Rituxin side effects

Hi ,I just finished Rituxan 10 weeks ago and it seems to be working-last count 115.I have graduated to month labs-Yay.Has anyone experienced neuralgia as a side effect?I j developed it and never had it before.Just when I am feeling good after treatment this pops up.
Thanks for any insights.

I didn't have any side effects at all. It's been 7 years since I had treatment.

Pack - the list of side effects are long and nasty. I believe that anything could be a side effect. How long after Rituxan did it start?

Hi,
Thanks for your response.It has been a long painful month but the neuralgia has subsided and I am out of pain thanks to Neurontin.I had taken it before for nerve damage from breast surgery.It worked well then and is now. They aren't quite sure what happened but it not Rituxin related according to various doctors. Seems more like a pinched nerve or arthritis.My numbers are steady at 115 with Rituxun.I keep saying 8years(last remission) and she tells me to be realistic ,I may not get 8 this go round. Good news is she stated I can have up to 6 more rounds if needed.I am still going for the 8 although my numbers aren't as high as they were the first remission.So grateful for the support, from this site and especially for you, as the administrator.

There were one or two other women who had neuralgia/parensthesis after Rituxan. So many side effects are denied by doctors. Ask Janet (Midwest), she just went through it. Rituxan put her in the ICU and her doctor/entire staff denied the cause. She has had on-going problems ever since. Prescribing Neurontin for a pinched nerve is kind of a drastic move, and arthritis is a totally different thing which isn't treated with Neurontin. Those diagnoses don't make sense to me (sorry). I hope you can get off of it soon.

As far as remission, I've had 12 years of remission so far after my second round. I had serious problems with that drug too. It wasn't worth it.

Sandi,Do you have 12 years remission with the second round of Rituxin?Wondering why it wasn't worth it.
I am off the Neurontin. Only use it for flare-ups. It helped tremendously when I hade upper torso nerve damage from my mastectomy years ago.I do agree doctors don't acknowledge some side effects of Rituxin.For example.I was told (by more than one hematologist )that Rituxin doesn't cause fatigue! Well I know for sure it does. Even research is now including fatigue as a side effect. This is why sites like this one are so important.I hope your remission doubles,triples!

I had serum sickness with my first round of Rituxan, but it was misdiagnosed by an ER doctor. The following year, I had one infusion when my counts dropped and got serum sickness again. That time, it was diagnosed properly. However, I started having constant muscle pain, fatigue, feeling like I had the flu, neuropathy, joint pain, etc. immediately afterwards. Turns out that it triggered Lupus which has been debilitating. I'd rather be dealing with ITP. That's what I meant.

The really weird thing is that my Hemo was at the hospital and diagnosed serum sickness the second time. I had classic symptoms both times and the timing was perfect...right when it normally occurs. A few months later I went to see him. He handed me a paper with a lit of drugs that cause serum sickness and he said, "Rituxan isn't on the list". So was he taking back the diagnosis even though it is a well known side effect and listed in the adverse events? I said, "Well, it's not a complete list". Blew my mind.

Sandi, Sorry to hear of your ordeal.When I first developed problems they tested for Lupus thinking I had it. Thankfully it was ITP instead.It is pretty scary to know Rituxin can trigger another illness. Gratefully, I have not had any serious side effects.

I just saw an ad for Rituxan in a family circle magazine, it was for Rituxan hycela, an injection. It really bothers me that they put ads for these serious meds in magazines and tv. In the ad this woman says “it took me longer to find my glasses than it did to get my injection”. The list of side effects includes death, serious infections, PML, heart attack.
For myself I do get parathesias and nerve pain after Rituxan but I get those symptoms with ITP so I can’t blame Rituxan

Thanx for info.In the 30 years I have had ITP, nerve pain has never been a side effect.

My hematologist says he has never had an ITP patient (40 years in practice) that has the parathesias and nerve pain I get with ITP. He says they are not connected but I always get those symptoms