kidneys Rituxin or imuran

[gilders]

Gilders, I have this blood issue too, but I'm in MTX and had only one RTX infusion. And my doctors have not come up with a reason either.

Wow that's really interesting. I mentioned it on another thread months ago, but it seemed like it wasn't Wegener's or medication related as no one else seemed to have this blood disorder. Now I'm not so sure.
I've been discharged from the blood specialists so I'm unlikely to find out much more about this condition (causes and what damage, if any, it's doing). If you ever find out more information I'd love to hear. I've had Ctx and Imuran, so different drug regime to you. This makes me think it's not drug related like the blood specialists thought.
I also had a bone and a bone marrow biopsy which came back clear for blood cancers and leukemia.

[mrtmeo]

Personally I'd say use rtx when WG is active and once in remission use Imuran as maintenance.
Rtx is more powerful than Imuran. I have read that the more Rtx infusions you have the less effective it is (much like many other drugs), therefore I'd try to save Rtx until/if you have a severe flare.
I've been on Imuran for about 15 of the last 19 years and also have renal failure. It is unlikely that I've had any adverse side effects from it. I say "unlikely" because I've developed a condition that is forcing my bone marrow to produce red blood cells too quickly. This is then forcing immature, irregular shaped blood cells in to my blood stream. My nephrologist (who's also my main WG Dr) thought it could be due to Imuran. But the blood specialists (who should know more about these matters) disagreed, although he never came up with any other answers.

Hi gilders,
Do you get Epogen/procrit injections?

[gilders]

Hi gilders,
Do you get Epogen/procrit injections?

No I don't.
I don't think my anemia is severe enough. Perhaps when I'm on dialysis this may be considered.

[keegan55]

thanks for our reply. Does that worry you about the creatine.....ao what is tour gfr around 40 percent

[drz]

Wow that's really interesting. I mentioned it on another thread months ago, but it seemed like it wasn't Wegener's or medication related as no one else seemed to have this blood disorder. Now I'm not so sure.
I've been discharged from the blood specialists so I'm unlikely to find out much more about this condition (causes and what damage, if any, it's doing). If you ever find out more information I'd love to hear. I've had Ctx and Imuran, so different drug regime to you. This makes me think it's not drug related like the blood specialists thought.
I also had a bone and a bone marrow biopsy which came back clear for blood cancers and leukemia.

I had broken red blood cells when I was anemic and and on Dapasone briefly. It was stopped and the anemia and kidney function slowly improved after several months.