Rituximab

[debjw]

Hi lovely people

I’ve had one round of rituximab last summer. Can anyone tell me if the affects improve with each round please?

Thank you x

[Neonkittie17]

The rheumy told me it can be second time before it works properly. It worked first time (first duo of infusions) for me but we are all different. Good luck.

[3LittleBirds2]

Hi, Lots of us have this drug and if you pop Rituxumab into the search box, you will find lots of helpful posts..I still do it after 7 years of this drug but especially when it got got changed to a bio similar.

For me, personally, I didn't have great effect with the first lot, but subsequent infusions have worked well and giving me nearly up to a year without needing steroids etc. My last cycle which was the 7th, took longer to kick in and was just about to change meds when it decided to work...weird.

Recently had my 8th cycle and waiting for it to work it's magic, Good luck and I really hope it works for you, it's a great drug when it does and has given many of us our lives back. I had severe erosion and thankfully that seems to have stopped!

I have two infusions, 2 weeks apart and sorry just read that you had 1 only so my experience may be different.

Good Luck 🙂

[AgedCrone]

Do you mean you had one infusion two weeks apart?Have you been told when your next infusion will be?

We can can only give our personal experience….. since 2016, I have gone from 4 infusions per year ……to one infusion every 7/8 months.

It worked well for me from the first infusions.

I had one infusion this week…& hope not to need another until around September/October…or even later.

I am not completely pain free…but only need occasionalNaproxen/ Paracetamol to be comfortable.

Hope you progress well on it.

[Lolabridge]

I found that it has a cumulative effect in that the effect of each new cycle is better than the previous one. I hope it works well for you too.

[Tracydancy]

I had 2 rounds of Ritixumab within 18 months - it was definitely a cumulative effect , which has made a huge difference to me and my RA - I still take RA medication daily / weekly but the infusion has reduced my symptoms and given me a much better quality of life - I can exercise and do the majority of the things I want to . I am not sure when my next one will be as I have just had surgery ( not RA related) and needed to have a 3 months break prior to surgery - the plan is I can have it again at any point if I feel my RA is getting worse again . Hope this helps x

[Edina123]

Hi I had two rounds of rituximab but it wasn't effective so went on to jak inhibitor instead Not everything works for everyone Its trial and error a lot of the time finding something that suits you

[Bella59]

I had my first Infusion in early November then next two weeks later.Early days yet to see if it will work for me.I hope you have success with this infusion.

[Neonkittie17 in reply to Bella59]

It was about 7 weeks before I noticed an improvement so hope it starts to work soon for you.

[Helen-NRAS Moderator]

Good morning. If you would like support, information or just someone to talk to, our NRAS helpline is open every weekday from 9.30am to 4.30pm nras.org.uk/helpline/ 0800 298 7650. Or have a look at our website nras.org.uk. Kind regards.