Doc opting for remicade infusion without telling me

Hi My insurance called and said I had a proceedure coming up, doc out of network yada yada and I said what proceedure and they said remicade.

I faxed my doc this week and said I'm willing to try Humira or enberal since the imuran gave me pancreatitis. I was shocked to hear she picked for me. THe last I spoke to her she said if imuran didn't work I would be looking at remicade or humira. My letter to her was I wanted something with the least side effects.

OMG I'm scared out of my wits! i thought humira was less in side effects than humira!

SHould I be mad she decided for me? I asked her what she thought was best. Is a money thing I wonder? Since it's procedure and not shots?  I'm suppose to go on vacaton on the 24th, tickets already bought and paid for if I'm sick for this crap I won't be going. I next week Weds to get my infusion.

Let me know what you think. Somedude, go easy on my today is not a day I can take a beating! LOL

It sounds to me like, from her viewpoint, you were letting her decide so she did. Pretty much everything has side effects. I don't really know if there is any in particular out of the immunemodulators or biologics or even pred that has less side effects, although the pred has some absolute definite side effects whereas the others only have possible side effects. It's just a roll of the dice whether these things will bother you or not. You said that the doctor is out of the network so you might want to find out what the bottom dollar is going to be.

I think you should call her about the Humira. Humira is approved for UC now, and it is way mor convienent. It is made of human anitbodies while Remicade is made of mouse antibodies. So, you may develop resistance to Remicade. The cost of Humira is less as well, and they have a program to help with expenses. And you could start ASAP, so you have more time before your trip. I would at least call and discuss it with her.

     My GI doctor was pushing Remicade for two years before I actually gave in and said "ok" to it.  Yes, I firmly believe the doctors get kick backs from the drug companies and Remicade is a biggie.  I gave it a whirl but after the 3rd infusion my symptoms all reappeared.  I then tried Humira for three months to no avail.  I finally had surgery in 2010.  Let's hope the Remi works for you.  I had no problems insurance wise.  All I had to do was pay a $5 co-pay out of pocket for each infusion.  Same with Humira.

hi garylouiseville, back when I first was dx i was told after a colonoscopy that the blood I was seeing was just IBS and nothing more. 6months down the line more blood and accidents. Flex scope showed UC. I took asacol and rowasa faithfully for 6 weeks went back and showed completely healed colon. My rectal doc at that time said quit cold turkey. However I never had a formed stool was still having accidents even though he said I was completely healed so I knew something was still wrong.

5 asa help a little with the inflammation but I still aways have bloody diarreah on it. more like hamburger meat looking skin and blood. I don't have that being off of of 5asa I have bloody muscus not chopped up looking stuff.

So no 5asa did nothing for me I think it was the rectal enemas that did the best for me. I have never had a formed stool in 6 years (except when I had a shot of rocephine, for one day I was completely and totally normal and then it went away. My GI said it was a complete and utter fluke! No other way to explain it she said) and have bled ever single day in these 6 years, either ulcer or hemmies, fissure or all three and most recently had fissure surgery because of the gut spasms of going to the bathroom during the day.

I think I have to jump to this measure now, I need some relief.

I did some searching on Rocephine a few weeks ago and was surprised to see it helping some of those with UC. The reason I was searcing is that I am pretty darn sure that the Rocephine they gave me in the hospital is what messed me up and started my UC. I even found an attorney on the internet that was taking cases where Rocephine had caused UC in some individuals. I filled out his online questionaire but he emailed back saying they were no longer taking those cases.

I could be wrong about this, but I believe that Remicade is generally more effective for UC than Humira is (at least that is what two doctors have told me). I have to say that this has proven true for me--Remicade worked miraculously well for me (I had to give it up, though, because I became allergic to it), and Humira has not worked quite as well.

I was really scared about taking Remicade, but the procedure is not bad, and I always got a lot of work done during the infusion. I actually looked forward to it until I started to become allergic. On the other hand, Humira is quick and easy and can be taken in the comfort of your own home.
Good luck with everything.
B

I have been doing some big word research lately and found that Enbrel could very well work well for UC but I pretty sure it has not been approved for UC and don't know if there even been any studies done.

omg this process to get on remicade is long! Case workers are calling! Holy crap, this seems like too much for me to handle!

I have to have a TB test done. Anyone had one?

 

TB test was nothing . You don't even feel it! Had to have it before taking Humira .