I have my Remicade appointment this Friday, but is it possible a sinus infection could affect the body to make you get a flare? Also is this a sign that Remicade possibly is starting to not work for me anymore?
Remicade has been my miracle drug and I'm extremely anxious it's not or starting to not work anymore after this moment of being sick.
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I suppose anything is possible, but it's unlikely that a sinus infection would cause your
Crohn's to flare. Loss of response to the Remicade is a more likely explanation. It's pretty common.
So you need to explain all this to your doctor and ask to be tested for the levels of Remicade in your blood just prior to your next infusion (at the so-called "trough" level). At the same time they should also check to see whether you have developed
antibodies against the Remicade that may be lowering its concentration and blocking its effectiveness.
But if you have developed such antibodies, don't despair. The first things docs often try to overcome this is "dose intensification" - which is to say that they will give you a higher dose of Remicade and/or more often. That often works, but if it doesn't still do not despair. There are about 5 more biologic drugs they can try instead of Remicade, and there is a decent chance that one or more of them will work just as well as Remicade did.