Reply To: 40 days and no response to ivig – can it still work?

April 8, 2021 at 6:23 pm

My first choices would be Rituximab (Rituxan) or CellCept (mycophenolate). Myfortic (mycophenolic acid) is a good alternative too, but you’ll need regular blood tests. CellCept (mycophenolate) is a first-choice medication for preventing organ rejection since it doesn’t hurt the kidneys or liver like its alternatives. But it can have side effects for some.

In some cases, immunosuppressive drugs such as Imuran (azathioprine), Prograf (tacrolimus), cyclophosphamide, Afinitor (everolimus), cyclosporin, Rapamune (sirolimus), and type 1 interferon (INF-1?) and IFN-beta – can be used to limit corticosteroid and immunoglobulin use and may be indicated because of disease progression or poor response despite aggressive treatment with established therapies such as IVIg.

In all cases do your research on each drug and discuss them with your doctors. Maybe get a sample of the meds before getting a large amount to make sure you tolerate it OK. Also make sure they are covered properly by your insurance because some can be costly.

Many of the alternative drugs are discussed here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3487533