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Cimzia - Risks and Benifits

After my Crohn's diagnoses in September I was put on Entocort and Prednisone. These drugs made me feel much better. Although, I have not been able to taper off the Prednisone very well. My doctor has suggested I look at Cimzia as an option.

I have read that it (Cimzia) increases the risk of certain cancers and bad infections. Does anyone have any experience with this? Are the probability of these risks menial? I have not been able to find any information quanitifying these risks.

Additionally, has this drug worked well for people?
 
There is a topic called "Cimzia Club" in the "Treatment" section that has a little more information. It's still a kind of new drug, so there aren't a lot of people on here that are using it. Our numbers seem to grow each day though. The other biologic drugs, Remicade and Humira are similar to Cimzia so you might garner some more general info from those topics. I believe those drugs also carry the same warnings re. cancer and infection.

I've been on it since March and it has changed my life for the better. I was scared about going on it, but the benefits far outweighed the potential risks. I did have a scare recently when I found out about certain diseases other than TB that can be reactivated when on Cimzia. Thankfully, it seems I'm ok for now. You can read that in the "Cimzia Club" topic.

I have read that the risk of cancer is generally higher for young males who are on Cimzia for Arthritis. Those warnings are cya for the drug companies. Yes, the risk is there but it's minimal. I've not had a cold, infection, flu, etc since I started Cimzia and I have traveled over 20,000 miles and four countries this year alone. I am careful when around others who are sick and I also use a lot of Purell and antibacterial wipes. Although I don't know if that stuff really works or not; they just make me feel better.

I was in absolute pain and suffering with Crohn's. Cimzia helped almost immediately for me and I hope more than anything that it continues to work. It gave me my life back. Hope it works just as well for you.
 
I've been on Remicade and Humira, and I'm on Cimzia now (it's not really helping, though). I haven't had any issues caused by it yet. Remicade and Humira put and kept me in remission for about a year each, and I never noticed any side effects. I knew I was more susceptible to getting sick so I was more cautious. I definitely think Cimzia is worth a shot. I was prednisone dependent when Remicade became approved for Crohn's so it seemed like a much better alternative than prednisone.
 
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