Arthritis

[Beth72]

hi everyone my arthritis has been treated by a Iv drip in hospital 6 hours then 2 wks after another 5 hours but I have noticed I have put on some weight along the way the doctor has put me on morphine for my pain and I do feel a little bit better than what I have been with swelling and pain in every joint so fingers crossed it carries on working for me x

[medway-lady]

You mean you’ve had in infusion?

[Neonkittie17]

Sounds like you’ve had Rituximab IV infusions from the length of time they took and the two weekly gap between them. Rtx itself never caused me to gain weight but the IV steroid prior to the Rtx (if you’ve had this) could have some bearing on that, but doesn’t always for everyone. (Also if you’ve been unable to move much due to RA pain and swelling in every joint, it’s easy to gain weight due to that lack of movement and exercise. 😑) Hope Rtx works well for you. It did for me for 8 years. Rtx usually starts to work at around 8-12 weeks. Was 8 weeks for me. Can vary from that too. Hoping you feel improvement soon. It will get better. 🩷

[AgedCrone]

Are you on Rituximab infusions? If so…was this your first set of treatment? It could take another set of infusions before you feel any benefit.

If that is the drug you are on….I have been on it since 2016 & I haven’t gained any weight…& I don’t recall reading here that weight gain is a common problem with it & I don’t think I have read anyone has been prescribed Morphine with it either…

Do you have any other conditions or are you on any other drugs like steroids that could be the culprit? I’d have a word with your rheumy nurse if I were you! Hope you get things sorted & lose that weight!

[Jillyanne]

I have rituximab infusions, have my second on Thursday , had these for years and it works really well but I have never put weight on 🤔🤔🤔

Hope it works as well for you as it does for me 🤞🤞🤞

[Runrig01]

Weight gain, with biologics can be due to inflammation subsiding. Your body burns a lot of calories trying to keep inflammation under control. So once inflammation starts subsiding, we need slightly fewer calories, or you risk gradually gaining weight.

[Willypoo]

Hello my husband had his rutuximab first infusion 24th June and 2nd 8th July which is approx 9 weeks since his 1st infusion. He feels it has not worked for him as his joints are no better and he is in equally as much pain/discomfort as prior to the infusion. Is it still to early to say or could things still improve given more time

[Akaka in reply to Willypoo]

Hi, I had my first infusion in Feb and can’t say I’ve noticed any improvement in fact just flaring again. It can take a long time to kick in and I don’t think 9 weeks is a long enough time to see if the Rituximab is working, they normally say 6 months. My 6 months is up so I am having a blood test next week which I was told will help determine if I am responding or not to the infusion. We certainly need patience with these drugs and I appreciate your husbands reaction to still been in pain. I tried hyrimoz for 6 months and that made little difference and then was given Rituximab and again Im still in pain. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for him but he does need to be patient.

[Pops77 in reply to Willypoo]

I had my first set of Rutuximab in early May and despite my hands being better my main joints are not … I read up that it can take until after the second set to really be effective- I 🤞 hope so for you too.. I’m having my bloods next week then consultation October so we’ll see . I do hope we all get there 🤞🤞