Cimzia

I will be having my second dose of Cimzia tomorrow.  My main concern is that I am still having a lot diarrhea.  How long does it take for Cimzia to kick in?

KJL1975

I was in the clinical trial for Cimzia last year.  I have been on Remicade which is usually the first TNF alpha blocking drug they try wth CD.  It worked but I eventually had a pretty scary allergic reaction.  After that I took Humira, which is typically given to people who had a good initial reaction to remicade.  It also worked for me but only for about a year.  Cimzia is the third in line and also given to people who had a good reaction to the first two drugs.  It took me about four shots to really notice any type of positive results.  It did help me drastically though.  Of course as I find with all these "biologic drugs" it also worked for about a year.  My GI said this is pretty typical for these drugs which is why people usually go from one to the next in such order.  I would say to just try to stick it out and hopefully you will get some relief soon!  If the other drugs helped you there is a pretty good chance Cimzia will too! 

kjl, I noticed it working within a few weeks, but I was getting bi-weekly injections on a clinical trial, compared to monthly injections that I believe most people get now that it's approved. 

tiamarie, I'm not sure on what basis this dr is rating the drugs, but everyone reacts differently, so I would be hesitant to put too much faith in his ratings.  My rheumy said that her arthritis patients overall have seen the most results on Remicade, but it didn't work for many of us, so you gotta go with what works for you.    

flutterby, I think it's interesting that your doctor mentioned the one year rule.  I've always noticed that I have to switch meds after about a year (started with acid reflux meds) and after a year on a clinical trial for Cimzia, it seemed to not work as well anymore either.  Now I have switched to Humira but have not been happy with the results.