Starting CIMZIA this week - please share YOUR EXPERIENCES!

I've had my loading doses and one maintenance treatment so far. I had an allergic reaction to Remicade (hives in the mouth) but not to Humira (it just didn't work). I don't seem to feel any side effects whatsoever from the Cimzia. The only thing is that I get bruises where the shots go in.


The shots themselves don't hurt, like Humira. That was a happy realization for me.

I think it's helping me. It's so hard to tell because so many other issues have complicated it. I've been on Cipro for 3.5 weeks and Flagyl along with it for 2 weeks. The combo was *really* hard on my gut and caused D that kept me up half the nights. Now I am off the antibiotics and hoping that I'll know the true effects of Cimzia within the coming couple of weeks.

If you're really nervous about an allergic reaction, maybe you could take Benadryl or some other antihistamine before the shots? Are you having the shots at home or at your doctor's office? I had mine at home and I decided to just premedicate like I did for Remicade and the Prochymal trial. Can't hurt to pop an antihistamine and buy yourself a piece of mind. Just a thought...

Good luck with it!

I'm about as far into my Cimzia as Sr, but I've been pretty lucky. I noticed an improvement pretty early on, and I am definitely much better than I was when I started back in February. My only trouble now is something referred to as "rebound constipation", which for me isn't the constipation so much as the gas and pain and bloating of my intestines actually healing and the normal balance of bacteria re-establishing. At least, that's my take on it after having a similar experience when the Remicade started working for me. So, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping this works as well for me as the Remicade. I hope it works for you too!

I don't bruise or have any real reaction from the shots themselves, either. They are a million times better than Humira.

 This Cimiza i have never heard of it but i also would love to learn more about it myself thanks. Thanks Jenn

Boston, there are several of us on here who either have been or are on Cimzia.  I took it for a year on a clinical trial before it was FDA approved.  I also had allergic reactions to Remicade, so I was scared when starting the Cimzia but had no reactions to it.  I got injection site whelps, but I get those on Humira also.  It stings, but not as bad as the Humira does.  It seems to work about the same as Humira does for me as far as my crohn's, but maybe a little better than the Humira with the arthritis.  The only thing that is different now is that Cimzia is given once a month...when I was on the trial, I received it every 2 weeks and even then, it wore off after about 1 1/2 weeks.  But, I have the same issue with Humira - it wears off about about a week and I can only get it every 2 weeks.  Cimizia seemed to be more consistent - it always helped and it seems that sometimes my Humira injection doesn't work as well as other times.  Best of luck to you.