Originally Posted by 4-eyes

i am good friends with a gal who was in the clinical trial for rituxan here in the us. I will list the things i know about her experience.

1. They will pre-medicate with iv steroids. If this is going to be a problem, you will need to address it beforehand.

2. It is chemo, so you can expect some chemo side effects--nausea, aches, feeling generally "yucky."

3. The risk of infection remains until your white blood counts normalize. I don't think my friend's ever were affected as the dose for mg is much less than what they use for lymphoma, so that risk is less.

4. There is a risk of pml. You should strongly consider being tested for antibodies to the jc virus before proceeding. This is a serious thing, as pml can be crippling or most usually fatal. If you test positive, you will have to decide if it's worth the risk.

5. Sadly, my friend had no positive effects from the rituxan. She is positive for achr antibodies and later studies found that it works best on those who are musk positive or serognegative. Food for thought.

Finally--i have had high dose chemo (cytoxan) for an immune system reboot, so i know a little about chemo side effects. I strongly urge you not to attempt to eat your favorite foods in the day or two surrounding the treatment. If you get sick/vomit them, you will likely never want them again. Eat things you don't particularly love! I am now the vegetarian who cannot stand the thought of eating vegetable soup! How crazy is that?!

If you have any other questions, please ask. I will find answers for you.

Good luck.