[applesauce]

I'm havnig trouble getting to my Doc from college (as in, she is bad at answering her phone, apparently), so I was wondering if anyone knows what this means. All of my bloodwork after my second Rituxan was normal except for the usual protein in my urine and 2 other things:
my C4 was one point below range, I'm guessing that's not too significant
And my anti doublestranded DNA was 160, and according to the sheet thingie it's supposed to be under 10? Anyone know what this does? Is it why I'm still feeling flary despite two rituxans? Gracias!

 

[Maia]

I moved your post to the most appropriate section to get answers from people in the know. In general, the c4 being one point lower than range is not too concerning as you suggest. The dsDNA being so high can indicate a flare but it doesn't always correlate perfectly and can rise/lower well before or after a flare is starting/over.

Hopefully other members will come along with their results following Rituxan treatment. I recall some members saying bloodwork went back to perfectly normal and they had full remissions and others have had their bloodwork stay pretty much unchanged and minimal changes in their symptoms following Rituxan. There is a lot of variability in response to it!

I hope you start feeling better soon.

 

[Raglet]

Although most people experience a decrease in anti-ds-dna levels with rituxan, not everyone does.

Mine have stayed high the entire time, which my rheumie tells me is unusual, but then again I always am. There have been others on this board how have become very ill despite rituxan, and despite their anti-ds-dna's staying very low. C4's, well my C4 is so often low that I don't take much notice of it.

Personally I think after rituxan it is more important to go by symptoms rather than blood tests, with the exception of kidney tests as that can progress silently. If you feel like you are flaring, you probably are, it not, then you probably aren't (with the exception of kidney's, as above).

hth

raglet