Humira Question

I went on entyvio a year after diagnosis after mesalamine didn’t put me in remission and only prednisone relieved my symptoms. Took about 4 months to be symptom free which is normal for entyvio but I had many small improvements along the way. Been in remission for almost 4 years now and can eat normally again. I don’t limit foods or even think about it most days.

Good luck!!!!

Welcome back!

Will remission happen very soon (if I respond well)? Remission can take 3-6 months roughly. Healing is a slow process but steady improvements are a good thing.

How long could it last? I'm 8 years within a remission on remicade. A few forum members started remicade during the clinical trials of remicade in the late 1990's and are still on it last I knew. Never a guarantee, some switch biologics in a year or few.

Will the drug stop working soon? There's a 20 percent chance of loss of initial response. Many regain response by increasing dosing (more frequent shots/infusions).

How strict does a person need to be with their diet? I am not. Eat whatever I want. Biologics don't cure food intolerances (an intolerance to gluten or dairy does not go away). In a Remission you can generally eat a wider variety of foods.

Martinco said...
Hi folks,


Any way, according to my doctor now instead of mesalamine > biologics, the research has shown that in the long term starting with biologics is best. I’m also hoping for relief from my terrible arthritis so I’m open to it.

Can anyone share their experiences? Will remission happen very soon (if I respond well)? How long could it last? Will the drug stop working soon? How strict does a person need to be with their diet?

Thanks!

I'm very confused by your post. I have consulted with many GI's at the top research institutes and have never heard anyone recommend a biologic as first line over mesalamine unless someone doesn't respond or in very severe disease. In fact, all GI's were reluctant to consider entyvio fo me after I developed intolerance to mesalamine because I have mild or moderate disease. Mesalamine is way safer than any biologic overall and you are not suppressing your immune system. Your immune system is your most important asset so you really don't want to mess with it unless you are out of options.

If I am understanding correctly, you want to go on Humira to manage arthritis even though you wrote you have been in remission (this is unclear)? There are way safer options for arthritis than Humira, unless you have RA. Talk to a rheumatologist. I am part of the FB entyvio group that has about 10k members. Humira gets some mixed reviews and people mention some pretty scary side effects they experienced that made them withdraw from the drug too, like medication induced lupus, lung infections and skin cancers. Enytvio has fewer dangerous side effects, but is also not easy to manage for some at least. I wouldn't do it unless i was out of options and didn't respond to mesalamine.

You can max out mesalamine, switch to another mesalamine formulation, try sulfasalazine (this helps with arthritis too) or add daily rectals (budesonide if needed) before considering a biologic as well.

Are you benefitting from IBD-AID diet? I think it's a more balanced and less restrictive than SCD and I like the focus on anti-inflammatory foods and probiotic rich ones.

Post Edited (Jane974) : 1/29/2021 9:07:51 PM (GMT-7)