does chemo(rituxan) stop working
Rituximab/rituxan is my latest effort to rid myself of the pain and swelling of the RA. I was diagnosed more than 15 years ago and diagnosed with lupus 13 years ago. I have been on plaquenil, vioxx, celebrex, humira, methotrxiate, many others and of course prednisone. In spite of all the side effects I still take the meds, but I was so hopeful that the chemo drug rituxan would work. Last year I took my second series of chemo and in about 30 days I felt relief that lasted about 5 months. Sadly for financial reasons I had to wait almost 7 months before I could try the rituxan for a third time, this is where things go south, its been almost 2 months and I am still swelling with morning stiffness. My hands and wrist are still cramped and hot and the worse my shoulders don't work my arms feel like they weigh 60 pounds and oh my gosh, the pain. Question is: does anyone take rituximab does it stop being effective? How often do you get infused? Do you still take other meds after infusion?
I haven't tried Rituxan myself, but I can give you a general information about RA treatment in general. As you know, the meds may work for a while, but that doesn't mean they'll work forever, so getting your RA treated is often about the sort of hopscotch game from one medication to another. So in that respect, it's possible that Rituxan isn't working very well for you anymore. However, it's equally possible that another treatment may take you into it working well again - another factor of RA treatment is that often you need to increase the dose over time. it is also quite common for doctors to use combination treatment of more than one DMARD, as different meds may have more effect than just one single one. As well, even if your RA as well control, it's quite common to need to take various forms of painkillers, depending on the level of damage to joints.
I'd recommend you make an appointment would your rheumatologist as soon as you can to talk about your options so your disease can be suppressed again. Good luck and please let us know how you do?
if you want to connect with others who use Rituxan, try asking the question again in a SharePost - they often get more traffic than the individual questions in the Q&A section.
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