Batman asks: Humira and Prednisone Biweekly?

[Batman]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forums. I've been a diagnosed Crohn's sufferer for a few years and have tried several drugs. I have been on Humira bi-weekly for about a year with partial relief.

Recently I have had larger than normal swelling at the injection site and my doctor believes I am developing an allergy to the drug. I have been advised to take Benadryl 1.5 hours before a shot, and a 40mg tablet of Prednisone an hour before.

I am concerned about taking the Predinsone once every 2 weeks as I cannot find anyone else using the drug this way. My research shows that Predinsone is meant to be used as a daily drug and you actually taper off of doses as small as even 10-20 mg. Is it dangerous to take a single 40 mg dose of Predinsone every 2 weeks alongside Humira?

 

[Ian]

Hi and welcome

I think it's probably perfectly safe, you only have to taper steroids when you've been on them for a few weeks or more because the constant use of them replaces the natural steroid production functions of your adrenal glands, and to suddenly stop taking them doesn't allow your adrenal glands time to wake up and start functioning again so you can go into adrenal failiure. I'm pretty sure there's no risk of this happening if you take a dose just once every 2 weeks. It's surely not enough to make your body steroid dependant.

I noticed another member, Sharon (ChefShazzy) takes 30mg of Pred on her Humira injection day. See this thread:
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=19541

So you're not the only one Hope Humira is keeping you well enough. You say it provides partial releif. Any chance of going up to weekly shots to see if that improves things?

 

[ChefShazzy]

Hahaha, Ian, thanks for noticing! It's true, batman; You can take one dose of pred every two weeks, without needing to taper. Even for weekly injections, my doc said it would be OK. Pred worked really well for my injection site reactions, but - opposite of you - I was really allergic to Humira at first and now I guess my body is getting used to it because I don't have reactions nearly as bad as I used to. I don't need the pred anymore! I still get injection site reactions, but pretty minor now compared to what they used to be.

I hope you're able to control your reactions this way I know firsthand how swollen and itchy those things can get!

 

[David]

Hi Batman, I'm glad the two fine folks above were able to help you out. I just wanted to take a second to welcome you to the forum. I hope to see you around and wish you all the best!

 

[vonfunk]

Pred and steroids in general help to reduce allergic reactions. Like the other above said, it is perfectly safe. In fact it is much safer than daily use.

I personally have had almost no allergy issues since i've been on it

 

[Mountaingem]

Yes, just to echo the others, it's to head off an allergic response to the Humira. I was given Remicade this way when I first started: 50MG Benadryl, 500mg Tylenol 45 minutes prior to infusion; 40 mg pred when I got home from infusion. As vonfunk said, it's much safer this way than daily.

You only need to taper if you've been on a daily dose. Just look at like this, when I was stung by a wasp (which I'm VERY allergic to) in the ER they gave me a shot of 150mg pred, among lots of other stuff. Because it was a one time thing, no need for tapering of pred.

 

[Batman]

Thanks for the replies everyone, that's just what I needed to hear. It's possible that I may take weekly injections in the future but I'm not quite to that point yet.