Rituxan repeats

[mrtmeo]

Has anyone not gone into remission on Rituxan and got another treatment of Rituxan and went into remission?

[WG mom]

My daughter had rtx infusions in August and is not yet in remission. Her doc wants to wait until February and begin another series if she still is not in remission. In the interim, her prednisone had been reduced by 30mg over the same four month period. It will be reduced 1 mg a month for the next several months (assuming she responds positively). It's probably too optimistic to think remission will be achieved in the next two months, but we can hope. Otherwise, she'll go ahead with another series. My understanding is that it is typical to need more than one series.
Hang in there...

[me2]

I've not gone into remission after several Rituxan treatments and Methotrexate maintenance. I have slowly improved and have now reduced my prednisone to 10mg - the lowest I've been in a very long time.

[mrtmeo]

I've not gone into remission after several Rituxan treatments and Methotrexate maintenance. I have slowly improved and have now reduced my prednisone to 10mg - the lowest I've been in a very long time.

Hi me2,
How long has it been since your first Rtx treatment?

[morningsunshine]

Hi me2,
How long has it been since your first Rtx treatment?

Hi there,
I'm in the same boat. I had 4 infusions from May-June. It's been 7 months and I still am not in remission. In spite of that, I saw nearly immediate results from the RTX infusions (could also have been from high-dose prednisone) and I'm doing much better though and I think I'm nearly at remission. Meds include: 5 mg pred daily (yay!!) and 20mg MTX weekly.

I'm seeing my nephrologist on Friday and my rheumatologist on Monday. I'm going to ask them if it's time for another RTX infusion. My Kidney Dr. wants to wait until my CD 19+ B cells return and then do another infusion. My Rhematologist wants to wait and see if the new B cells are normal--if I flare, then we know they're not, and can do another round of RTX.

I found this study that recommends fixed-interval RTX infusions for maintenance: Rituximab for remission maintenance in relapsing antineutrophil cyt... - PubMed - NCBI

I feel like this is all so new and still somewhat experimental...I just want to pick the right course to reach & stay in remission!

[mrtmeo]

Hi there,
I'm in the same boat. I had 4 infusions from May-June. It's been 7 months and I still am not in remission. In spite of that, I saw nearly immediate results from the RTX infusions (could also have been from high-dose prednisone) and I'm doing much better though and I think I'm nearly at remission. Meds include: 5 mg pred daily (yay!!) and 20mg MTX weekly.

I'm seeing my nephrologist on Friday and my rheumatologist on Monday. I'm going to ask them if it's time for another RTX infusion. My Kidney Dr. wants to wait until my CD 19+ B cells return and then do another infusion. My Rhematologist wants to wait and see if the new B cells are normal--if I flare, then we know they're not, and can do another round of RTX.

I found this study that recommends fixed-interval RTX infusions for maintenance: Rituximab for remission maintenance in relapsing antineutrophil cyt... - PubMed - NCBI

I feel like this is all so new and still somewhat experimental...I just want to pick the right course to reach & stay in remission!

Hi Morning,
I wish my mom's drs would test CD19 b cells.
rtx works pretty well for weg's folks, but I know of no one that has MPA and did rtx.
rtx does even better for weg's relapses.
I don't know if my mom should do another round of rtx or stick with the mofetil to see if her renal function improves.
She didn't respond well to the rtx which was a surprise to both nephrologist and rheumy.
The rheumy said that doing the 2 doses of rtx is far better than the 4 doses.
B cells typically start coming back starting around the 6th month, so many will do the repeat at 6 months.
I sure hope u get to remission soon!

[me2]

Hi me2,
How long has it been since your first Rtx treatment?

Well, I'm sort of living in a fog of several years of illness and treatments. I'd have to look it up but it is something like a year and a half. Probably longer.

[mrtmeo]

My daughter had rtx infusions in August and is not yet in remission. Her doc wants to wait until February and begin another series if she still is not in remission. In the interim, her prednisone had been reduced by 30mg over the same four month period. It will be reduced 1 mg a month for the next several months (assuming she responds positively). It's probably too optimistic to think remission will be achieved in the next two months, but we can hope. Otherwise, she'll go ahead with another series. My understanding is that it is typical to need more than one series.
Hang in there...

Hi WG mom,
I sure hope the next series puts her in remission.
Is she on any other immune suppressant?

[Eric54]

My rhum has me completing 4 ( once per week ) and then we discussed maintenance at 6 months. So far 3 complete. One more to go.


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[mrtmeo]

My rhum has me completing 4 ( once per week ) and then we discussed maintenance at 6 months. So far 3 complete. One more to go.


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Hope it is working well for you!