If you are dealing with ulcerative colitis and are being introduced to remicade, the chances are that you have tried quite a few other medications so far. Remicade is a pretty hard core type of colitis treatment. It is one which most doctors won’t even consider unless some of the more conventional medicines like Steroids or Asacol or Lialda are not working well.
The answer about if Remicade works for colitis is yes, no, and sometimes. That’s not the clearest answer, but it is the truth.
There are some patients like myself who have a great positive reaction to Remicade right away. For me, I responded within 24 hours, and I thought my severe colitis was instantly gone forever. But, after about ten days it came back, and my second remicade infusion did not work nearly as well, and the third infusion was as though I was taking a placebo.
But, there are also some other patients who use Remicade and who have a great experience from the medicine for the long term. AND THIS IS GREAT.
Also, there are even other patients who use the medicine and it does nothing positive for them right away.
Bottomline, this is a hardcore medication that affects the immune system. It is given by infusion, and is very expensive. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t . The usual response time to the medication if its going to work is within about a week. Some people like myself show positive responses much quicker.
I am going in for second infusion on monday , and the first one worked great . I went from practically being housebound , with over a dozen trips to the bathroom a day , maybe more, to 2-4 a day . Bleeding stopped and i can go to work , and eat a normal diet . The results were fast too , just a couple days to notice a difference . Looking forward to this next infusion to get me even closer to %100. I also only had to deal with the lesser of the side effects , like some ss=hortness of breath , and fatigue , which i gladly accept compared to the alternative . Besides , i’m also on prednisone and asacol , so the side lack of sleep and fatigue might even be coming from them . The shortness of breath is definately from the remicade though . GOOD LUCK , I RECCOMEND IT .
that’s awesome that you had such great results with your remicade infusions, I hope it goes well for you again today!!!!
Hey Frank I was just curious as to how your feeling now? I went for my first two infusion and after the first one I was feeling great, felt as if I could start living my life again. But just before my second infusion i was starting to notice some symptoms coming back. I’ve had my second infusion now and I’m still noticing some symptoms. I’m scared the Remicade isn’t working for me. Although I’ve heard sometimes it takes time for your body to adjust.
Hey Mike,
” which has the diet in it.
I’m sorry to hear that things started to wear off before getting your second infusion. That sounds exactly like what happened to me. After about ten days after my first infusion, I started seeing the symptoms come back again, and as I stated before, my second and third infusion were not doing much for me at all. As for now, I am medication free, and have been doing pretty good. I stopped the medication about 14 months ago as the seemed to not be a long term solution for me. I made a major change in my diet and on the advice from a friend of a friend who also has UC, she explained how her diet change was helping her. What was interesting for me and what convinced me to look into an alternative approach was this girl also took all the medications I did including remicade and had the same (not so great longterm) results. I wish you the best. Here is a link to a book on the right called “Breaking the Vicious Cycle