I have been browsing this forum for a few weeks now and I've finally decided to make my first post. I was first diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 2005. After being diagnosed, I was put on pretty much every medicine known to man and nothing seemed to help. After about 6-8 months of trial and error, my gastroenterologist put me on Remicade, which pretty much alleviated all of my symptoms immediately. I was on Remicade for about a year but it eventually started to wear off and I had to receive the infusions more and more often. about a year and a half ago, my doctor switched me to Humira and it was almost like a mircale drug for me. I was once again completely symptom free and no longer had to take time off from work/school for hospital visits to receive infusions. For the last year and a half, I have been able to eat whatever I want, have had absolutely no pain, and regular (1-2 times per day) BM's.
However, around Thanksgiving time of 2008, my Humira suddenly seemed to stop working... almost abruptly. I slowly began to feel my symptoms coming back and I've started to have horrible nausea and stomach cramps. Since then, I've dropped from around 180lbs to about 155lbs and I'm having trouble eating. Even back when I was first diagnosed, I never remember having such bad constant nausea and it's really starting to take a toll on me. I am exhausted, weak, and worried. My current doctor is located about 45min away (I recently moved to Cincinnati) so I've decided to see another specialist in the Cincinnati area. I have an appointment for this coming Monday (2/17) but I've got so bad recently that I'm worried if I can make it.
I guess my question is whether anybody has experienced anything like this with Humira... the sudden wearing off and the returning of symptoms. My doctor told me that it was common with Remicade (as I had experienced) but that he had never heard of it happening with Humira. He even tried putting me on a weekly schedule (as opposed to bi-weekly) but it didn't seem to help. Other than the Humira, I do not take any other meds and other than the CD, I am completely healthy and active. Can anybody here help to explain what has happened? Can flares occur randomly even after you've been completely symptom free for over a year? Are there any other questions I should think to ask my new specialist on Monday? Thanks in advance for any insight that any of you might be able to provide.