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I was given my first treatment of Rituxan in January of 2012. Within two days of the first treatment, I had a great elimination of my symptoms. Additionally, I had ABSOLUTELY no reaction during or after to the drug Rituxan. By my third infusion, my body was able to handle the drug in under four hours. I see a doctor out of state, and I was able to immediately get up after each infusion and fly home! I was given Rituxan instead of typical MS drugs and am extremely please with the results. My symptoms have been handled for the last year. I will begin another round of Rituxan in April of 2013.

Is this a phase III trial you are on?

Hi Potts,
I am experiencing similar improvements by inhibiting cortisol and aldosterone with clonidine and hibiscus tea. I wonder if you aren't experiencing improvements for the same reason. Rituxan decreases cortisol and aldosterone in 5/6 patients with Addison's. I wonder if it works the same with chronic hpa activation in MS.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22767640/

Serum cortisol levels declined rapidly and were less than 100 nmol/liter (3.6 μg/dl) in all patients by 3 months after B lymphocyte depletion. Serum cortisol and aldosterone concentrations remained low in five of the six patients throughout the follow-up period.

Congrats on the improvements and thanks for sharing! I think they are finally getting somewhere with MS! Will you need to continue on this therapy forever or do they expect the treatment to end with lasting results?

I am the only patient that this doctor in NYC has given Rituxan to at this point. I am not part of a formal study, but the doctor treats me like a show dog. HaHa! We are all so happy with my rapid results. Literally, 48 hours after receiving my first infusion of Rituxan, all of a sudden it was like a dam broke in the left side of my face and head. Where I had numbness on the entire left side of my head, nose, mouth and tongue. Within minutes, my numbness disappeared and full/normal sensitivity was restored. It was so dramatic that I said loudly, "How my!" and my son said what's wrong? It was like a miracle.

My situation is rather atypical. I am over 50 years old, extremely healthy, have no banding in spinal fluid; however, my symptoms continued to worsen before treatment as my lesion grew. It was growing rapidly and my health was declining. After the first two infusions of Rituxan, my next MRI showed a somewhat reduced brain stem lesion that was not enhanced. I have not (knock on wood) developed new lesions and it has remained stable for the most part. After one year from the first treatment, there is a little enhancement of the lesion, so we are going to do another MRI and repeat the Rituxan treatment.

The doctor and I are playing it by ear for now. I will take Rituxan this year and keep a watch on things with MRIs. Even if I have to continue on with this drug, I am ok with that. It doesn't impact my daily life and I tolerate the drug well, so far. I have a great life, I exercise daily and very happy and fortunate.

I made the decision to go to NYC to get a second opinion and am really glad I made the move.

I hope this helps someone!

That's amazing, Potts! I think you should copy your last post in the ccsvi forums. A lot of people only read the ccsvi board and I think your story might interest them. It sounds very much like the PTA "on the table" improvements. Rituxan might be a good option for those who have lost gains or have room for further improvement.

I'm so happy for you!

Congrats on the improvements, Potts! I thought I should mention this even though its more of a side note. My dad had stomach cancer and was treated with Rituxan 4 years ago. The doctors caught it pretty early and gave him several Rituxan infusions. Cant remember how many off the top of my head, but I can find out if anyone wants to know. He had absolutely no side effects. He went into remission and now the doctors cant find any trace of the cancer. Sounds like a promising drug

-b