Humira vs Cimzia

I lost Remicade nearly 5 years ago and nothing has fully put me into remission since. But, I have taken both Humira and Cimzia. I prefer Cimzia... It is actually the same number of shots, because pretty much all patients do 2 shots every 4 weeks. It is less often than the every 2 week Humira shots, but technically the same number of shots.

However, Humira shots stung for me! The Cimzia does not hurt like Humira. Both are self-administered (unless you have someone else or get a nurse to do it) so convenience is equal. The nice thing about Humira is that it is a self-injecting pen. So all you have to do is press it to your skin and push the button. With Cimzia you (or whoever does the shots) actually uses a regular pre-filled syringe.

Humira is fully human antibodies, while Cimzia is not quite, but not as much as Remicade (I've forgotten the exact numbers here, so maybe someone else has that info?)... Cimzia is "pegylated" which I guess means it's supposed to last longer in the system, do a better job of staying effective that entire 4 weeks. (like Remicade's 8 weeks or Humira's 2 weeks)

That's about what I know... I believe that both of these meds take a little longer to kick in than Remicade. Just a heads up there on patience for a response. Good luck with your decision!

I've been on both twice and both has benefits. Humira stings a lot more, but seemed to help more with my stomach pain.  Cimzia hurts less and you theoretically can do it less often, but I've heard most people say it doesn't last the full month for them.  My drs office has had a big problem with that and has been trying people (including me) on half a dose every 2 weeks, but that doesn't seem to work as well either.  I think someone on here takes the full Cimzia dose every 2 weeks, but my drs say insurance won't approve it, so I think it depends on the insurance and whether your dr is willing to put up a fight. 

I maybe had less of an injection site reaction on the Cimzia, but it was nothing more than an itchy red whelt on the Humira either, so neither caused any concerns.  Both have the copay assistance programs that are comparable now, I believe, so price shouldn't differentiate.  They were both about the same for me.  Just pick one and try it and you can always decide to try the other one later.