Remicade to Humira...back to remicade?

I've had crohns for 10 years and I'm only 25.... remicade use to work great for me However because of the mouse protein antibodies began to make it work less and less...so last december I decided to try the switch to humira pen...started bi weekly and now am weekly...in just one year i went from about 143 to 127....I'm having lower abcess problems due to reoccurring fistulas ...peri anal involving both urethra and colon..my question is has anyone on here had success by switching back to remicade after being off of it for such a long time .....im going to see my GI tomorrow in NYC so we will prob discuss the Med change and possible surgery to drain the abcess

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read and or respond....

I've asked the same question Curt cause I was on Remicade years ago, recently I was on Humira went from biweekly to weekly and didn't work so I'm going to try the Remicade again (waiting on insurance approval and all that jazz). I was really worried because my doctor said since I was already on it once I only have a 1 in 3 chance of it working. But there were a few people who responded to my thread and said that they tried Humira and/or Cimzia and went back to Remicade and it still worked for them so there is hope for us! :)

PS - Do you see the infamous mt sinai doctors? I live on Long Island and so many people tell me since I live so close to the city I should go to them...but I hear they dont take insurance and cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars per visit...

Hi Curt, I was on Remicade 10 years ago (3 doses) and it worked wonders for me then. In April I went on Humira, due to a bad flare & fistulas that didn't respond to flagyl, cipro prednisone and lialda. The doctors didn't want to use Remi because I had been on it before. I didn't get much better with the Humira (we thought), so Sept. 1 I started remicade again, after a 10 year gap. The 1st treatment went ok, no reaction. Then a week later I got the flu or maybe it was a reaction. Not really sure, as my daughter had the flu the week before, so who knows. Then had the 2nd remi treatment and I got a little case of the hives 1/2 hour after treatment. Benadryl took care of it. I should also tell you I was premedicated - I took Zyrtec (otc antihistamine) for a week before each treatment, and had IV prednisone & oral benadryl and tylenol before each treatment. But now, my doctor told me yesterday, no more remi for me. It hasn't helped & my symptoms are a bit worse. So, I'm on tacrolimus. Switched to it yesterday. I hope you have better luck. The tacrolimus is the last drug he says we can try, next step is surgery, so I hope the Tacrolimus works for me. I hope you have better luck with the remicade, and wish I had a happier experience to report. But all in all, it wasn't as dreadful as I thought (I was afraid of a really bad reaction, but my experience was tolerable) Good luck with your treatment.

NDBC
Diagnosed 2001, flaring since Christmas Eve 2009, currently on Lialda, Tacrolimus, Celebrex and I think that's all at the moment!

Post Edited (NDBC) : 9/29/2010 7:01:00 PM (GMT-6)

Since going back to Remicade after being on cimzia and humira, I have actually responded better than the previous 5 years that I was on it. I went right back to the same dose and frequency that I was on but added premeds of 50 benedryl, 50 solmuderol(cortisteroids), and zofran all I.V. The premeds make me sleep through much of the infusion but it seems like I recover quicker and the remicade is working better. I am not in complete remission and still sick but I am not half as sick as I was when I was off of remicade.
You are at a very similar point of the disease that I was and probably looking for a medication to hold you over as long as possible until something new comes out. That was all we were doing when I went back on it because I was out of meds except for tsabri and my G.I. was not comfortable with that med yet. I was his first patient to go back on remicade after having developed antibodies but we didn't have anything to lose. If I only got one good week out of it, it was better than what I was going through. Now I am having a lot more good days than bad. The only thing that has changed is I have a lot of morning nausea but I am going through a real stressful situation right now and it may be more due to that than the remicade. Good luck and I am here for any questions. Sorry that it took me so long to respond.