Humira...how long to work before giving up?

Hi all,

I've been on Humira for just over 7 weeks. When I started, my symptoms were pretty mild (some stomach pain, 3-5BMs/day, minimal blood). I was on Lialda, Allopurinal and Azathioprine for about 1.5 years but after a recent colonoscopy, my GI said I still had inflammation and I need something stronger. I am still taking these meds in addition to Humira.

After 7 weeks, I feel like I am actually getting worse. My BMs have increased (5-7/day) and I am seeing some blood, plus I am getting more stomach pain. When I visited the GI last week, he was ready to throw in the towel and have me start Entyvio, which is what he originally wanted me on in the first place but insurance required me to fail Humira first.

My question...given I don't feel better yet, should I give up on Humira or is it too soon? When I talked to the Humira nurse, they said to give it at least 3 months. They said that some people actually see their symptoms get worse before they get better.

Has anyone been in a similar situation where it took longer to respond? Or should I be feeling somewhat better by now? I am losing my patience so I am really interested to know if others had a similar experience.

Thanks in advance.

If you go to the humirapro.com website and dig out the rx instructions for UC it says to discontinue if there's no improvement by 8 weeks. Your GI might be right to want to try something else.

The guidelines for most biologics is you should receive a clinical response within the initial loading doses within the first 6-8 weeks in order to continue treatment. Would you receive a response if you wait longer? Possibly but it gets increasing unlikely as far as the actual odds go. Biologics have roughly 65 percent response rates, and not everyone does respond.

You can argue to continue the humira at an increased dose/frequency as a last ditch effort and it could possibly help. That's reasonable for a couple more weeks time of humira, to give it just a little more time to work and be absolutely sure. Humira, in particular, is the same, exact initial dose for everyone, and maybe you just need a stronger dose for an actual response.

A response is usually quite significant: less bms, more formed bms, and less urgency. When biologics work they're usually quick and swift.

I have been on it for just about a year now and it has been up and down. I currently take 40 mg on a weekly basis and it seems to be working great. I would talk to your doctor. I started with just one pen every other week, then a flare, then prednisone with humira and then 80mg bi-weekly. Everybody is different but i would give it a good chance.