Sandy
I am an AS sufferer for about 9 years and a pharmacist. Men usually have more severe AS than women, however your son's case sounds severe. All of us with AS are searching for the next pill, doctor, anything to stop this. I do not have the magic bullet, but I have what I believe is the best available option at this point in time for most of us. This is NOT for everyone, however, it may help most of us. Remicade is a new drug on the market which has shown promise in AS, it is NOT FDA approved for this purpose (it is only approved for Crohn's disease and Rheumatoid arthitis (RA)). It is an iv infusion every 6 weeks after a bolus of 3 infusions. The good news is that it works just as well in AS as in RA!! It may reduce symptoms as much as 94% (most see 70% improvement in symptoms). THE BEST NEWS IS THAT IT STOPS THE PROGRESSION OF THE DISEASE! The bad news is that it is extreemly expensive, $30'000-35'000 dollars/year. If you can get your health insurance to pay for it-GREAT. Also it is NOT FOR PEOPLE TAKING IMMUNOSUPRESSIVES!!-THIS COULD BE FATAL!! SEVERE AND FATAL INFECTIONS HAVE OCCURED with this combination. If you have chronic infections this is probably not for you. Remicade works by eliminating one part of the immune system responsible for inflammation. That means that you may get sick more easily while on this medication and should avoid sick people while on this medication. This drug should not be underataken lightly, but if you are trying to get your disease under control ask your doctor about it. YOUR DOCTOR will let you know if this is an option for you. Up till now there wasn't any medication that could stop this disease...NSAIDs like vioxx, ibuprofen, voltarin, indomethacin just stop/reduce the pain and allow people to exercise/move with less pain, but don't stop the progression. Keep exercising (aquatherapy works best)...they have shown until now that this was the only thing to reduce the chance of spinal fusing. God bless us all. I hope I have helped you...leave another note on healthlink USA if you have any questions, etc... I will be using Remicade soon with any luck and will know first hand, I am trying to get my inflamation under control to start a family (every time I go off of vioxx I get iritis and urinary crystals) Please pray for me as I will pray for all of you.