Half Lifes

Hi Norb
Sorry to hear that you are now having to resort to the use of the power chair to get around. A good friend of mine who has MS also has a power chair which has been great for him. They bought a van and had it converted so that the chair can be lifted into the van. But I agree with your last sentence…you should not need it for long.

For me, I’m not sure whether things are still deteriorating now or not after about 6 weeks since the Rituxan. Certainly there is no noticable improvement. I believe that I may be getting used to the loss of sensation in fingers and toes now that it is a normal day-to-day thing. Some days seem better than others but so do some days feel worse than others.

I did the math based on a half life of 20 days for Rituxan and indeed the second series of infusions after somewhere around 6 months (or a little less) makes sense. I guess that could vary as the Rituxan is depleted also by the body’s own immune system.
I tried to do some research on the internet and came across a study by A Pestronck et al titled “Treatment of IgM antibody associated polyneuropathies using rituximab”. Have you had a chance to read this study?
BTW, have you heard anything from Allaug lately? I wonder how she is making out…whether she has noticed any improvement from the Rituxan.
Take care and keep the faith,
Andrew