Rutuxin or Tysabri?

[DCat23]

Dr is switching my meds soon and deciding between Rituxan or Tysabri. Waiting on JCV test results. I’m very scared of the side effects of both medications. Interested to hear others experiences and opinions with these meds.

[Marco]

When considering the Rituxan side effects keep in mind that MS patients take a fraction of the medication that leukemia or organ recipient patients get so our side effect profile is much better. I'm sorry, but I don't have a direct source of the difference between side effects and doses.

My guess is if you are JCV+ your neurologist will lean heavily towards Rituximab.

I have personally been on rituximab for 2.5 years (had an infusion today) and could not be happier with the treatment. Had I been on the treatment earlier on I probably would be higher functioning today.

I wish you well and peace about your decision.

[ru4cats]

Dr is switching my meds soon and deciding between Rituxan or Tysabri. Waiting on JCV test results. I’m very scared of the side effects of both medications. Interested to hear others experiences and opinions with these meds.

An easy to compare all current DMD's is by looking at the sticky note chart under Medications and Treatments called Comparing DMD's Chart. You want a drug with the highest efficacy and side effects you are comfortable with. Both Tysabri and Ocrevus (a kissing cousin to Rituxin) rate the highest.

I am on Tysabri and am approaching my 100th infusion. I couldn't be happier with my decision. I am JC-.

The following youtube video is by Dr. Vollmer of the Rocky Mountain MS Center in Colorado. It is on Ocrevus, but the information is the same. It is excellent and gives an wonderful overview of all the current DMD's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4prsO-FDzs

Good luck.

[pennstater]

I put my Tysabri experience under your other thread.

You can also look in the sub-forum for Tysabri in the medications forum. It may give you a little more feel for everyone's experiences.

I don't think there is one yet for Rituxan. So hopefully a few more people will see this.

[Medina89]

Dr is switching my meds soon and deciding between Rituxan or Tysabri. Waiting on JCV test results. I’m very scared of the side effects of both medications. Interested to hear others experiences and opinions with these meds.

My dr put me on rituxan as well ,i asked about ocrelizumab dr said its almost the same medicine but he personally would choose rituxan because it has been used for so long,i hope for the best

[DCat23]

Thank you @medina89. How is the Rituxan going for you? I am JCV+ so cant go on tysabri. Insurance just denied Rituxan so hoping the appeal gets approved. Did your insurance approve it on the first try? My dr said the same thing about Ocrevus and it also carries an increased breast cancer risk so not looking to go on that one.

[Medina89]

Thank you @medina89. How is the Rituxan going for you? I am JCV+ so cant go on tysabri. Insurance just denied Rituxan so hoping the appeal gets approved. Did your insurance approve it on the first try? My dr said the same thing about Ocrevus and it also carries an increased breast cancer risk so not looking to go on that one.

I have not started it yet,i will this thursday hopefully but i am just as nervous as you.I am jcv positive as well but even without it tysabri seems so scary to me ,but i know it helps a lot people

[DCat23]

I have not started it yet,i will this thursday hopefully but i am just as nervous as you.I am jcv positive as well but even without it tysabri seems so scary to me ,but i know it helps a lot people

@medina89 did your insurance approve it already? I know what you mean. It’s all very nerve wracking. Good luck, sending you positive vibes. Keep me posted on how it goes.

[Medina89]

@medina89 did your insurance approve it already? I know what you mean. It’s all very nerve wracking. Good luck, sending you positive vibes. Keep me posted on how it goes.

I am from Sweden we do not have insurance ,we have a different system

Do you or anyone here know how long rituxan has been used for ms?

[DCat23]

I am from Sweden we do not have insurance ,we have a different system

Do you or anyone here know how long rituxan has been used for ms?

Lucky for you! I know my dr has been using it for MS for 16 years successfully.

[Medina89]

So an update

I had my dose today,i had 1000 mg and in 6 month i will have 500 mg ,everything went(thank you God! i was so nervous) well,i felt a little bit influenza symptoms but just a little my dr was wonderful when i was a nervous wreck,he came there to visit me few times and the nurses were almost all the time there.I feel good now and hopefully it will stop my MS

[DCat23]

So glad it went well for you and everything worked out! This is reassuring as I’m very nervous as well. Hope it does what it’s supposed to for you.

[Jabrti]

They are both based on antibodies that manipulate the immune system, but I think I recall Rituxan to be a chemo drug approved only for people with RA and Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

As I recall, they were doing Phase II or III trials on MS & Lupus, but I think Biogen (same makers of Tysabri) MAY have pulled out of those trials for now because it was discovered that Rituxan may have caused PML with Lupus patients who were using it off-label.

I think there are still Lupus and MS patients using it off label though.

I've heard of several known cases of PML (20+) potentially associated to Rituxan use, but that was over many years/thousands of Lymphoma patients. I guess PML is can occur occasionally with Lymphoma patients anyway . . . so it may hard to tell if it was Rituxan or cancer that caused the PML. (Same thing I mentioned concern about in that other thread you started .... with Tysabri now being tested on cancer patients).

[ru4cats]

"RITUXAN is not chemotherapy. RITUXAN is a type of antibody therapy that can be used alone or with chemotherapy. They work in different ways to find and attack the cells where cancer starts. RITUXAN targets and attaches to the CD20 protein found on the surface of blood cells with cancer and some healthy blood cells."

Perhaps you are thinking of Lemtrada that is a chemotheraphy drug.

[Medina89]

They are both based on antibodies that manipulate the immune system, but I think I recall Rituxan to be a chemo drug approved only for people with RA and Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

As I recall, they were doing Phase II or III trials on MS & Lupus, but I think Biogen (same makers of Tysabri) MAY have pulled out of those trials for now because it was discovered that Rituxan may have caused PML with Lupus patients who were using it off-label.

I think there are still Lupus and MS patients using it off label though.

I've heard of several known cases of PML (20+) potentially associated to Rituxan use, but that was over many years/thousands of Lymphoma patients. I guess PML is can occur occasionally with Lymphoma patients anyway . . . so it may hard to tell if it was Rituxan or cancer that caused the PML. (Same thing I mentioned concern about in that other thread you started .... with Tysabri now being tested on cancer patients).

Rituxan is one of the most safe medicines out there,and probably most safe for ms,,,my doctor has prescribed it since 2008 to MS patients.

Regarding PML keep in mind RA and lupus patients use many other medicines and plus much bigger dose of rituxan(2000 mg in 2 weeks compared to ms patients who use 500 mg)