Success with Remicaid after Humira?

Hi All.  I was wondering if anyone has switched from Humira to Remicaid with relative success?  I have been on Humira for about 3 years, which gave me total remission for 2 years until I had my baby 13 months ago.  I have been in an active flare for about a year now, sparked by the birth of my son, which has gotten worse in the last month.  My doctor has ordered an MRI which is scheduled for Wednesday in order to get a clear picture of what is causing my current pain.  He said we can discuss switching to Remicaid after getting the results of the MRI, as the Humira is obviously not as effective for me anymore. 

Also, Dr. mentioned that I would probably take 6MP with the Remicaid, as it is more effective that way.  Anyone take the Remicaid without 6MP?  And if Remicaid did work for you, how long were you in remission on it?  Is it just me, or does it seem that these biologics are effective for a few years and then the effectiveness wears off?  Thanks for your help!

Hi Myrne. Like you I also went into a severe flare after giving birth to my son. That was 8 years ago and have not been in remission since. I was on Humira and I had a weird reaction to it. The right side of my face got severely swollen. I looked like half a chipmunk lol. Anyway, after that I was switched to cimzia. Did absolutely nothing for me. Then I was put on remicade. I did that for about 8 months then I got really sick and needed surgery. As a last resort, my gi and I decided it was time to try remicade again since I have run out of meds to take. I have been on remicade since February of 2011 so over a year now. It's not as effective as it should be so after I have a small bowel resection (number 2) in may I am going to be taking the remicade along with 6mp. Let me know how you do on both. I'm curious to know if the combination of the two are more effective. Good luck

I was diagnosed with UC in 2003, started Remicade in 2004 and it truly was a miracle drug for me until the summer of last year. My (former) gastro prescribed Humira in October of 2011 and sadly it has done nothing for me. I ended up hospitalized in early January. Several times I'd asked Dr. if I could go on 6MP (was on it years ago with Remicade, then taken off of it by Dr. - I'd had no issues wth it) rather than the Humira and his constant response to me was to give Humira more of a chance. I finally mentioned all of this to my primary who recommended a get a second opinion, which I did. The first thing this Doc asked was have you ever been on 6MP? Needless to say, I am changing Docs, I'm on 6MP and Lialda for now and feel better. I'm grateful that this new Doc spent 45 minutes with me and let me explain to him how I've felt for the past several months. I got the impression from him that once the body builds up antibodies to Biologics none of them work. He was confident we could solve this flare with oral medications and I feel the same.

Thank you for your responses! My doctor called me yesterday with the results of the MRI - no abscesses or fistulas, which was the primary concern (yay!), but there are many patches of inflammation that are probably the cause of my discomfort and pain. He is starting the paperwork for the Remicade now and my husband and I are meeting with him next week to discuss everything in detail. I plan on asking him about the likelihood of this working now that Humira has stopped (I am guessing I have built up antibodies to Humira - but my understanding is that Humira uses a human protein and Remicade uses a mouse protein, so the antibodies created during my use of Humira will not combat the Remicade??). I took 6MP alone for years before starting the Humira, and while it kept me from any major complications, I never achieved an extended remission on it like I did on the Humira.

My GI is not yet willing to prescribe Cimzia because he says it is still new (I remember him saying this to me years ago about Humira), but I am hoping that he is willing to explore that if Remicade doesn't work or stops working after a few years. I am willing to jump from one med to the next to in order to keep my symptoms at bay until we finally get a cure for this awful disease!!!

Mommyof2little1s - Let me know how your experience goes! It is very difficult caring for little ones when you feel sick! I can't imagine 2 (but hopefully Remicade will put me back in remission and I can start thinking about #2 ;) )!

Ok I had my dose of remicade Tuesday. They gave me Benadryl, Tylenol, and the remicade while I was there. It took almost exactly 3 hours and I'm happy I had someone pick me up when I was done. I felt ok just tired and a little out of it. And the rest of the day I was useless. But I woke up the next day and felt better than I have in a long time. So Wednesday and today I've had no stomach pains, joint pains, or body aches. I go back in 2 weeks but so far so good. I'm just hoping it continues to work for me. It took a few doses of humira before I started having bad side effects last time and it was very slow to develop over 4 months or so.

Myrne
So I just posted a little more about the first dose of remicade I got this week in the other post that says, starting remicade Tuesday help. I can't type it all again but it might help you.

Thanks for your input Mommyof2Little1s and Keepingfaith. I have decided to take the 6MP with the Remicade as well, might as well hit this disease with everything I can! I am scheduled to get my first injection next Wednesday. I will keep updating how it is working for me.