easter everyone!

hi! i got remicade and it helped immediately, but after about three or four months it stopped working and now i have an ostomy bag. but when i took the remicade i only had a couple flare-ups in those months, but the process is SO LONG!

I long are the infusions? I heard they were only like 2 hours. My dr is considering giving me remicade.

It is very important to have your liver function and blood counts monitored while on Remicade or any other anti-TNF drug. They can cause bone marrow suppression and/or liver inflammation. This can occur at any time during treatment.

I am on Humira and have blood tests every three months.

Jan

I took Remicade for 2 years. It worked like magic at first. I would feel great the first day. I also had to take so much Benydryl to combat allergic reactions that I slept for the first day or 2. Towards the end, the Remi only last a couple of days...I had my useless colon out shortly after that. Remicade was my last medicine to try.
The length of infusion varies. You get more Remicade if you weigh more. It is measured ml per kg. I also got a higher dose per kilogram. In the beg. the infusion took 2 or 3 hours. Later on the infusions would take 6 hours because I was so allergic to the higher infusion rates. They had to give it to me at a very slow rate so I wouldn't breakout in hives,shortness of breath. when I did have an allergic reaction - they had to stop the infusion for 1/2 an hour and give me some benydryl through the I.V.(you got a long nap after that stuff).
Remicade worked wonders for quite awhile for me.
Being that Remicade is made from rats...I did like cheese a little more than usual
hope this helps
David