Remicade continues to be my life saver. I cannot even think of where I'd be without it. Even when I was on Humira I had ulcerations, not as bad as when I wasn't on it, but still enough to make me sick. Really sick. It is without doubt that extensive surgery would have been my future. I would have begged for it. Looking back, I continue to be amazed at how much pain the human body can withstand.
There are tons of medications on the market, most of them steroids that can do wicked things to your body. Like, make you eat everything in sight, snap at your loved ones, and swear at your grandchildren. Yes, I am guilty of that. Once. Then there are the TNF blockers like Remicade and Humira. TNF or Tumor Necrosis Factor regulates inflammation in the body. Apparently my TNFs are a little hyperactive. Interestingly enough, the dysregulation of TNF production has been linked to depression. I say that because those that know me know I suffer with depression on occasion ESPECIALLY after having a Remicade infusion. It takes me exactly three days + infusion date to pop out of it. Which makes total sense now that I understand that Remicade blocks the TNF factor in the body.
After I understood what Remicade did, I wanted to find out how it is made. The drug is 75% human and 25% mouse. Ewww, but that is neither here nor there. Once the human and the mouse get it together they shake the drug up in a big plastic bag and ...
No. I'm just kidding.
Well, sort of.
Basically, Infliximab (off shelf name) comes in a dry form and has to have saline added. That's where the shaking comes in. So, Remicade (on shelf name) binds to the TNFa factors in your blood and disables them. Think of it like disconnected car battery. There's no juice to get the inflammation going. Since Remicade is the only drug that gives me 100 % sustained relief for several days at a time, my TNFs are obviously a problem. Once I found out how Infliximab works I went looking for how it is made. This is the shortest explanation I found:
A tumor necrosis factor recepter-IgG heavy chain chimeric protein as a bivalen antagonist of TNF activity.
I guess that means chimeric mouse binds with recepter #IgG,( perhaps a protein in the body) which works as an antagonist against TNF activity. I still don't understand how it is made, but whatever.
I just had my ESR done and my inflammation is high. The test made me nervous because the one I had six months ago was far better. This means something, somewhere in my body is getting restless. Lately, I've been dealing with some odd symptoms. Nothing terribly painful or disturbing, but annoying none-the-less. Some grumbling, some cramping, gastritis and a few, but mild, esophageal spasms. Sleep is my biggest issue.
OK, so now I'm off to edit Innocent Blood and ride my under-the-desk-bicycle for an hour. I suppose the inflammation could be stress rearing its head even though my doctor insists stress does not cause a flair.
Um, yeah. We'll see about that one.
(((hugs)))
Louann
There are tons of medications on the market, most of them steroids that can do wicked things to your body. Like, make you eat everything in sight, snap at your loved ones, and swear at your grandchildren. Yes, I am guilty of that. Once. Then there are the TNF blockers like Remicade and Humira. TNF or Tumor Necrosis Factor regulates inflammation in the body. Apparently my TNFs are a little hyperactive. Interestingly enough, the dysregulation of TNF production has been linked to depression. I say that because those that know me know I suffer with depression on occasion ESPECIALLY after having a Remicade infusion. It takes me exactly three days + infusion date to pop out of it. Which makes total sense now that I understand that Remicade blocks the TNF factor in the body.
After I understood what Remicade did, I wanted to find out how it is made. The drug is 75% human and 25% mouse. Ewww, but that is neither here nor there. Once the human and the mouse get it together they shake the drug up in a big plastic bag and ...
No. I'm just kidding.
Well, sort of.
Basically, Infliximab (off shelf name) comes in a dry form and has to have saline added. That's where the shaking comes in. So, Remicade (on shelf name) binds to the TNFa factors in your blood and disables them. Think of it like disconnected car battery. There's no juice to get the inflammation going. Since Remicade is the only drug that gives me 100 % sustained relief for several days at a time, my TNFs are obviously a problem. Once I found out how Infliximab works I went looking for how it is made. This is the shortest explanation I found:
A tumor necrosis factor recepter-IgG heavy chain chimeric protein as a bivalen antagonist of TNF activity.
I guess that means chimeric mouse binds with recepter #IgG,( perhaps a protein in the body) which works as an antagonist against TNF activity. I still don't understand how it is made, but whatever.
I just had my ESR done and my inflammation is high. The test made me nervous because the one I had six months ago was far better. This means something, somewhere in my body is getting restless. Lately, I've been dealing with some odd symptoms. Nothing terribly painful or disturbing, but annoying none-the-less. Some grumbling, some cramping, gastritis and a few, but mild, esophageal spasms. Sleep is my biggest issue.
OK, so now I'm off to edit Innocent Blood and ride my under-the-desk-bicycle for an hour. I suppose the inflammation could be stress rearing its head even though my doctor insists stress does not cause a flair.
Um, yeah. We'll see about that one.
(((hugs)))
Louann