Allergic Reaction/rash & Humira

anyone have an allergic reaction to humira?  if so how long did it take before you took first dosage to when you broke out in a rash or itching??  Started end of october and beg of january red rash all the time all over my face and parts of my body.  Not sure if the rash is even from that.   

yeah i went to allergy dr. yesterday they have no idea we are going to start testing for food allergies next sat and then as soon as i get off steriod then we will start testing for other types of allergies.  Steriod will make results not accurate.

In the Full Prescribing Information for Humira, it says that if you get a butterfly shaped rash on your nose and face to get to the doctor immediately.

Yes, the only side effect I have gotten from Humira is the all-over itching, for me it starts a few days after my injection, and lasts about 24 hours, and then I take some Benadryl and it goes away, recurring again after my next dose. To me it's a small price to pay for the results I have gotten with Humira...which have been amazing!

I'm dealing with a fungal skin infection from humira. Recently got a fax from the manufacturer at the pharmacy I work at that stated anti tnf drugs can cause these as well. Just thought I'd put this out there. Rash started with remecaid and got worse on humira for me, however, it was treated as psorasis for 2 years! Switched dermatologists this month!

moodindigo- My "rash" starts out with little red bumbs (not pus filled), then becomes flaky and the bump kinda spreads out. As it starts clearing up, I'm left with a flat surface ring that looks like a ringworm but is not. Then the bump goes away. The steroid creams the derm gave me for the last 2 years somehow helped "somewhat" to keep the rash at bay...probably by reducing the inflammation some, however, with the steroid creams the rash never went completely away. The way I was able to tell for sure it was fungal was by rubbing a small area of the rash with mineral oil to protect the skin and then applying a crushed clove of garlic (has antifungal/antibacterial properties in it) to the affected area once a day. The area immediately responded by improving! I once cleared up oral thrush with the garlic applied to the tongue (without the mineral oil), once a day for three days! You have to be careful with crushed fresh garlic though because it burns and of course it stinks! I did try opening up the non-scented garlic oil caplets and applied it to the skin...but doesn't work as well as the fresh, real clove. Since my husband wouldn't sleep with me via the garlic stench I now apply mineral oil & tea tree oil after my shower each day. Tea tree oil has antifungal/antibactierial properties too. It also will burn the skin but does smell "somewhat" better than the garlic! I put about 4 drops of tea tree oil per every 2 ounces of mineral oil. Also, I'd recommend using a natural bristle bath brush instead of a wash cloth so you can exfoliate the skin and promote healthy skin cells to the surface. When the bath brush has the scales out of the way the oils can penetrate the good skin underneath the dead skin scales. Good luck to you and I hope this helps....oh, and don't expect to catch any good lookin' italians with the garlic routine...even the dog thought I smelled funky!

Hmm, the fungal infection kinda sounds like what I have too. The steroid creams never did make it much better, mostly just did not itch. I stoped taking Remicade because 2 dermatoligists said the rash was psoriasis. I stopped Remicade in August and my skin never did compleatly clear up, but the bright red splotches did fade to a tannish color and I had stopped the steroid creams. Now that I have started Humira, sometimes they do look a redder and sometimes not,but does seem to be getting some what worse. If I stopped the Remicade for a fungal infection I won't be happy. Not sure how to crush garlic cloves (do you just rub garlic from the supermarket on?), but will look into it.   

Sorry to hear that ALI9, it does sound like you had a severe reaction. Glad you remembered the benedryl in time! I get migraines from my Imuran sometimes. I haven't decided whether my night sweats are from sweating out the low grade fevers or peri-menopause. I don't think these are drug related for me because I was getting the sweats even before starting any of the "super" drugs.

Jack11- Look in the gadget isle of your local Walmart. They make a special "crusher" for garlic cloves. Not expensive, but by some toothpicks as well. No....not that the garlic smell will keep you awake...silly....you'll need them to help clean the garlic crusher out! Again, don't forget to use the mineral oil first so the garlic won't burn. You'll also get immediate relief from the itch/scratch syndrome. Remicade has actually been approved as one of the better drugs on the market to treat psorasis. If it was psorasis, you may have quit Remicade for 2 bad reasons! However, my last derm did explain to me that after a major surgery it would not be uncommon for the overactive T-cells to show themselves around a surgical site as psorasis even though you may have never had it before. My abdomen is where my rash started. Being that us CDer's have overactive T-cells anyway that seemed like a plausible explanation at the time. After 2 years I am really sick of this rash though! Also, I'm stilled PO'd about having used the steroid creams for that long and didn't even need it in the first place! Again, I see my new Derm on the 25th so we will see....

Is your rash better? What have you tried? I have been suffering from a severe reaction to Humira for two months with no answers from anyone. I've seen two dermatologists, gastro guy was no help.

Humira is a wonder drug.  I was disabled with joint pain/damage in my hands, feet, toes, and other places.  It got to the point where I had tears in my eyes getting into the shower each morning and felt physically exhausted by the time I got to work.  Couldn't take any opiates for pain due to addiction issues, and the OTC stuff didn't help much.  Stated Humira Nov 07, and within 30 days I couldn't even point out the specific joints that had been attacked.  BTW, I studied the detail behind the cancer research and the risk factor increase is very tiny - less than living in L.A. or other smoggy cities.  Our current food supply in the USA will give you cancer before Humira does.

I am extremely sad however because today I am covered in hives and the itching is intolerable.  Skin rashes began in month 2 (Dec 07) and have gotten worse, slowly until now.  This last week the hives have reached an intolerable level and I just called my Dr.  I have history of excema, psoriasis etc, so I hung in there for a long time, not wanting to give up my Humira, but even dermatitis experts like me have a breaking point.  So to answer your question: Rashes began month 2, 30-45 after starting.  Mostly around anus (Pruritus ani), then inside thighs (injection site), for the remainder of month 2 and all of month 3.  Month 4 behind the knees and small of back started. month 5 inside folds of my arms started, and at the end of month 6 (April 08) my face is a mess - eyelids, lips, sides of mouth and below mouth, and under chin.  Now the itch factor in all areas previously mentioned is beyond my personal threshhold so I just called my Dr.  I'll update with the outcome, but if I have to give up Humira I will be very, very angry.

Good luck - if you are really itchy there is an oatmeal bath product by Aveeno that really works well.  It's expensive so if money's a little tight regular generic oatmeal works well also.  The Aveeno stuff is more powdery so it's more effective, but I guess you could by a cheap morter and pestal and make regular oatmeal powdery too!

I look like i have acne all over my forehead, and I think it's from the Humira. Also, my cheek bones under my eyes are rosy all the time. Wonder if it's gonna mean the end of Humira for me eventually.

I'm sorry, westcoastwingnut. What a disappointment.

I hope you start to feel better soon.

Zena, I had a major reaction after my 4th remicade infusion, but have had no major reactions to the Humira, aside from a reddish bruise/irritation at the injection site that usually fades within one week. Fingers crossed for you!