What's this Drug? - A HUMIRA update!

Hey guys!

How is evryone today? What's your weekend plans? I'ts sunny outside and I'm getting to spend the whole day with my wee boy, who is 20 months old. Can't really get any better for me!

Anyway - you may have read my other thread starter, what's this drug? In short, I said that I had a friend who'd had crohns for over ten years, had had a helluva bad time with it, resections galore, everytime remission looked in sight I'd hear of another flare - a real nightmare for the guy. Well anyway, he emailed me a month or so ago, asking if I'd like to meet up with him for a drink - he was feeling better, was on a new drug (can you guess? Yep, that's right, Humira!), and wanted to catch up.

Well - John and I met for a pint last night. OH MY GOD, WHAT a transformation. Quite incredible. This drug has made him seem invincible. He has no cramps, is on the shitseat less than ever, his joints aren't as swollen - it seems to have just looked at his body for any inflammation, targetted it, and reduced it. I can safely say that I have never seen him, or anyone else for that matter, look so healthy in a long time. The only thing it HASN'T helped is his drinking ability. Yes he can have a drink with no worries, but i was STILL able to put him under the table......! He'll feel it today! We're off to see Bon Jovi tonight in Glasgow at Hampden Park, so I'll let you all know how that goes!

Just another quick thing before I go - on a sadder note, a friend of mine at work has been off sick for the last four or five months. He was very private about what was wrong, but told a few of us just yesterday. He's had Prostate Cancer, which shook me up pretty bad. Before this struck you'd have been hard pushed to find a healthier, fitter man and now, although he is ver slowly getting back to himself, he is a shadow of his former self. I'd like it very much if you could all spare a thought for him, and pray for him if you can. I know he'd appreciate it.

Speak to you all soon team - have a good one, and take care, each and every one of you

Mxx

I hear this drug is working well for some in trial i just iwsh they would get it out on the market so we could start using it. But also there are two other similiar drugs called nuvion and clizma... spelling i am unsure about but all of they new remicade copycats are working well, the only thing i hear about Humira is that you inject it yourself and it hurts like a mother, but hey if it works i am all about it. Research research cause the future look promissing.

Thats great your friend is doing so well on it Mozam! Gives us all hope Im sure. and sorry to hear about your friend from work, hope he has a speedy recovery.
have fun at Bon-Jovi!! I saw him a few years ago, and it was a really good concert! and not too hard to look at either. lol

can't wait till this available in Canada:thumleft:
sick of methotrexate shots, I've canceled the last two of them without tellin my doc:lol:

it good to hear that he has found something that has worked so well for him

I have actually already tried Humira. I started it about a year ago. One of my doctors is over research for the Mayo Clinic, and he was able to prescribe it to me, without me needing to be in any sort of trial. My GI in town was then able to prescribe it. It worked really well for me and I was out of the hospital for about a year. Its a painful shot, but it was worth it. I have noticed that it started to not work so well for me after about a year, and I think that is what tends to happen with that and remicade. I do think it could help alot of people though and I hope it becomes avaliable to all of you very soon.

i believe that Humira and Cimzia will be available by the end of the year or by the first quarter of 2007 so keep your head up if your struggling in hope for some better things.

hiya

im 26 with arthritis and crohns. back in april both flared up really badly and could barely move with the arthritis. went on humira at the end of may and its the most magical drug ever. in less than 24 hours i felt a huge difference in my joints. most of them werent hurting any more. i think its brilliant.
yeah there is a slight chance i might get cancer but if it means i can live the next few years of my life without pain in my joints its worth it

unfortunately it hasnt done anything for my crohns, so i think im starting imuran in 2 weeks or so to help that get undercontrol

i cant wait till i have a life like ever other 26 yr old.
glad to year your friend is doing so much better on it

YAY FOR HUMIRA! hehehe

There is also another drug in the pipeline...Cizmia that shoudl be approved by end of 07. The problem with Humira is its still not approved, so only a few people have access, mostly people having refractory crohns, meaning unable to respond to drugs or treatments.

<http://www.ccfa.org/about/news/pharmapipeline>

Cimzia, humira, a new antibiotic with 78% success rate are also shown on this page.

You do not have to wait for this drug it is already here... It is called Remicade...

HUMIRA is just another drug that also blocks TNF alpha sites... If you have become resistant to Remicade then HUMIRA may be a good option for you...

If you have never tried Remicade then try it first... BUT REMEMBER if you do not have insurance you will not be able to afford this medicine...

Remicade is given by IV either in a Doc office or in an Outpatient Chemotherpay Lab..

It seems humira is given differntly than Remicade....

How should I use Humira?
• Use Humira exactly as directed by your doctor. If you do not understand these directions, ask your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist to explain them to you.
• Humira is administered as a subcutaneous (under the skin) injection. Do not inject this medication intramuscularly (into a muscle) or intravenously (into a vein).
• Your doctor or nurse will give you detailed instructions on how to inject Humira. It can be injected into the abdomen (avoid the area 2 inches around the navel) or front of the thighs. Rotate the injection sites as directed by your doctor. Each new injection should be given at least one inch from the site you used before.
• Do not inject the medication into areas where the skin is tender, bruised, red, or hard or where you have scars or stretch marks.
• Do not shake the vials or pre-filled syringes of Humira.
• Inspect the vial or pre-filled syringe of Humira before injection. The liquid should be clear and colorless. Do not use the medication if it is cloudy or discolored, or if it has flakes or particles in it.
• Each vial or pre-filled syringe of Humira is intended for one use only. Throw away any unused portion of the medication. Do not save it for later use, it does not contain a preservative.
• A tuberculin skin test should be performed before starting treatment with Humira. Latent (inactive) tuberculosis infection may become symptomatic due to treatment with Humira.
• It is important to use Humira regularly to get the most benefit.
• Dispose of all needles and syringes in an appropriate puncture resistant container.
• Store Humira in the refrigerator (36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 to 8 degrees Celsius) in the original container until it is used. Do not allow the product to freeze and do not use it beyond the expiration date. If the medication needs to be transported during travel, store it in a cool carrier with an ice pack and protect it from light.

Click to expand...

Huh sounds ok... If your on remicade ATM and it is working for you then stick with it... These TNF-alpha blockers are not very forgiving of you starting and then stopping them... If you were to start taking either of these meds and then go into remission and then stop taking them... Then your body may devolep antibodies against the Remicade or Humria.. And the medcine may never work for you again or you may even have a severe allergic reaction to the medicine...

You can take meds that will help your body from making anitbodies against these drugs... Imuran and 6-MP will do that... BUT they also futher decrease your immune system and greatly increase your chance of getting lymphomia..

So always look at the pros and cons of these things... As of yet their is no mircle drug for crohn's...

The problem people are having with Remicade GNC MAN, is the anti-bodies, some are using it because of ONLY fistulas's or only a few doses at a time, which is not right, if you sttop remicade for close to a year or more the risk of developing these antibodies increase damatically.

Remicade is VERY expensive comaped also. I had 4 or 5 infusions, first one $2,600.00, last one$7,200.00, the fluctuates, and no one can help this, humira is a weeekly injection not an 8 week, 6 week whatever dosage you might be getting.

Humira's biggest benefit is the lesser change of side effects then remicade, no to mention the price, and time taken out of your day to get the infusion, minimum (if done right and increased at the right time) 2 hours(for the remicade).

Cimzia is JUST like humira except even LESSS side effects, their basically putting these in the pipeline of drugs coming out because of the side effects of previous drugs...each drug has supposedly less side effects.

By the way while on the subject of TNF blockers...Im on of the ones that it was a miracle for me, but why are people sooo scare of these, and NOT immuno-suppresents? Why would you want your WHOLE immune sytem surprssed rather then just tumer-necrosis-factor? or inflammation cells? Doesnt make much sense to me.

HUMIRA: started July 2012 with 40mg every two weeks and upped to 40 mg every week in November. Since then I have had to use Prednisone for flares several times but this last time I have tapered slowly and currently stabilised at 7.5mg per day (which just about qualifies as low dose).

That's not a good level of drugs to be on BUT i am feeling better and more "normal" like this than ever since I was diagnosed in 2010. So I am going to try to get it down to 5mg and enjoy a period of stability before we start messing with the drugs again. I seem to remember the purpose of Humira is to reduce or eliminate steroids and therefore that goal is sort of achieved. Still scared of side effects but right now I feel I have a life.

Should say I also have bad back and hip pains and the low dose prednisone makes that liveable at he same time. So I'll keep on this until at least the inflammation in my small intestine clears up or until the docs have other ideas, or until my spontaneous remission arrives (ha,ha!).