Question
I was diagnosed with RA in 2002. I am receving remicade at 5mg every 4 weeks, & methotrexate 15mg weekly. My first 2 remicade treatments, I had reactions where it felt as thought my throat was closing up, but no other ones since. I do have a very mild case of Hep c and dormint TB. Liver functions are always normal and I went thru the antibiotics for TB. At this time, it appears as though the remicade is only working for about 2 week and I know I cant get any more. I was thinking that before I try another program that I should increase the methotrexate and the remicade to the maximum which I believe is 25 mg of meth and 8 mg of remicade. What is your thinking.. It was good while it lasted…. THanks for your help… PS> I have been diagnosed with Systemic Lupus since 1985 but never had to be treated with meds
Answer
I can’t make definite recommendations without seeing you, but in general your suggestions sound reasonable. However, you should discuss with your rheumatologist. You are getting a fair amount of Remicade and I am not very optimistic that you will respond to a higher dose. Thus, I would consider a trial of one of the other TNF inhibitors, Enbrel or Humira.
