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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 5/13/2011 7:34 PM (GMT 0)

yeah  Finally!!!!  I get to start Humira soon!!  I was just at the nurse practitioners office and filled out all the paper work, had my tb test done and read now to get the x-ray done and all the extra blood work and wait the two weeks for my insurance to cover it. 

When that is all done then I get to go back to the nurse and have my loading dose done...they will 'teach' self inject...then I can do it myself every two weeks.  I so hope this med works for me, my GI is wanting to hold off surgery for as long as he can and would like me to go into remission. 

I am so glad its not remicade...only because its a 3 hour drive one way to get the infusion...it would be an extremly looooooooooong day for that. 

I was on 60mg of pred for a week now I get to start my taper, I am not needing my torodal all the time anymore..so thats also a good thing, I am exausted and can sleep at the drop of a hat atm so I am happy that I am off work until fall to heal and get better.

My only problem is that the exit function on my "lower" body isn't working well and seems a tad ~sluggish~ So hopefully that all starts to function as it should so that I am not 'full of it' anymore LOL...

I am almost not looking forward to summer here as BBQ season is here and I will have to eat through others this year...

Hope this post finds you all well!!

Any tips and Ideas will be greatly welcome as this is very very new to me!!

Posted 5/14/2011 6:06 PM (GMT 0)
Thats great! Hope Humira works well for you - mine had me feeling better so quickly and back in remission in a month! Once you know how to inject its a breeze - the first session where you do four isn't particularly nice but just keep thinking to yourself 'soon I only have to do this once!' that was the attitude I took and in fact I found the pens much easier than using a syringe like I did with methotrexate, literally over and done with within a minute.
If it does sting a lot (like mine does now I've built my muscle mass back) then icing it before hand really helps. I also take an antihistamine a few hours beforehand (just as a pre-emptive strike against any site reactions that sort of thing)
As for the sluggishness.....I find if I ever start feeling like that taking an extra magnesium supplement before bed can help soften things up.
Posted 5/14/2011 7:01 PM (GMT 0)
Wonderful advice!!! Thank you so much.
Posted 5/14/2011 7:05 PM (GMT 0)
I'm wondering what state you live in and why you'd have to go 3 hours one way to get remicade. Remicade is pretty common, there could even be a Rheumatologists office in the area that adminiters it for RA and other diseases. To me theres got to be a much closer place to get it. Did they tell you that you'd have to go to a medical school and thats why its 3 hours away? You could do your own research into it calling different GI's in the area and also Rheumatologists in the area and I'm like 80% sure you'll find not a place closer but a few places much closer.
Posted 5/14/2011 7:39 PM (GMT 0)
I am in Alberta, Canada and the closest infusion centre would be Edmonton as I live in a small town...and it is three hours away from me....Red Deer, AB is an option but its a smaller centre and wait times are longer....I am just glad to be starting something that will help me get better.

I do thank you for the suggestion and it is very good advice for anybody in that kind of predicament, you guys are all great remember that!!!
Posted 5/14/2011 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
I hope Humira works its magic on you. It has helped me a lot and I cant imagen where I would be with out it.
Posted 5/15/2011 1:23 AM (GMT 0)
I understand about the drive. I'm in the US but my insurance would only cover Remicaid if it was administered at a place that my insurance wanted. Remicade was great but I became allergic to it.

Back in '03, I had a resection, after trying all available meds and then ended up with a mess! I had 3 foot of small and large intestine removed. I still felt like crap months afterwards and was even willing to take loads of antihystamines so I could use Remicade. My doc said I could die - so that was a no go. Then my family doc who suggested Humira since it was similar to Remicade but I'd be less likely to be allergic to it. Unfortunately, even with insurance, it would have cost me over $600 a month! I'd just gone through a horrible divorce and was suddenly a single mom and sole caretaker/provider for 3 kids. I couldn't afford it! Then by the grace of God, out of the blue, I got a call from a nurse at my GI's office who wanted to know if I would come in to see if I could qualify for the Humira drug study for it to be approved for Crohn's. I did - then not only did I not have to pay for it, I got paid (a little) for it! It worked amazingly well from the get go! I not only stopped having problems but went back to teaching dance classes and even started dating. :P

I took it for around 2 years - then stopped because of the insurance problem. But it put me in remission until just recently. The stuff is amazing! I pray you do as well on it as I did!!

As for the shots, they have to be kept in the fridge and burn when you take them. So before you give yourself the shot, warm it up a little by rolling between your palms. It helps it not be so thick. But the stuff is truly worth it!!

Congrats and good luck!!!
Posted 5/15/2011 6:48 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, my name is birdie
I was diagnosed with Celiac in 2009, but I think this thing is bigger than Celiac. I have ulcerative colitius and what came along with is was erytherma nosodum. I'm all broke out and it's painful and itch like crazy. I saw my Derm and he gave me a cream that doesn't work and something to stop the itching. After discussing a stronger medication with my GI, I chose Remicade because I didn't want to take the needle. I had my blood work and TB shot, just waiting for the insurance to approve. Right now I am on 7.5mg of Pred. Have been on it off and on for the past 6 months. In December 2010, my Dr. put me on 40mg of Pred then began to tapper me off, but when I got down to 5, I broke out like crazy allover my entire body. My body looks like a zebra. After reading about the Humira, I'm considering switching over. I still eat glueten. Is this hurting the condition more?
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