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Advice

Hi,
I've been on Humira for several months now and it has been working very well. However, I was just offered a job position in a foreign and underdeveloped country for 6-12 months. Unfortunately, it is unclear if I will have regular access to a refrigerator to keep the Humira cold. I am really excited about this opportunity and really don't want my disease to prevent me from going. Here are some questions I have. I'd appreciate some advice if any of you can help.

-Can Humira be delivered to a foreign country, outside of N. America or Europe?
-Travel to my destination could take up to 36 hours. If I bring my Humira with me, can it stay cold for that long?
-Does remicade need to be refrigerated? I will have access to a Military medical center where I could receive infusions.
-Can remicade be delivered to a foreign country?
-Are there any TNF inhibitors that don't need refrigeration?
-If I have to go back to the pills, which ones have the least side effects? I did not tolerate 5asa well.


Thanks a lot,

Greg
 
If you're going as a Military contractor, I'm really surprised they're letting you go on this job if they know you have Crohn's. I worked in Iraq for 8 months in 2006 but didn't tell them I had Crohn's. I stayed in a "hooch," living container, and it had a refrigerator in it but not all bases have hooches. You might find out before you go. I received my supplements through the mail there and never missed a shipment, but I don't know the travel time for Humira staying cool. You should probably call the Humira hotline 800-4-humira. The shipping to Military bases is the same postage as if it were being mailed in the U.S. However, Humira is shipped overnight so don't know how that would work. You would probably have to get the Military to handle infusions if you went the Remicade route, but I would guess you would have to be pretty high up the chain of command to get that kind of personalized treatment.
 
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