Humira or Remicade?

I have a follow up appt with my Rheumy on April 4th to see if my bloodwork showed anything such as Lupus or RA. But even if it shows as being negative for anything, he mentioned asking my GI about being placed on Remi anyway because I do have some sort of arthritis condition going on - swollen and red hands/knuckles, feet/toes and ankles.

So I had my GI appt today and told him what my Rheumy said and he thinks that I might do well with either Humira or Remicade. That after my scope on April 5th, we can make better plans. But he seemed more interested in placing me on Humira. Btw, I am still having Uc issues - not quite flaring but not quite remission either...sort of simmering.

Has anyone tried both and do you like one over the other? Why?

LOL...yeah, I am not sure how I like the idea of giving myself a shot either! But I can understand the convenience of it more then Remi.

Hmm now you got me wondering Eva Lou....I have to call my insurance company to see if they will even cover Humira. I know they do the Remicade (100%) because I already called them.

I'm doing well on remicade and I've been on it since july 2009. I had to do the remicade because my insurance wouldn't cover it. My doc said when the remicade doesn't work anymore she can change my diagnoses to crohn's and then the humira will be covered. She said that is the only way they will cover humira alot of times or if she says she doesn't know if it is uc or crohn's. I don't know if your doc is willing to do this. I think humira is nice because it is at home and you give yourself the shot and all done. The shot don't bug me because i give myself it for my b12. My remicade takes from 9-3 every eight weeks. I go slow because of a reaction I have had. I look as it as a day off from everything. I can do homework or read. You might want to see what your insurance will cover. Humira seems easier and quicker but I have has success on the remicade. I hope one of these works for you.

I've tried both, but of course I've had a horrible reaction to the Remicade.... personally I think Humira is better because you don't have to take time out of your day to sit around and get an infusion for remicade. You only take Humira twice a month and has totally worked for me these past 4 years.

Personally, unless I had RA and was immobile, I would avoid Remicade at all costs.

Sue

Sherry, I am on humira and they have a patient assistance program, that I only pay $5 a month copay. Once you get approved for humira through your insurance company, then you can call humira and set up the Patient assistance. Your rhemy should have all this information to give you. The self injection is easy to give yourself, and it is in a pen form and you never see the needle which is good. It does burn going in, but it only lasts for 10 sec. If you have any questions, let me know

Okay, thanks Janice :)

I have been on both. And I can tell you that you CAN develop antibodies to Humira. I did! It worked IMMEDIATELY for me. Literally, after the first loding dose, I was great. And it worked like a charm for 10 months. I had a very minor flare and was able to control it with rectals, but things didn't get back to where they had been, and after about 20 months, it failed completely. They tried upping the dose for me, but it did nothing. There is less research on it, and there was the assumption that since it is a human protein, antibodies would not be built up, but my GI's office is finding that many people do build up antibodies to it over time.

I have been on Remicade for over a year now and am doing great. Now, I am pregnant, so who knows how that may have affected things, but before I got pregnant, I had no hints of a flare starting up, and that was the season for me to start having issues. I have no idea how long it will work-but for now, I am doing great. And a lot of people find success with it for years.

One thing to consider is what my GI told me-that you have more wiggle room with remicade than humira. Humira is a fixed dosing schedule, so aside from upping it from biweekly to weekly, there isn't much you can do to increase the dose if you need to. With remicade, they can up not only the frequency at which you can get the medicine, but also the amount per dosage. It took longer to get me into full remission, but it did get me there, and so far, i am doing very well.

I liked both. I don't mind the infusions one bit-they are relaxing to me. I hated injecting myself, but it was over quick. I have had no complications with either or other reactions. They have both worked well for me, but so far, remicade is working out to be better for me in terms of how long it has kept me really stable.

I had joint pain from tapering pred, but neither TNF blocker had any effect on that.

My GI wants to eventually add 6mp because he thinks it will give me a longer, better remission, but since I am pregnant and doing well without it, we are not discussing that at the moment.

Good luck with your decision and with the medications. I really think you can't go wrong with either, it is so individual how people react to these meds. I have done great on both and really didn't notice side effects with either.

ETA-I have not injected with the pen. I think it would be super easy though. Mine was through a trial, so I had syringes. It does burn going in, but it is quick. Much quicker with the pen, I would think.

Post Edited (Supa) : 3/23/2011 6:39:45 PM (GMT-6)

everyone is different when it comes to meds. You just got to see which combination works for you.