Humira vs Remicade

My insurance kind of made the choice for me. They would only cover Humira as a biiologic; if I fail it, they will consider Remi, etc.

I have been happy with the flexibility of the Humira, (just doing it at home) and that it only takes a minute from unpacking the injection pen to getting id of the trash/putting the spent pen in a sharps container.

As far as whether it has worked, lol... I have some other issues going on, so it's kind of hard to tell.....

It mostly comes down to your out-of-pocket cost, convenience, and effectiveness.

Humira is a self-injection, usually a little less expensive, but given every couple weeks on maintenance dosage. The injections are quick, you do them at your home. Humira generally wins on cost and convenience.

Remicade is an IV infusion, a nurse sets an IV and monitors you for 2-3 hours, and it is given every 8 weeks on maintenance dosage. Remicade is billed as hospital out-patient. Not sure how far it is to the nearest IV infusion center, most hospitals have them, some sports medicine places do, and sometimes gasteroenterolgist offices do. It depends on your copays and deductibles, remicade could be more expensive. Driving to an IV infusion center is less convenient. Remicade might be slightly more effective with UC patients, not by a large margin. It comes down to the effectiveness between an IV infusion versus subcutaneous (just beneath the skin). Remicade wins slightly on effectiveness.

Simponi is a lot like Humira and the same general thoughts would apply.

Humira, Remicade, and Simponi all have patient copay assistance programs that pay for the cost of the medication.

I've had good luck with Remicade, others have had similar luck with Humira. I think both are good choices.