Being switched.from Remicade to Humira

Anyone else on Humira have any stories to share? I've only ever used Remicade. I'm nervous about the self injecting and I've read it causes weight gain, which I can't afford to do! Input and of course tips would be great!

I don't think I gained any weight on Humira. Hard to tell since I was always seeming to be tapering steroids. Self injecting is a piece of cake, no worries there. It's a little scary the first few times you do it, but then it's easy peasy.

I'm also curious why they are switching you. Antibodies or stopped working? I'd be concerned if it's still working for you and there is some other reason for the switch (say insurance reasons). Remicade worked much better for me than the Humira. I think Remicade is our top of the line treatment still, but I know others have had good luck with Humira. I see you've been on it for 10 years though, maybe it's just giving out. Gosh, I hope it lasts 10 years for me! The only issue I had with Humira was really bad headaches. So if you start getting them don't pass it off as something else. My doctor didn't think it was causing it then he got another patient come in with the same side effect. So I ended up having to switch to Cimzia. Good luck on it!

If you have abscesses and/or fistulas, it makes sense to be on an anti-TNF med.

If you are developing antibodies to Remicade, it makes sense to switch to another anti-TNF like Humira.

I would suggest you consider adding an immunomodulator - imuran, 6mp, or methotrexate - along with the Humira. That will decrease your chances of developing antibodies to Humira. Since you will have already burned through Remicade, you don't want to keep burning through anti-TNFs if you can help it.

Sorry to hear you developed antibodies. I was on humira for ~9 months. I had great luck with it for the crohns but started to have issues with it towards the end of that 9 months so the doctor had me stop it . i took a break and then flared again and started remicade. The injections were pretty easy. i tended to have a bit of pain with it because the pen would push the injection in at a rate that was too fast for me and I really hated the sound of the click of the pen after awhile( i know that sounds silly but it was connecting it to the discomfort that came with it). if i had to do it again I would opt for the syringe. over all it wasn't a big deal and most people don't have that problem. It healed my fistulas so I am thankful for what it did. I ended up having bouts of restless leg syndrome, stiffness in my legs that made it hard to walk, nerve pains, body aches etc that made me stop it. everything went away with in about a month. there was no signs of antibodies or lupus but the doctors suspected that it was somehow related to the meds. My experience is not typical though, many people have great luck with it. I hope it works for you!

I have been on Humira for only two months and have gained about five pounds in the last two weeks. I believe the weight gain is due to me experiencing extreme fatigue so I am no where near as active as I usually am. I just do not know if the fatigue is caused by the Crohn's or by the Humira. The self injecting is not too bad. I found that it hurts less when I do it myself rather than someone else doing it and also that taking the injection in the stomach hurts much less than taking it in the leg.

addressing weight gain- I did not have any out of the ordinary gain on humira, I struggle more with it on remicade and being careful about what and how much I eat. humira only helped me get back to my normal, non-malnurished weight.
@Dale, have you brought the fatigue up to your doctors? Its hard to sort it out sometimes but they should be doing blood work to check for side effects that could cause it.

Post Edited (Labradorite) : 1/14/2017 12:35:15 AM (GMT-7)

Thanks for all your feedback!

Humira and remicade belong to the same class of drugs called anti TNF. Their is no real difference. Imagine it like dominos, your inflammation is like the dominos falling causing more damage as it goes along. The immunosuppressive therapy stops the dominos and allows you to heal. Hope this helps you! Also you could gain weight as your disease is under control meaning more absorption and also inflammation requires calories meaning that you'll loose more weight. So as a result of your improved condition, you could gain weight but not as a result of the medication.