Humira

I have been told that, following bone marrow toxicity caused by Azathioprine, the most realistic long-term option for me is to move to Humira. I have only read a little about it but I am ok with the idea- though not looking forward to all the initial stresses of starting a new treatment.

My main question is, for those who have taken Humira- how does it work in terms of regularity of doctor's visits etc? I have read different things about the extent to which you can do it from home. If there is anyone in the UK who takes Humira through the NHS I would appreciate any info you have. I am from the UK but currently living elsewhere in Europe, where Humira is available but requires monthly doctor's visits to continue treatment. I'm wondering if it would be easier to go back to the UK to begin treatment then continue independently.

Thanks!

Hello

I'm from the UK on the NHS and had to move onto biologic therapy. I was given the option of either adalimumab (Humira) or infliximab. I was told that if I chose Humira I would have to inject myself at home every 2 weeks, it's a pen injection. I ended up choosing infliximab.

Thanks, so am I right in thinking you just go in to hospital initially for the first course of treatment and from there you do it independently at home?

Hi alltheway,
I am new to Humira and will share my experience for what it's worth. I tried hard to skip it initially and go straight to Entyvio based on my concern of Humira's side effects. Entyvio seems to me to have fewer severe side effects. Insurance nixed it, so I started Humira 2 months ago.

The initial dosing was done at my Dr's office -- took 4 shots around the bellybutton area. I won't lie to you, prepare for a 'bee sting' that is intense at first but dissipates in 10 seconds. Tolerable for sure and don't want to scare you, but surprised me how painful it was for those few seconds. [more on this below]

I felt faint and woozy about 10 mins afterwards and took a lie down at my doc's office for 15 mins until the flush passed. I continued to feel weak the rest of the day and finished off with a pretty bad headache that night. Next day fine. My suggestion to you is to clear your day and just give yourself some downtime when you do this.

Since then I administered my own bi-weekly and haven't seen the Doc yet. I am scheduled for blood work, but apparently has to be done at a specific lab. I had less and less woozy feelings with each dose, but definitely feel less energetic. I've learned to do this in the evening, and I found a couple of spots on the side of my thigh/butt that is nice and fatty...the sting is infinitely less than my stomach. Hope you find somewhere similar.

Since getting on Humira, I was able to wean off Budesonide. I continue with Asacol (800mgx4 daily). I still have occasional dis-comfort and 'marmalade' mucus with each BM. So clearly not in remission. Due for a colonoscopy in 6 months.

Just this weekend, though, I've had a breakout of tiny needle-head pimples all over my body. Not numerous, but enough to suggest something. Wondering if it's chickenpox or similar. No temp no other symptoms. Anyone else with similar experience?

Good luck to you!

I was on Humira for almost a year and the test results showed that every two weeks was too low a dose for me and for most of that year I was on weekly injections.
The nice thing about Humira is the convenience of doing the shots at home and in my case my wife is a nurse so she did the shots for me.

After close to a year the effectiveness of Humira dropped for me so my specialist switch me over to Entyvio and since then I have never looked back as for me it is working great.