Question for those who don't respond fast on Humira (Faithmac or anyone else)

Some joint aches. I think it's from the Humira not sure. It could be from the UC???

That's not bad tho, faith! I feel so afraid of those type of meds lol. My dr was bringing them up recently if we couldn't get my UC under control because she doesn't want me to be taking continual pred you know. She suggested those type of meds instead of another run with steroids if I get sick again. I feel nervous of the side effects for sure and the money they might cost.

That's good it helps you though that is way nice. Do you have diet restrictions at all or can you eat pretty much anything?

That's exciting. Can you stay on it for the long term?

Took my second loading shots this morning. No change. 20 Bms per day with pain and urgency.

Unfortunately I don't think Humira works for many of us with UC. Seems like Remicade is much more affective.

I've heard Remicade is generally more effect for UC. Even Simponi has some pretty stellar UC trial results. However, Humira worked for me in about a month (after the 2nd loading dose).


Here was my timeline:

Day 0- Hospitalized: 15 bloody BM a day (1st Loading dose given); terrible pain

Day 15- 7 BM/day; terrible pain (a few solid ones in there)

Day 30- 3 BM/day; pain gone, blood minimal

Day 60- 1-2 BM/day; blood gone, mucus slightly present

Day 90- 1 BM/day. Perfect form, no mucus

so it really took about 2-3 months to reach full effect. Some people can take even more than 3 months, apparently.

Hope that helps.

I started Humira in January 2010, so it's been just over 3 years now, at the one pen biweekly dose. I do notice symptoms creeping up around day 10, but it's ok, manageable, etc. I may see about going to weekly shots, but I'm in no hurry. Remicade worked "better", in the sense that I had absolutely ZERO symptoms, it was like the UC was gone. But, it lost that effect pretty quick- I was on it maybe a year, & the last 3-4 months were horrible, even at a hig dose, max frequency, etc.

I did 8 months, no results.

Simponi's numbers are a little better than Humira for uc.

Table 8. The Proportion of Patients with UC in Clinical Response, Clinical Remission and with Improvement of Endoscopic Appearance of the Mucosa in Trials UC-1 and UC-2

Trial UC-1 (6-Week Induction Trial)
..........................Placebo N=256....SIMPONI 200/100 mg N=257....Treatment difference (95% C.I.)
Clinical response
at Week 6....................30%.............52%...................................22%
Clinical remission
at Week 6.....................6%..............19%....................................12%
Improvement of
endoscopic appearance
of the mucosa at
Week 6........................29%.............43%....................................15%

Trial UC-2 (54-Week Maintenance Trial)
.........................Placebo N=156...SIMPONI 100 mg N=154....Treatment difference (95% C.I.)
Clinical response
through Week 54.............31%.............51%.................................19%
Clinical remission
at both Week 30
and Week 54..................15%.............29%..................................13%

Source:
http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=f86cb4a7-c358-4136-ae57-b32bda9bba00#S14.4

I'm dying to get on Takeda's newest drug because this Humira is awful. No results. I know it's only been two weeks but Remicade worked instantly for me. I feel like there is a knife in my ass right now.

Switching over to a liquid diet for the next 2 weeks. Hopefully it helps.

I'd be interested in finding how those numbers would change if there were additional medications added to the regiment like Predisone, 6-mp, hydrocortisone enema, etc...

Those Humira numbers are pathetic, I wonder what the placebo clinical responses were, probably somewhere close to the Humira numbers.

The only thing Humira ever really did for me was make me itch and give me drymouth.

Last year global sales for Humira was 9.3 billion USD. Cost/benefit for a UC patient probably isn't worth it and maybe that's why it took so long for the FDA to approve it for UC.

Wow 5 years of a drug working.. Sounds like heaven to me KS! I start my double-dose Humira today! Two shots fortnightly now!