Actemra - How long will it take to work!?

I just had my second infusion of Actemra this past week. My blood was drawn the same day and my sed rate dropped to 1 from 94! I have never had a sed rate of 1. I am still fairly tired from the infusion. Last month it made me tired for about a week. The first two weeks after the infusion I was feeling a little better, then the flare returned. In addition to RA I have PMR and GCA. The Actemra knocked down the GCA headache and other GCA symptoms and I've been able to start lowering the prednisone. As far as the RA goes, my doctor is going to increase the dosage to the full dose starting the third or fourth month. The encouraging thing is my doctor has many patients who have been on Actemra many years with great success and no one in his practice has ever had an adverse reaction. Unfortunately like everything else, he has patients who only get a year or two of relief with it. I'm hoping to be one of his patients who is able to use it long term. I'm glad it seems to be working for you!

Best of luck!

I do weekly self infections. Two days after my sixth injection, I woke with almost no pain and very little stiffness. I thought I was dreaming! It continued to improve each week after that.