Imuran vs remicaide vs humira?

I am in a flare that is barely responding to prednisone, 40 mg a day and I can barely walk. New doctor wants me on imuran and remicaide. I react strongly to a lot of meds. I have heard that humira is better than remicaide for sensitive people. I would love to hear about everyone's experiences with these.

I have not been on Imuran before, but I have done both Humira and am now on Remicade. And I tend to be someone who has lots of reactions, and weird ones that other people don't seem to have, when I take meds. My docs joke with me that if a med has a list of 10 side effects, I'll have 8.

I did not have any issues with the Humira, and it worked well for me. (I have built antibodies to it now-I was on it for almost 2 years) I have been on Remicade now since February, and aside from feeling a little run down the day after my 3rd transfusion, I have not had any issues with it. I did not have benedryl with the first dose in the hospital, but did have it for the last 3 I have had (I have had a total of 4 infusions thus far), so I don't know if that has kept anything at bay, but so far so good with it for me, and I am a sensitive to meds type as well.

Good luck to you. I know how you feel-40mgs of pred didn't do much for me either-even the IV steroids at much higher doses didn't eradicate my symptoms by a long shot. These biologics have really worked well for me, and I hope they do for you as well. Just a note-Humira still isn't approved for UC, so be sure your insurance company approves it for you BEFORE getting it.

Cynthia-when I first started Humira, I had been in the hospital and was offered Humira through a drug trial-I was so sick, I jumped at the chance! No one at that time mentioned anything about how long it would last or that I might build antibodies to it. I figured that out on my own as time went on.

I really think it depends on the person. We have some people for whom the biologics haven't worked at all, or worked for a very brief time, and others here who have been on Remicade for years without fail. So it is hard to say now long they will last, but the general jist as I understand it is that eventually people typically do build antibodies on these meds and have to move on. I am hoping the Remicade works long enough for me for some advancement to be made in the med department-part of me thinks I should just have surgery the next time I have a major flare, but then when I am well and the meds offer me such a good remission, I feel like I want to hold onto my colon.

Perhaps your GI wants to do the combo for the same reason mine wants me to start 6mp. While I am doing well on the Remicade, he says the research shows that the combo of the two offers better and longer remission than the Remicade alone. Perhaps the same is true of Remicade and Imuran?

What are you thinking of doing?

Remicade works very well for me. I got a mild skin rash after my first infusion, so now they give me a dose of IV Benadryl at the beginning of each infusion. No rashes, no reactions, and my UC is finally headed to remission.

I resisted Remicade for a long time, and now I don't know why I did. The difference in my quality of life is amazing. I only pooped twice yesterday, lol. No blood. No urgency. It's wonderful.

KrissyUC said...
Laura, how did you know you had built up antibodies?

It completely stopped working. We bumped it up to weekly doses and I continued to get worse-and quickly. It had been becoming less effective for a few months before I stopped anyway. They told me that I could stay on it and start on pred, but it seemed pretty pointless at that point! They didn't do a test though, if that is what you mean. They based the determination on my symptoms returning (and with a vengeance) and the fact that moving to a weekly dose didn't help in the slightest.

Oh well-it was great while it lasted!

I was on asacol (6 tabs/daily) and imuran.. and prednisone.

I finally went on remicade. After the second IV treatment, I started getting sore joints - like *all* my joints hurt so much I could barely walk - and going up/down basement steps was near impossible (I'm only 40). Dr wanted me to try another infusion, but taking an antihistamine both pill form and along with the infusion.. still had crazy sore joints (I swear it was every joint, shoulders, elbows, fingers, hips, knees, ankles).

So, he got me on humira. Wanted me to take imuran at the same time, but was left up to me. Since the two combined give a slightly increased chance of cancer, I decided not to do the imuran.

The humira has been working beautifully for me. I started it last April/May (09)... And this May, I realized the constant (sorry, maybe tmi) menstruation I was having - which started last May (May - Dec it was as if my cycle was in reverse.. on period for 3 weeks, off for 4-5 days.. Jan thru mid April, it became constant). April of this year, I decided to space out my humira shots - just because sometimes I fear I'm taking too many things and I'm not so sure all this stuff is really that good anyway... After going a month between shots, I realized my "period" had stopped. Here I thought I'd been experiencing peri-menopause.. I'd mentioned this to my GI doc, and spoke with my family doc - he referred me to a different doctor to see if they could find out what was going on.. neither of them put the two together (humira + abnormal bleeding = adverse reaction)... I feel I was potentially facing a D/C at the very least or even a hysterectomy (this is according to all research I've done.. but truly, had no doctor figured it out.. what other drugs might I have been put on? Or really, would surgery have been just a step down the way?)

If I had it to do all over again - being so sick and needing relief - I'd do the remicade.. then the humira all over again. It's worth trying, imo. One might work, but if you don't try, you won't know for sure. I felt like (and still believe) I wasn't getting any better any way and only heading down hill.

You can take imuran along with remicade or along with humira - and I'm sure there are others since imuran didn't work for you. Just research (at least a little bit) and be prepared to call the doctor if things aren't going well. Maybe one or the other will be enough to get your body on track again and give you a break. Dealing with constant pain, on top of the other issues, along with doctors appointments and feeling as if you'll never get better - it wears on your psyche... I know I deal with depression now, when it wasn't an issue before crohn's disease became part of my life. I'll do what I have to do to live as normally as possible - drugs, pain medications, whatever I need to do... otherwise, are we really living, if we lay in bed or on couch, or have to sleep all the time or cry in pain (shed enough tears myself)..

whew.. I was long-winded.. sorry.

Judy Cox
Coping-With-Crohns