rituxin

Okay so my dr and i have decided my next treatment will be rituxin after 3 ivig and one awful winro experience since nov 20 2012. I have a couple concerns! The first i hear it is very expensive does anyone have a price on ot? Second im concerned about my insurance covering it i am a single mom and do have medicare! And the last question are the side effects to it that u have experienced. My count are at 47 right now and we are not starting rituxin for a couple weeks.

Thank you so much!

I'm sure the cost varies by state and doctors office. Some insurances cover it and some do not. Your doctors office should be able to tell you if it would be covered and what your portion would be.

As for side effects, many people have more side effects with IVIG than they do Rituxan. Most side effects, if they occur, happen during the infusion and are controlled with meds and slowing the Rituxan infusion. It's usually pretty uneventful and most sleep through it due to the pre-meds.

I'm not sure of the costs or coverage, sorry.

My husband did the four treatments in February. He had an allergic reaction at the first transfusion (he broke out in hives). They administered a second round of Benadryl and slowed the drip down. The rest of the transfusions went without a hitch. He took a nice nap while I watched movies beside him.

As for side effects post-treatment. He said he felt 'fluish'. He had a runny nose the next day but that was about it. After his first treatment his platelets doubled and he felt great but they've continued to drop since then so he's not feeling so great anymore.

There were several people in the treatment room getting the Ritux and my husband was the only one that reacted. Everyone else seemed fine. Try not to worry to much about the treatment - my husband actually enjoyed the nap.

Good luck!

For me personally, the cost would be absolutely prohibitive were it not for insurance. I have Medicare primary and Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program secondary. Between the two, I have no copay, it is fully covered. I am 99% certain Medicare picks up most of the cost, with FEP blue just covering what my copay would be if I only had Medicare. If I recall correctly, when I had my first round of Rituxan, insurance was billed somewhere around $100,000. I do not recall if this was per infusion or total, since I was only 19 and had so many medical conditions, my mom was taking care of the billing and explanation of benefit paperwork for everything. I would think that most if not all PPOs would cover it, but I am far from certain. Couldn't even begin to guess with HMOs. But, if your insurance covered IViG and WinRho, I would guess it would cover Rituxan as well.

I experienced absolutely NO side effects the first time I was treated with Rituxan. I was pre medicated with 50 mg IV Benadryl and oral Tylenol. I slept through a decent part of the infusion. I was 19 at the time. My ITP went into complete remission for 3.5 years, counts above 150, averaging 180 or so :woohoo:

The ITP has returned, and after trying IViG and WinRho, I am back to Rituxan. I just had my first infusion yesterday. I did develop pretty severe muscle (and possibly joint) pain and a headache, but the pain has decreased since yesterday. I took two Tylenol 3s (Tylenol with Codeine) when I got home from the infusion (with doctor's approval), and my pain decreased significantly. I have an extremely high pain tolerance, and I will say, I was in quite a bit of discomfort yesterday. It takes a lot for me to be willing to take narcotics. Today I have not needed any pain medication.

The other side effect that is most common is allergic reaction to the mouse protein in Rituxan, and like Jacks said, allergic reactions are generally dealt with by slowing the drip and administering more Benadryl (expect to be pre-medicated with Benadryl as a precautionary measure, as well as Tylenol for the potential flu-like side effects). More severe allergic reactions are rare but possible, but the infusion clinic should be prepared to handle that, or at least I would hope!

Thank you all for all of your answers i have been stressed about this! I had an awful winro experience and am scared of something like that! How long were your immune systems affected and what did u do to insure saftey that is another big fear

I noticed that for about a year after Rituxan treatment I had a little more gum problems and scary pap smears. Both can be attributed to suppressed immunity. I didn't have any more colds and didn't notice any other problems. I always get a flu shot anyway. Didn't do anything else special in terms of immunizations.
Erica

I had a pneumonia shot and flu shot, but I always get a flu shot. I didn't notice myself getting sick more often after the first round.

I did not get sick any more often than normal after Rituxan.