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Humira vs. Remicade

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 7/10/2012 7:05 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,,,my son was diagnosed with Colitis 8 years ago... but since he developed a perianal abcess last March and then a fistula last November, they now tell him he has Crohn's/ Colitis,,, He has been on Remicade for about 3 years with no problems,, and it kinda put him in remission, only goes to the potty in the morning about 4 time before leaving the house...then Last March he noticed the abcess,,and it HURT a lot. Had it drained,,took a month to heal...then in Nov. the doctor saw the fistula, and he went in and had surgery on it to close it up..another 6 weeks of healing shut. More pain.
But finally had the stitches out. So the Doctor told him to take Remicade every 6 weeks instead of every 8 weeks like he was. He is doing Ok now. Now he is thinking of switching to Humira because he won't have to go sit for infusions,,he can just give himself the injection. Can he do that?
Will it be the same type of thing? He thinks it will be better, but I wondered if anyone here ever was on Remicade then switched to Humira.
He had to wait till Sept. to get an appointment with his Gastro doctor,,but I'm curious to the safety of switching drugs. Remicade has worked and he really had no kinda side affects from it. Thanks for any input I can relay to him.
Posted 7/10/2012 9:30 PM (GMT 0)
Humira isn't better than Remicade, if that's what your son is thinking. If anything, Remicade is the slightly more effective medication. There's no advantage to switching to Humira, apart from convenience.

Quite a few have switched biologics, but that's usually because they developed antibodies or had an allergic reaction to the first one and it stopped working. I'm in that boat - switching from Remicade to Humira, but I haven't started the Humira yet.

Anyway, hope that helps a bit.
Posted 7/10/2012 10:40 PM (GMT 0)
thanks Cup of Tea,,,yes, he thinks Humira is better because it doesn't have some kinda "mouse stuff" in it,,I forgot what he called it...
I'd sure like to follow along with you, to see if the Humira works for you after you get it...
Posted 7/10/2012 11:47 PM (GMT 0)
Whiskers? <_<

Nah, I know what your son means. He's referring to the fact that Remicade is made up of mouse and human antibodies whereas Humira is made up of only human antibodies. You would think Humira is the better option in that case, but in terms of effectiveness and safety, numerous studies have basically shown there's no difference.

It's better to keep Humira in reserve in case your son ever loses response to Remicade, IMO. There's no problem about switching to a second and even third biologic, should the previous one(s) fail. (The third biologic being Cimzia in this case.)

You're welcome to follow my posts <_<. I should add I'm starting Methotrexate as well. Very often an immunesuppressant is added in to reduce the likelihood of developing antibodies. (Tho' I did see one Swedish study which said that being on an immunesuppressant for longer than 6 months after starting a biologic appeared to confer no extra benefit.)

Also, I won't be starting the Humira 'til next month. Think I'm starting the Methotrexate next week though.
Posted 7/11/2012 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
I have recently switched from Humira to Remicade because Humira was no longer effective.  I did get 3 good years of remission on it though.  One thing to think about before switching is that switching back is often not effective, meaning that if he decides that Humira is not working as well, there is a good chance that Remicade will not be effective if he goes back on it after a long time off.  This is something to keep in mind, and would be reason enough for me to stay on a biologic that is effective.  That way he has Humira on reserve if the day ever comes that Remicade is no longer working for him.

I am currently on Remicade and 6MP, because like COT said, it has been shown that the 2 together decrease the liklihood of developing antibodies.  However, that being said, I just had an appointment with a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, and he said that this is only true if you are on the maximum allowed dose of an immune-suppressant (I am currently on 50mg, which he called a "baby dose" and said that it would not be effective and the risks would outweigh the benefits).  I will have to discuss this further with my GI, but something to keep in mind if your son does decide to switch to Remicade.

Good Luck!

Posted 7/11/2012 1:38 AM (GMT 0)
My gi mentioned if I stop remicade I could develop antibodies and it could stop working for me if we decide to go back to it. I was on humira for a few doses and I had bad reactions to it. I would talk to the gi and ask what they think. I would just be worried about switching from something that is working to something that may or may not work. And if it doesn't work and you want to go back to remicade it may not work as well or even at all again.
Posted 7/11/2012 1:08 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all so much for your input,,,I'll be sure to pass all this info to him. He will be talking to his GI and he will probably warn him of all the same things...
Posted 7/11/2012 8:12 PM (GMT 0)
I started with remi but after 8 months of it I had to stop it I was getting anti bodies from it (arthritis was my horrible reaction and have been suffering since!!!! 5 years)
And your not suppose to stop remicade and go back on it, it can kill you!! this is what I was told by both doctor and remicade clinic.

I went onto humira and for ME I had much prefered it. As the remi they had a hard time getting my vein everytime (I went from 8 weeks,6 to 4 weeks before I said no more) it was hard. Humira (yes ONLY humira DNA) you do it bi-weekly takes you 30 seconds and you move on. But is one better then the other? No I think they are the same but I think we all react differently.

Neither of them worked in the long run for me i stopped humira back in APril but still taking mtx (methotrexate) however that too is no longer working. Onto another bio med! =/ I can feel for your son though. But honestly humira is no worse then remicade if he really wants to switch I say go for it!! It's all about how you feel and if your just not up to the infusions and there is another option why not!

Good luck to him!!! whatever he decides I just hope he stays stables!
Posted 7/13/2012 1:00 AM (GMT 0)
I was on remicade got allergic to it after 9 months and switched to Humira have been on that for over 2 years it works very well but for me remicade infusions where more convinent so easy to just show up there and relax for two hours hate all the fuss with humira. And the injections HURT not at first but with time they get worse. I would not have the guts to switch unless it was failiny since there is no turnig back.
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