Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Hey, I'm the new guy...

I was diagnosed with AS in July of 06 and started Remicade the same month. The Remicade has worked great. But wow, I got sick with bronchitis and a virus on February 10th. My reumatoligist put me on Zithromax the same day, but by Wednesday the 13th I wasn't getting any relief, so my GP put me on Cefzil. Now I was scheduled for my Remicade treatment on the 14th, but had to cancel obviously. I should also point out that I had to stop my daily Imuran doses on the 10th also. Let me tell you, by Thursday, my AS flared up like nothing I've experienced before. Does it have something to do with the antibiotics I was on? My pain was so bad my doc had to prescribe me Vicodin. Has anyone else had horrible flare-ups while taking antibiotics?

PS... nice to meet everyone...

hi there..and welcome!
i was on remicade for just shy of a year. i had problems with bronchitis, severe asthma attacks, and pneumonia while on remicade. it suppressed my already weak immune system. although it was THE wonder drug for my spine..the side effects were simply not worth it for me. i was on antibiotics on and off for those 11 months! i hadnt had trouble with my asthma in years...then boom..and all the other scary stuff. my doc would put me on zpack and cipro. i was a mess.

i know that remicade has been wonderful too many ka folk here but for me it was a choice between life threatening asthma attacks or no pain in spine. i chose to breathe. my rheumy pulled me off of it in january and my body is slowly getting back to normal just now. i hope this new antibiotic nips the stuff in the bud. once i went off my remicade the flares came back with a vengeance.

i take norco for pain now and soma [muscle relaxer] and thats about it for now. we tried humira but the respiratory infection came back within a month!

best wishes and keep us posted....buggy

Hi there and welcome,

The antibiotics may have caused a short term increase in the pain due to the "Hex" reaction (killing off of the bacteria). Some here use antibiotics to treat their AS (Roadback Foundation follows this protocol as well).

Hopefully you like Kickas and stick around and learn and laugh a little. The more informed you are, the better you can find solutions that help you in treating your AS. There are a lot of people here very wise in the ways of AS, many more answers hear than in the doctors office I think you will find.

Best to you,

Tim

I take Enbrel. Anytime I have to get on antibiotics, I have to stop Enbrel. I do get flare ups. No fun!!!

Nice to meet you too.
I can't say that I ever remember antibiotics causing a flare with me. After 30 years I still don't know what causes flares with me, you would think I would know by now so I could avoid it
Anyways, I hope you get some answers. I would think it might be the absence of the Rhemicade.
Hang around and get to know the gang here.
Cindy

Hi and welcome to KA.

I'm on Remicade too. Have had very few problems (comparatively) with infections. A weird skin thing on and off, and a couple of chest infections last year. Other than that, it's been wonderful!

Glad you found us.

Hugs,