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Novel, taking stelara and entyvio simultaneously

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 4/22/2019 3:41 PM (GMT 0)
Always interested in novel approaches, here's one: taking Stelara and entyvio simultaneously as an ongoing treatment. The person has Crohn's.

u/selkiea said...
This is a happy post.... well, optimistic, at least. Today I went rollerblading.

Backstory: In the last 8 months I was hospitalized 7 times for severe flare-ups that almost killed me. This disease left me unemployed and took my life away, you all know how it is. I failed off of all the biologics that we tried, including all the TNF blockers as well as Stelara, and I started to accept that I was a non responder, unable to taper below 40mg prednisone before landing back in the hospital. My doc told me that a colon removal and colostomy was the next step. I was really scared.

But my Dr. wanted to give it one more shot, with what he called a « creative solution, » combining two biologic medications, Stelara and Entyvio. He told me there wasn’t much research backing up this type of treatment but believes it is safe so why not give it a shot.

I’ve now been on the two for about two months, and this past week for the first time since August, I feel human again. I’ve been eating well and able to leave my house, and sleeping, now at 35mg of prednisone and tapering. I had bloodwork done and Dr. called to tell me that my CRP is 2. In March when I was hospitalized it was almost 200. Two months ago I could barely leave my house, today I went ROLLERBLADING. Unreal.

We’re certainly not out of the woods, I’m not in remission yet and someday i still may need surgery; but this is a step in the right direction. So I just want to shout out to « creative solutions » and amazing doctors who think them up.

And if you’ve had a similar situation to me, maybe ask your dr. If they’ve heard of combining biologics (specifically Stelara and Entyvio, because Entyvio is colon-specific so it is safe). There isn’t much research there but it has to start somewhere.

Happy Monday everyone smile

Posted 4/22/2019 4:37 PM (GMT 0)
Must be expensive to do that though!
Posted 4/22/2019 6:38 PM (GMT 0)
That's great. With Crohn's, you really need as many options as possible since surgery isn't curative. I hope more options continue to come about. Crohn's can be so debilitating.
Posted 4/23/2019 10:12 PM (GMT 0)
This is an interesting approach. I wonder if we will be seeing more of these combinations? Before I had surgery, my GI was trying to get me to approved to be on Remicade and Entyvio at the same time. He said they are starting to find a lot of success with multiple biologics. They were hesitant to put me on Remicade because of my past cancer history and family history with lymphoma. The remicade was going to be a bridge to give Entyvio more time to kick in. However, by the time the insurance company finally gave approval, it had been close to 3 months on Entyvio and my UC had spiraled out of control.
Posted 4/23/2019 11:06 PM (GMT 0)
I just wonder at what point it is overly immunosuppressive. In this case, at least, one is a Site Specific Immunomodular and the other is systematic.
Posted 4/24/2019 12:47 AM (GMT 0)
If you want to do the math my stelara injection every 8 weeks (56 days) is billed at $46,214.

I was never willing to do Remicade with 6mp or another immuno-modulator in 2008 due to lymphoma risks in male patients. I think that was overblown after follow up studies. But is the risk really worth it? There is surgery for when you get to the point where you are trying multiple medications at once.
Posted 4/24/2019 4:45 AM (GMT 0)
And for the math... my Entyvio is billed out at $15k+. Every 8 weeks. Insurance pays $5-6k.
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