Humira + other drugs?

Hello everyone, I am pretty new to this forum but have been diagnosed with UC for over 4 years now. I am currently taking Humira 40mg injections every two weeks which has worked great for me for about 1.5 years now but I've slowly started to get worse in the past 6 months. I don't take much on top of the humira other than some supplements. I've had my blood tested for anti-bodies against the Humira and I had no immunity at all..

I'm curious if anyone out there taking humira or has been on it in the past has taken other prescription drugs alongside the humira injections to keep their symptoms at bay. Since I don't have antibodies against it yet I would love to continue taking it as long as I can but it's getting difficult with my symptoms reappearing. I'm up to probably 4-5 BM's per day, no diarrhea but a constant discomfort in the left side of my colon, along with some symptoms of proctitis. I'm hoping it gets better soon as I've just started taking vsl 3 probiotics as recommended by my dietician, but am looking for other options/diets as well.

I haven't talked about increasing the dosage to weekly injections yet because my doctor says I still have plenty of humira in my system. However I will talk about that with him if I don't start getting better. I don't believe I have taken 6MP before, I took just about every other medication I could try with very little results. I'll also ask about that as well. Has anyone had experience with taking 6MP and humira/bi-weekly injections with good results?

I'm just a bit worried of the side effects of 6MP, short and long term.

U B Tough,
Did you start on 40mg every two weeks and eventually get to 80mg weekly injections? And yeah I flared up badly enough to have to go the ER and get a week of pred to cool me back down and I've just been doing okay since then. I'm thinking weekly injections may be the next best step. I'm just worried it will make my body start developing anti-bodies against the humira faster. It is only the first biologic I have tried so thankfully I still have a few more options when it does stop working completely, but still, changing medications after something has worked for over a year with great results stresses me out.

At his age I'd be a little wary of starting concomitant immunomodulators.

But I agree about trying humira weekly.

The reason I said I'd be wary of concomitant immunomodulators for you is your age and gender. For boys/men in their teens and twenties there is a *very small* but *very serious* risk of a certain type of cancer, called HSTCL, if you are on a biologic and an immunomodulator at the same time. There have been fewer than one hundred cases out of millions of people, but it's a deadly cancer. So doctors often do monotherapy for boys and young men.

Richid said...
What are the short term and long term side effects of trying something like 6MP?

Immunomodulators have very rare side effects . The only thing i can attribute to my 6MP is that I sunburn a little easier than before. So i take precautions when I'm outdoors for many hours in direct sun (wear sunscreen, a hat etc.). I've been on 6mp since 2013.

about 20 percent of people experience nausea the first few weeks of starting them. Just take it before bedtime with a snack to reduce the odds. It's only initial.

If you're considered an adolescent male then the cancer bit. Odds are extremely low but needs to be a part of the conversation with your gasteroenterologist.

Here's more info on immunomodulator risk versus benefits by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. I rather like putting odds behind the various benefit and risks of medications. As it really puts things back into perspective. I 'll take 70 percent odds of improving my symptoms versus a less than 1 percent odds of something bad happening any day.
Webcast: programs.rmei.com/CCFA139VL/presentation/player.html
Transcript: http://www.ccfa.org/assets/pdfs/risk-and-benefits-transcript.pdf