Question about Rituxan?

[757cutie]

Hello i just wanted to know has this happened to any of you..

Last May I had my first rituxan treatment and I was told that I would probably have the treatment every 6 months or so...

I have yet to have another treatment because my lab work show that i dont need it yet...my neuro says he can't explain this but its a good thing...

Has anyone else just had one treatment of rituxan? It's been a whole year for me....

[Redwings]

When I was first prescribed Rituxan for NMO, my neuro told me that after two doses (separated by two seeks) I'd be "good for a year." This was back in 2005, and no one ever monitored my status with blood tests. (It turns out that I wasn't good for a year, but that's another story.) Not needing another treatment more than a year after getting a [I]single[/I] dose is tending toward the atypical. But if your neuro is being guided by your lab results, there's apparently evidence of why you might not need another dose yet. You'll have to ask him for the details.

[757cutie]

well i actually had four doses in one month. I had it once a week for four weeks....but its still been a year that i have had a dose

[Grace53a]

Hello,

I have been on Rituxan (rituximab) for over five years for NMO. My situation is a bit different from yours, as the NMO IgG+ autoantibody damages mature matriculating B Cells that carry the antigen (CD20+).

Because I have a very rapid cell recovery rate, and because I have relapsed at the desired 0% and 0 absolute CD19 count, I am infused every three months regardless of count.

Re-infusion with Rituxan is recommended once the CD19 level recovers to a level of 1%. The majority of my fellow NMO patients are infused at six month intervals.

Grace (NMO+ since 2005)

[757cutie]

i am so confused...but i do have NMO i forgot to mention that

[Grace53a]

Hi again 757cutie,

For the best information re: NMO, visit The Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation For NMO Spectrum Disorders Research. NMO isn't MS and differs not only in pathophysiology but treatment as well. Yes, in the beginning a lot of the symptoms might resemble MS, but the two diseases separate widely as time goes on. In fact, the research community is slowly discovering that the differences are more marked than the similarities.

Place your trust in your neurologist. If he/she is watching your counts, I'm sure that you'll be infused again once it's needed.

I do hope that you'll try to visit the GJCF. Learning about NMO at an MS board is a bit difficult to say the least.

Grace (NMO+ since 2005)

[Redwings]

Hi cutie:
Four infusions of Rituxan and NMO makes a [I]big[/I] difference.

If you've gone an entire year without an NMO relapse, congratulations! And because I'd [I]really[/I] like to see you stay out of trouble, my best recommendation to you is to ask your NMO questions in an NMO forum and not an MS forum. NMO and MS are different diseases and are treated and managed differently.

If you haven't already, please go to the website of the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation and ask your question in their patient community, called Spectrum: [url]http://spectrum.guthyjacksonfoundation.org/[/url]. Grace posts there, and she will be happy to hook you up with good information.

[757cutie]

Thank u....i really appreciate this info

[Grace53a]

Since you had four initial infusions, it is likely that each one was 375 mgs. That's how a large number of NMO patients first begin their infusions. After that, most patients move on to having one full gram followed by another full gram two weeks later, done whenever the counts rise. Try not to worry, as it sounds like your neuro is carefully watching your counts.

Hope to see you at Guthy-Jackson. :-)

Grace (NMO+ since 2005)