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19 Years old and Scared of Humira

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 4/29/2016 1:01 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone! I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when I was 11 years old. Since then, I've had re-occuring pelvic abscesses and fistulae. Bummer...

Anyway, I've been managing Crohn's with diet. My doctor recommends Humira.. or Remicade .. to help close my ongoing fistula and to manage my symptoms.

In general I am asymptomatic. Although, I am still skinny (113, 5' 7"),

Humira, and other drugs like it, absolutely terrify me with their potential side-effects... could anyone relay their experience?
Posted 4/29/2016 11:47 PM (GMT 0)
My son - age 19 (also VERY skinny - 6'1 and 121 pounds) was dix with Crohn's last July. He was almost immediately put on remicade because of his age and the fact he had a stricture. The remicade has been awesome. His diarrhea is under control and he feels "so much better." His stricture, however, kept growing because it is formed from fibrous tissues and not inflammation. He had an illeo cecal resectioning last month and all is well for now. He was very hesitant to take remicade (and azathioprine) but he is glad he has. Best of luck as you weigh your choices!
Posted 4/30/2016 1:02 AM (GMT 0)
It's very natural to fear making the transition to any of the anti-TNF drugs. There can be side effects, most do very well on these meds, and usually regret not starting one of them earlier on to stop the disease from progressing, which is a much worse fate.

I would recommend Remicade first. It has a proven track record in the healing of fistulas, and is still considered the state of the art treatment for Crohn's.

Remicade has been around for quite some time now. Most of the fears were in the early years of treatment. Nowadays, you see Crohn's patients staying on Remicade or Humira for 10 plus years.
Posted 4/30/2016 3:16 AM (GMT 0)
Remicade for 6 years now!
I started in May 2010 and my fistula closed up by July, and then reopened in January, but still, going on remicade was the best decision I could have made.
Posted 4/30/2016 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
Cimzia for 6 years now!! I am so grateful for it. It gave me my life back! Went into remission shortly after I began and have only had a few occurrences of stomach complaints since then. I was terrified to start, but i was so sick it was the best choice for me.
Posted 4/30/2016 9:54 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with everyone else. These drugs sound terrifying but the uncontrolled disease will do so much damage even if you think it is managed you shouldn't have to deal with fistulas if you can find a med to get rid of them. I feel like I lost a lot of my twenties because I avoided them and though I wouldn't change what I did because I had to learn for myself to feel at peace with my decision and I made the most of the time I wasn't well, I really wouldn't recommend it. (lots of episodes of steriods, hospitalizations, fistula) I did have a reaction after a few months but it gave me a great few months of remission and healed my fistula and the effects went away after I got off. Just have a good doctor that will take you seriously if you feel like you are having a problem! (And if you read some of my posts from the last few weeks I was pretty much asymptomatic before being hospitalized, so things can be going really bad inside without us knowing it) I'm starting remicade now and the fact that it is done in an infusion center/hospital might make it a better choice for you since you have the added security of having lots of staff around to answer questions about the meds and monitor you in case you feel like something is wrong and it is less frequent than Humira.
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