So far I've had two Remicade infusions.  I'm still having morning swelling, stiffness and pain, but it doesn't take it long to go away (less than fifteen minutes maybe). In my constant search for information regarding RA, I found out that this means the medication is working. ??? Wow! I guess I was hoping that all symptoms would be erased, but the article I read stated that if symptoms go away in under 15 minutes it means the medication is working. So. I'm going to be positive. Or at least try to be positive!

I've found that Remicade is extremely expensive (as all are biologic meds used to treat RA), and although the manufacturer of Remicade offers "Remistart", a co-pay assistance program, I'm still stuck with a huge payment that I'm not sure I can afford! Remistart, unlike Enbrel's co-pay assistance, only pays for just the Remicade medication itself.  I have to pay the first $50.00 and then they pay the rest. The total copay for me has averaged around $410 for each treatment.  The Remicade itself runs about $372, which means Remistart reimburses me for $322.00 (don't get me wrong, this is better than me having to pay the whole thing) but that still leaves with a bill from my doctor of about $88 or more! Plus, with the Remistart program, you have to pay the charges up front then get reimbursed later, whereas with the Enbrel it was all paid ahead of time and I never paid a cent for it.

Just thought I'd share my experience with Remicade in case anyone was thinking about starting it.

Hope everyone has a great day!