Simponi

Has anyone tried Simponi, My son just went for a checkup and was told that this is probably the next step, He has been pred dependent for almost a year and still in a flare. Just wondering how if any this new med works.

Ya Im curious about what else he is on as well. He wasnt just taking prednisone was he? Has he tried any other biologics?

As for how the med works: Simponi is a biologic (a drug made by an organism). Specifically, it is an antibody that binds to and inhibits the effects of a pro-inflammatory molecule called TNF-alpha. By doing this, it decreases the amount of inflammation within the body and thus in the colon. It works exactly like Remicade and Humira.

garylouisville said...
What else has he been on?

Sorry I didn't list his Meds. He has had this since he was 14. He is 19 now and has been on many Meds. He began with asacol. It worked for about 6months then he was on suppositories with the asacol. That seemed to work for a couple years. He began to have issues again so the doc gave him enemas instead of the suppositories. He changed the asacol to lialda and stopped the enemas he was Also put on 6mp which I don't think ever worked.
Unfortunately, the only thing that seems to work is the nasty prednisone. It has ruined his body with horrible stretch marks.

I need to stop being so long winded.
His current Meds are below

6mp 2pills daily
Lialda 4pills daily
Prednisone 10mg daily
Bentyl 2 pills twice/day
Nexium 1pill daily
Allergy med 1pill daily

He went to doc today and that's why the Simponi question. Doc said that if this doesn't work we should think about surgery. Please give comments and suggestions to a worried and probably neurotic mother

Well he definitely has options left, so if he feels like he can, dont go the surgery route just yet.

First of all, Remicade has better statistics than Humira and Simponi for UC. Similarly, Humira typically works better for UC than Simponi (at least based on what Ive heard from people I have talked to on this form, though I dont have any studies on hand to back that one up at least). So from that, Id definitely talk to your doctor about maybe trying Remicade before the other two biologics.

Before that however, I would look into trying vedolizumab, since it just got approved in the states on the 20th. It should be available in the next 4-6 weeks, and its been shown to be very effective and to have an incredible safety profile compared to all the other UC drugs. Itll probably be one of the new main drugs for UC in the coming years.

Also, if 6mp isint working, maybe consider Imuran (azathioprine). It works similarly to 6mp but I believe it generally has better stats than 6mp for UC.

Finally, consider some alternative treatments. There are plenty out there, and there are many threads on this forum about them. Some of the main ones we come across are: VSL#3 (an expensive probiotic, but it works for a lot of people and is perfectly safe), wild oil of oregano, sodium butyrate enemas, and other probiotics (>50 billion cfu).

I hope that helps, and if you have any other questions, please dont hesitate to ask! Were here to help : )

I took Humira and am now taking Simponi . Simponi is working much better then Humira did. I was on Humira weekly. Simponi lasts about 3 weeks got me. The 4th week is not so great. Worth a try.