Anyone with Colitis Taking Cimzia?

I decided to join this forum to respond to somebody who seemed to have the same symptoms as me, with no relief. For me, nothing had worked until my doctor recommended Cimzia. Curious as to what this drug was (as I had never heard of it before), I found that it is for people with arthritis and Chron's. However, I have colitis, so I was skeptical, yet desperate to get better.

I had been dependent on prednisone for a full year, and any time I weened below 20 mg my symptoms would return. But, to anyone with no luck with the other treatments, I fully advocate speaking to your GI about Cimzia. It does wonders! I hope to be off the Lialda and 75 mg 6 MP, and can finally be pill-free for the first time in almost three years!

So anyone taking Cimzia, I'm curious as to your thoughts and feelings about it, any symptoms and side effects, and let me know if you have Chron's or colitis.

A lot of people have posted that the day you do the injection it fatigues you, but the 75 mg of 6 MP I am on has left me pretty fatigued every day as well, so I cannot tell if the Cimzia contributes to that. Also, every now and then it leaves a little bruise 24 hours after you do it but other than that, no symptoms for me. There are other some other symptoms listed on some google searches, I guess depending on the person. They send a nurse to show you how to administer the syringe your first time, and she had me put ice over each spot for 5-10 minutes before so it would numb me. I found that helps.

I am on Cimzia, there aren't a lot of us here on it, but it has worked wonders for me also--saved my colon. I went on it in August/September of last year and it healing my colon pretty quickly according to my GI. I was put on it after Imuran and Humira failed and my insurance wouldn't cover Remicade. I may have a little bruising after the injection, but if you ice it a lot before hand, that usually takes care of it. And I haven't experienced any fatigue right after taking it at all. I do the most common side effect, respiratory infections, fighting off a wicked sinus infection right now, but that's a piece of cake compared to how sick I was with UC.

Glad to hear more people are using it with success!

The injection was not painful and I didn't experience any side effects. The drug itself is a bit thick so it can take a few seconds to depress the plunger completely, but the needle is pretty small and I didn't find it more painful than anything else. It doesn't burn or sting the way I've heard Humira does. Also because the drug is sort of thick you may notice a lump or bump around the injection site for a few days -- it literally takes a few days for your body to actually absorb all the medicine, this is totally normal, don't be alarmed (no one warned me!).

So that's the good... unfortunately it also didn't do anything for me. I only had the loading doses (two shots on the first day, and then another two shots either a week or two later, don't remember now), but I experienced no improvement... I actually had to be hospitalized a couple of days after the last two shots. Not due to the Cimzia, just because it wasn't working for me. I hope you have good luck with it!

Well, I would take that with a grain of salt. It's common for Remicade/Humira/Cimzia to take a few months to kick in fully (ie to see as much improvement as you can hope to see, and hopefully that means remission), but it's unusual for someone to see no change for months and *then* start to improve. The overwhelming majority of people who are responders to anti-TNF will feel some kind of effect once they've had an appropriate loading dose.

Has your doctor shared why you're starting with Cimzia instead of Remicade or Humira?

Bumping this. I am a 26 year old woman looking to start Cimzia because my husband and I want to start trying for a baby within a year. Currently on 50 of 6mp a day/alternating with 75 every other day and 4 lialda. My doctor recommended Cimzia because he would not recommend 6mp while pregnant and said Cimzia does NOT cross the placenta and is considered much safer. Any info would be helpful. I'm a bit afraid of the injections!