Failing Simponi--help me with options

can you bump up the Simponi? I had to do that with the Humira.

I saw it came in different strengths. I think I read that?

yeah, i'm pretty sure you can only take it 100 ml a month... especially since it is so new. our doses are 100 ml compared to RA which is 50 ml.

indy, i have a question. i just started simponi last week. i have been on 10 mg of prednisone for 10 days and am terrified to drop. should i wait til i do the first two weeks of loading doses before i taper, in your opinion. my doctor said i should've been off pred a long time ago so he's really no help haha

anyway, i'm kind of where you are. trying simponi to see if i can hold out for the new drug. if i can't, then my colon is coming out and i really don't want that to happen, but i don't wanna get so sick again either. i've tried every medicine there is for this stupid disease.

Hey Bananagirl-I would wait until you have taken all the loading doses to drop. I don't think an extra couple of weeks would hurt you and I would want to be in the best shape possible before you enter the most delicate phase of your taper.
I'm a little bummed that vedolizumab's approval timeframe got extended to May. Not sure I can wait that long.

My daughter regained remission after a few weeks with Tacrolimius. It is not commonly used, but it is working. First dosed at 5 pills per day, then upped to 10... Had side effects of dizziness and joint pain( tho that could be from the Remi stop). Reduced to 5 again, and no return of UC symptoms. Formed stools, 1-2 per day, no blood, urgency or pain. Just a possibility for you and your doc to consider if the most common stuff stops working. Didn't hear about a delay in Vedolizumab,will look into.

Indycat23 said...
Katmom--thanks for the response. That's great news your daughter has regained remission from Tacrolimius. Does that drug carry a PML risk? I will definitely inquire about it with my GI at the next appt this month.

Tacrolimius is very similar to Cyclosporine which could be an option for you, I've taken Cyclosporine twice with very good results. I think you were getting Tacrolimius confused with Tysbri, I was offered Tysbri but I decided against taking it, my colon wasn't that important to me.

Simponi failed for me this past summer and I opted for surgery in October. After going through step-1 of surgery (3-step J-pouch) I was very happy to have surgery, I woke up from surgery and felt great, I haven't felt this good in years. I had very limited pain from surgery and recovered pretty quickly.

Maybe you are at the point were you need to see another GI to get a second opinion, I always went to a GI who specialized in treating IBDs, not all GIs specialize in treating IBDs.