any1 on humira?

Hi all,
Im having a hard time at the moment deciding what to do next.
i had pancreatitis and was in hospital last month with it and subsequently taken of the 5asa's.
i currently use predsol and predfoam and pred oral. thats high grade drugs from both ends. but they're not working. infact this is my 2nd attemp at the pred oral with no effect.
Now because of the pancreatitis i cant try the next step 6-mp so i have to go straight onto Humira. Its only been recently passed for use in uc i hear so i wanted to hear about uc patients that use it.
I have to decide on the drip or injecting myself-any thoughts.
My uc is out of control. up to 14bms a day. mostly bloody d and no formation.
Im having a scope to see the extent next tuesday - itll be my 2nd since dx last june.
also having an endoscopic ultrasound and a blood test for IgG4 levels to see if i have the rare autoimmune pancreatitis. the steroids did make a difference to the pain so apparently theres a connection. thats another yarn.

I'm on Humira and have been on Remicade. It's too soon to know if the Humira is working but I haven't had any side effects so far. I had my first injection a few weeks ago and I suggest getting them in the stomach instead of the thigh, the one to the thigh hurt pretty badly. Given the option I would try Remicade first again because the Humira injections do hurt and I'm not yet at the point that I can give them to myself so it's a hassle to go in every 2 weeks instead of every 6-8 for Remicade. I'm also pretty wimpy though and I still think it's worth it, you might not find it to be too bad.

Indycat,
He never said anything about remicade. He did say though this is my last chance at drugs. nothing has put me any where near remission this past 17months. i think i had 4 days were i had no blood since. The cr nurse said that they have to be very careful with what drugs i try now because of the pancreatitis and my options are very limited.

equalsTwo,
i cant use the 6-mp so i guess i cant do remicade. dont you need to take 6-mp to lessen reactions or bulid antibodies to it. Im still researching it so im not fully clued in yet. is remi mouse protein and humi is synthetic?

Faith,
Seems your doing well so far. im of all other drugs apart from pred atm. why did your Gi choose humira over remi?


I am a wimp. cant inflict pain on myself so im considering the infusion. I hear it can work quicker than the injections also so mite get relief sooner.

Lucily for me apart from blood and mucous ive had it easy up until last month. i dont know how i could carry on the way i am so the quicker something works the better.
Hats of to all you long time sufferers. This disease sucks ARSE.

Hi Ju, my GI thought Humira would be a better choice for me. Self infections vs infusions. Easier to give at home. I think it might be not as strong. I refused to go back on pred, had to go this route. Couldn't spend my life in the bathroom! Had lots of blood ,cramps ,gas ,No formed stools . I'm a massage therapist,couldn't leave the house in the mornings to do early calls. Not in remission, but things calmed down about 60per cent. Hope it will get even better. It's not a cure I was told, it does help with the symptoms .

Ju, if Humira fails I always have remi. Right now I'm hoping this one works for me. Best of luck we all need some!:)

I've been on Humira for almost 2 years now, after being on Remicade for about the same amount of time. Eventually the Remicade lost effectiveness, so we switched to Humira. I have had better results with Humira, honestly- I find the bi-weekly dosing schedule easier to handle- by the time I quit Remicade, I was doing the max dose every 6 weeks. With Humira, there's very little time between injections for hings to get ugly. And injecting yourself is totally easy, it's in a pen type thing, like an epi-pen. You just hold it to your body & press a button, & the needle shoots in by itself. You could start with one & go to the other if need be- most ppl. start with Remicade. The time to myself during infusions was nice, but it got to be a hassle- I'd need a day off work, & between driving to the hospital to get it done & the actual infusion, the whole even took about 4 hours. As opposed to 5 minutes in my bathroom at home. Goo dluck, whatever you choose- they are both good meds!

I was on Remicade for 9 months, worked great at first but lost efectiveness so now I am on Humira. Humira has not been as effective in symptom control but has a cumulative effect and supposedly my doctor says he sees healing in my colon so he thinks it is working even if slowly. Been on it for quite awhile, i inject weekly. I inject into the thigh as the thigh injections are zero pain but stomach injections sting a bit. I use the pens, they are really easy to use and honestly the thigh injections do not hurt at all. I have seen no side effect and I've injected myselff somewhere around 25 times now. That said I loved Remicade and the infusions were actually a wonderfully peaceful part of my day, I kind of miss them to be honest... weird I know :)