Has anyone used Humira?

I'm considering Humira.  I am 38 y/o female in misery.  I've been flaring off and on for a year and a half or so.  I've had UC for 11 years. I take Imuran, Cortifoam, and am on Pred most of the time (yuck).  I am exhausted and in tons of pain.  My dr has been trying to get me to use Remicade for a while, but I worry about cancer.  Maybe I should worry about that with being on Imuran for 6 plus years, too.  I lean towards Humira cuz' you can do it at home and the whole idea of being at the hospital for 3 plus hours bothers me.  My quality of life has gone down the drain.  I have two yound, active sons who I homeschool and I have to have some energy for my life.  Unfortunately, I have a few other medical probelms that also cause pain, like an ovarian cyst that hasn't gone away in two years with treatment.  This stuff just gets so old.

Thanks for reading.

God Bless.

Jen

 

It's the only drug I use. Been using it for over 2 years. Works wonders. But when you first start it, you need some help with other drugs, then slowly get rid of the others. I was on Imuran when I started Humira. It helped. Been off Imuran for 6 months and still doing great! There is one catch though, you have to try Remicade. If you don't respond or have a reaction to it then you will definately be given the ability to take Humira. That's how I got onto Humira. You should ask your doctor about this to make sure, I had to try Remicade first then I switched. Good luck!

I'm on it through a clinical trial (and have been told I wouldn't be able to get it otherwise, though who knows if they say that to try and keep me in the trial for the full time).

I have been on it since April '08. The pred in the hospital took me from about 20 bloody BMs a day to about 5ish BMs a day, still heavily streaked with blood. Once I got the initial 4 shots of Humira, I was down to 1-2 BMs a day, no blood at all.

I also take 6 Asacol/day.

There have been a few hiccups along the way, but even when I flared earlier this year, it was very very mild, and using canasa suppositories for a month got it back under control.

I am very happy with it. I know one person in our trial didn't respond, and is trying remicade, and another dropped out because (from the nurse's perspective, mind you, I don't know any of the other trial members and didn't talk to him) even though he *was* responding, he didn't feel it was good enough. But most of the reponse has been very positive!

I believe mine was written for Chron's so I guess that could be a reason why as well.

Well, not all docs are willing to bend the rules like that.

Yes, they should try whatever they can, but Remicade essentially works the same way as Humira, and IS approved for us, thus, they don't have to bend any rules to prescribe it.

I have also been researching Humira verses Remicade because if this prednisone and Apriso doesn't do the trick, those are my next steps as far as therapy goes... When I went to each drug's website, I found that they have similar side effects.. I actually thought I'd rather try Remicade first than Humira.... I'd check out the websites for each drug too and see what they say.... remicade.com or humira.com

Good Luck! and God bless you too~