Remicade and increased arthritis pain

Hi folks. Sorry for the long preamble. Here goes. I started Remicade mid June. Never had any luck, but no side effects either. Today, in a desperate bid to avoid another surgery (this time an ostomy as opposed to a resection) I was given a much higher dose. I went from 6 vials to 10. And, even though it happened just today, I'm experiencing what appear to be direct benefits. My pain levels are down.. virtually no cramping as opposed to almost continual.. no migraines (those were daily... actually nightly).. no nausea (what a relief).. and... it seems my taste buds have returned to normal. And, although it is too early to say for sure... it appears the frequency of my bathroom trips is going down. All in all... if this continues... I'm ecstatic. That is all of the good news.

However.. there MAY be a downside. My arthritis pain is up... way up. So much so that it is interfering with my ability to sleep. Now, my arthritis goes back before my disease... it is osteo.. I'm a big man, and I was stupid enough as a young man to be overly hard on this body of mine. Now, for clarity, the pain is where the pain always has been... no new joint involvement at all.. and it may not be the Remicade directly. It may be that my other issues (cramps, etc..) resulted in my focusing on it... and overlooking my arthritis pains. Like, it could have masked my arthritis... I'm male, I can't multitask. So the larger dose of Remi may not be the culprit here. Which is why I'm asking.. anyone ever noticed increased arthritic pain levels - or is arthritis a known side effect?

Any info would be greatly appreciated...

Kev, sorry to hear that you get joint pain. However, the improvement with Remicade is such a good news ! Hope you can get back on the roads soon - double meaning :ycool: