Rituxan and side effects

Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia
#1

My husband has had his second round in two years. It has been about two months since his last infusion. He has developed this ‘prickly heat’ (that is what he calls it, I am inclined to call it pins and needles. It makes tingles in his face, arms, legs, feet, and a bit of numbness). has anyone else experienced this prickly heat? how about swelling in the anckles, and painful feet? We asked the doc about the prickly heat, but she had never heard of it.

Also, about alcohol and pred. We were told its ok in moderation.

Thanks,
Wendy
Valdez, Alaska

#2

Hi Wendy,

My last Rituxan treatment was three years ago and I don’t remember any kind of prickly heat. It almost sounds like some kind of peripheral nerve thing going on if he’s feeling pins and needles. Hmmm…that’s a strange one. I’m trying to remember what you said about how he’s doing with this latest round of Rituxan…is he doing better?

I was hoping to get Ritux starting today for a relapse but they’ve decided to see if I can be weaned off the prednisone first without it…I have to say I liked your mentioning alcohol and pred – I think I need some liquid relief tonight after the past 4 weeks!!!

Jackie

#3

Oh…I meant to ask – is he being weaned off the prednisone? If so, that could cause some return of any inflammation in joints and limbs…prednisone being an anti-inflammatory…less might mean more inflammation therefore causing pain and swelling…

#4

No, he hasn’t taken pred in quite a while. He did have 3 rounds of pulse decadron during the
course of the retux. He seems to be on the way to remission. His numbers have been in the normal
range for about a month now! WooHoo! Yesterday his hgb fell though, from 15.3 to 15.0. We aren;t
too worried, b/c he just started back to work a couple of days ago. (He is in Construction) We
shall see. He is going to the doc on Monday to see about the prickly heat. And the ‘not sweating’.
Sorry that you are going through this again. Every time his numbers stay up for a while, I am
convinced that we are done with this stupid disease, and every time they go down, I am stunned
that it grabbed hold again.
Yes, I tried to pin Jim’s doc down on exactly how much alcohol is ‘moderate’. LOL She said that ‘a
couple of beers or a couple of cocktails’ wouldn’t hurt anything. I am guessing she meant ‘once
every so often’ and not ‘once a day’. Not sure, as Jim ended the conversation at that point. :slight_smile:
Anyway, hope that the pred taper period goes ok for you (as ok as getting off pred can possibly
be) and that you get to start retux soon.
Wendy

#5

I had the pins and needles and also broke out in little bumps and needed to scratch a lot! My throat was feeling very weird as well. The doctor began pre-treating me with benadryl and tylenol 30 minutes before my next round and it fixed the problem. My doctor told me that it was an allergic reaction to the mice cells that are in rituxan. He thought this was quite funny because my husband is an exterminator and he felt I should have told him I was allergic to mice. Gotta find the humor in all of this!
JoAnn
As far as drinking, I was advised to stay away from everything. I plan on having a conversation with my doctor tomorrow in fact, as the holiday season is coming and in moderation I can’t see why not.

wendywx aha-cpt6585@lists.careplace.com wrote:

#6

My daughter had it as a reaction to IVIG treatment. It went away with Benedryl and Tylenol