Ritmax change?!!!

[Lfox]

Hi guys

Do any of you have the Ritimax infusion for their RA?

Ive had it for the last 10 years and every 6 months i had it and i would say it has improved my RA by about 90%

However they seem to have changed the name of it (im convinced its a totally different drug) and im having flate ups and pain so much more now.

Has anyone else noticed a difference and suffering more too?

My knee and ankle are swollen so bad

Thanks

Xxx

[Jillyanne]

Hi, is this Rituximab you are on ? If so , I was on it for quite a while and have been swopped to the cheaper version ????

Doesn’t seem to work as well but they have told me if I am not happy I can go back to the original one .

[Lfox in reply to Jillyanne]

Yes its rituximab im on! Yes same as me its a cheaper version and not working for me either! Interesting i havent been told i can back to the original one i shall push for that! Thanks jillyanne xx

[AgedCrone in reply to Lfox]

Look at the NICE regulations on Biosimilars.....it does mention you can go back to the original....but I reckon you will have to be very firm when you put your case,

I'm on 6 monthly RTX infusions & had to postpone whilst a nasty rash that "might" have been RTX related was investigated.......after 8 months I was getting all the aches & pains back. Luckily biopsies showed Rtx was not the culprit so I'm now off for my infusion!

Do hope you can switchback easily.

[bpeal1 in reply to Jillyanne]

I have also had a similar experience. I been on Rituximab for 4 years now (having infusions every 6 months). The last lot I had they switched brands to a bio similar and I’ve not had a good response to it. I spoke to my Rheumatology consultant about it. She said that although all the testing has shown that it works as well (if not slightly better) than the original brand all the statistics are for groups. That is if the old brand helped 10 out of 15 people the new one helps 10 or 11 people out of 15. However she said that anecdotal evidence from her experiences and that of colleagues in hospitals is that it’s not necessarily the same 10 people. (ie you could be 1 of the 10 people the old brand helped but 1 of the 5 the new brand doesn’t help).

She also said that sometimes rituximab does stop working. Therefore for my treatment plan we have decided to try rituximab once more but to go back to the old brand to see which it is.