Time for Remicade/Humira

Just got back from GI after having no progress with 4 Lialda/day, Uceris, nightly hydrocortisone enemas, daily canasa. He took me in the back for a quick sigmoidoscopy just to be sure there was active colitis. Let me say that although I had to go through no prep... that was an awful experience! The inflating was really painful, but he saw very active moderate/severe inflamation in sigmoid. Rectum actually looked pretty good, probably due to the enemas. So now, I am getting the TB test on Monday, having stool samples just to be sure it isn't Cdiff... and then onto Remicade or Humira. I am leaning towards Remicade, but really not sure. Does anyone here have a recommendation? I am really up in the air. The Humira would be much more convenient but I think it can take longer for it to take effect and I don't think it is as succesful. Plus, I think the Humira would be less expensive. Anyway... onto the next stage for me. Sigh.

 

Check in with your doctor and your insurance company to see which treatment would really be the most expensive. Remicade is completely covered by my crappy student insurance, so it's essentially free for me. I also picked Remi over Humira because I didn't want to have to give myself injections. I live and work in the same city where I get my Remi infusions, and so it's very convenient for me to get my infusions.

If Remicade is more expensive for you, or if you wouldn't be able to fit infusions into your schedule, I'd go with Humira. Otherwise, Remicade seems to be a more effective choice for a lot of people.

ETA: I get sedated for flex sigs, by the way. No way am I staying conscious for that.

Try Natren Trinity Probiotics. It is the only thing that worked for me. I have had UC for 27 years and tried many different products. It started to work for me in days when I was quite sick. I have been well for years now. I have been taking Natren for 4-5 years and my UC is healed over time and now I only have IBS as per my GI. I would at least try it before going on these potent drugs. I am happy to give you more details if you need them.
Steve

I would go with Remicade. I was on Humira for 8 months and I don't think it even worked for me - possibly helped for three months! I started to develop severe injection-site reactions and had to stop it! Currently waiting for hosp to approve me to start Rem! I think it works better than Humira for most ppl with UC !

I am happy You have found remission! How dangerous is remi? How do they do an infusion?

I am still in the loading stages of Remi, but so far it has been a miracle for me. I started seeing progress almost immediately. Good luck to you.

I hope you can get Remi ASAP!! Honestly, sometimes when my symptoms weren't even ALL that bad, I'd still feel worse emotionally. It just kind of wears you down by a certain point.

I hate doing stool samples. My new GI is great, but in the past, docs have just been like, "Oh, we'll give you the kit, bring it back whenever." UM I am not bringing this home and storing poop in my fridge. Not gonna happen. The worst was when I was in college. I had to try to explain to the health services doctor that I couldn't collect samples because our dorm didn't have any private bathrooms.

I think remi sounds more tolerable then pred!!!!

I just started Remicade. I had my first infusion last week. I've had UC for about 3 and a 1/2 years and its been a struggle ever since. Initially, I was completely against biologics but as it started taking more and more prednisone and longer and and longer tapers the risk factors of side effects quickly got put into perspective.

I ended up choosing the remi over humira because from what I've read it has a higher effectiveness on UC patients as well as having a really quick response time. Which for me was really important because I was in a severe flare and it was quickly taking time away from work.

The first infusion was easy. It took about 3 hours, most of which I slept through (thanks benedryl). I had no side effects and left. The first 24-hours I felt no change. By the second 24-hours I didn't have any pain and cramping associated with my D. Since then not much more has improved. I mean a little at a time, the urgency is slowing going away and there's zero blood. The stool is still water.

Overall I'm very happy with the choice. I didn't expect a miracle overnight, I expected it to take the first 3 infusions to make a noticeable change. I'm just so happy the pain is gone, it certainly makes the frequent bathroom trips a lot less nightmarish. Good luck with the choice and I hope you are able to obtain remission!

Remi can provide very good results. Our dose had to adjusted a few times to get there though, so hang in there awhile. The loading doses were only about 5mgs per kilo, and that didn't work. We upped it to 10mgs per kilo every 6 weeks, and got into remission ...and it stayed until all other meds were weened. Reduced dose to standard and stayed well. Stayed on 6mp for 2 of the 4 years, and used pre treatments most of the time. Virtually symptom free and living a normal life until now.
Lymphoma is a very rare side affect, but TNF blockers are still big medicines and have to be carefully considered. Our side effects were frequent smaller infections....best of luck.

I'd hope it's not cdiff especially since you're on pred. Also they wouldn't let you start the remi until the cdiff is clear. I've had it twice and it's extremely painful. The amount of gas and bloating is unreal. Hopefully you're good and you can get on the remi-train

Haven't tried Humira but Remicade got be into "remission" pretty darn quick (few treatments). As for the inconvenience part, its only once every 8 weeks (6 for me). This is still not bad. You get used to the clinics (WI-FI, cookies, TV, comfy chairs).