Cimzia and 6MP

[JLW]

Hey everyone -

I am a 26 year female with Crohn's for about 3 years and have been on Cimzia and doing well for the past 2 years and just had a major flareup and ended up in the hospital for a week. I am tapering off prednisone right now and starting back on my Cimzia and the doctor is putting me on 50mg of 6MP. Is there anyone out there taking Cimzia and 6MP together. I am pretty nervous about what I have read so far and would love some insight from anyone actually taking the two drugs together.

Thanks so much!

 

[ThanksP]

I was on that combo recently. I didn't notice any difference in getting colds, etc for the most part. I was taking 100mg 6MP and found out 4 months into it that my white blood cell count was wayyyyy too low. I also started getting random fevers. About that same time, my hair started falling out in HUGE amounts so no more 6MP for me. I've heard good things about the combo as far as it helping the efficacy of the Cimzia. But I think by the time I started the 6MP, the Cimzia was completely useless. Has your doc tried doubling your dosage of Cimzia? I did two shots every two weeks for three months to help boost it in my system. After that didn't work, that's when I started the 6MP. The most important thing I learned was to make sure that biweekly labs are done for the first few months.

Now I'm going backwards and am going to try Remicade.

 

[JLW]

The 6MP made your hair fall out?
I have not tried doubling the Cimzia dosage.. do you think its better to do that than start the 6MP? Everything I read about the drug scares me.
How long have you had the disease? Do you stay in remission with the meds for the most part? I hope the remicade works for you.

Thanks for the reply... I am freaking out.

 

[ThanksP]

Yes, it made my hair start falling out...a lot. But that is a listed side effect of the drug so I knew what to expect. I was not afraid to take 6MP because NOT taking anything for my Crohn's was a much worse prospect. I know there are a lot of people who have had great success taking 6MP and have been on it for years. I also tried not to dwell on the possible side effects because you have to figure they list those effects even if it happens to smallest amount of people. Basically the drug companies have to cover their own butts by listing the effects. Plus, I figured if I hadn't grown a purple horn out of my head from the Cimzia, that I'd be ok with the 6MP.

It might be worth it to ask your doctor about doubling the dosage for a couple months to get you back on track. My GI told me that you can take up to 800mg a month, there have been no studies for anything higher than that. It might be worth a shot (hahaha, nice pun).

I've had Crohn's for 5 1/2 years. For quite a while I was good just by taking Asacol. Then I got cocky and thought I didn't need meds. Went off the Asacol and was GREAT for 2 years. Then it all came back BIG TIME! Since then I have tried almsot everything. I did have a great run with Cimzia. The problem is that once you fail the biologics, there isn't much left to try. So the 6MP is worth trying as well. Talk to your doc and see what he/she has to say. And try not to freak out about the side effects. Crohn's in full flare is way worse than 6MP! Best of luck to you!

 

[Ian]

Now I'm going backwards and am going to try Remicade.

Do you mean you're trying Remicade after the other biologics (even though it's typically the first one prescribed), or do you mean you're going BACK on it, having used it in the past? I only ask because I have taken it but it was never established that I exhausted it before switching to Humira - it was more of a convenience thing because I was studying away from home so self-adminstered injections was more practical. I often wonder about the possibility of trying it again if/when Humira fails, and the liklihood of it working (which I hear isn't great, unfortunately).

Either way, good luck. Really hope it works for you .

 

[Kit]

I am on Cimzia and my Dr has thought about putting me on methotrexate with it. He has not mentioned about 6MP, but I did have a bad reaction to Imuran so he may not want to try it.

 

[mjmassi]

I did well on 6MP for 15 years but then had a relapse and switched to Cimzia. I am having mixed results with the Cimzia, so now I am going to try both together. A few things:

My normal dosage with 6MP was 50mg/day. Towards the end of the 15 year run I was taking 75mg. I tried 100mg at one point but that pushed my white cell count too low. Other than that I had no side effects from 6MP.

Cimzia is normally taken as 400 mg (2 syringes) once every 4 weeks. However I found that it wore off after 3 weeks, and I would have a flare up in the fourth week. I switched to taking 200 mg (1 syringe) every 2 weeks. That is working better. Still, it is not quite enough to control the Crohns as well as I'd like. I am having issues with diarrhea and fatigue. Hopefully the Cimzia + 6MP combo will be an improvement.

I totally concur about being aggressive about medications, trying different drugs or multiple drugs to control the Crohn's as best as you can. Uncontrolled Crohns is a disaster.

Prednisone is horrible by the way. It doesn't control the disease, it only masks the symptoms, and it doesn't do that very well.

 

[KickingRocks]

I was on that combo recently. I didn't notice any difference in getting colds, etc for the most part. I was taking 100mg 6MP and found out 4 months into it that my white blood cell count was wayyyyy too low. I also started getting random fevers. About that same time, my hair started falling out in HUGE amounts so no more 6MP for me. I've heard good things about the combo as far as it helping the efficacy of the Cimzia. But I think by the time I started the 6MP, the Cimzia was completely useless. Has your doc tried doubling your dosage of Cimzia? I did two shots every two weeks for three months to help boost it in my system. After that didn't work, that's when I started the 6MP. The most important thing I learned was to make sure that biweekly labs are done for the first few months.

Now I'm going backwards and am going to try Remicade.

I just got off Humira because it stopped working and lost a lot of hair. It's like comb over type of loss. I just started the 6mp and will be starting Cimzia shortly. After you stopped the 6mp did your hair grow back? I will take the hair loss over the pain and obstructions any day, but it's a little defeating looking in the mirror and cleaning the bathtub drain.

 

[mjmassi]

I am on 6MP 75 mg daily and Cimzia 200 mg biweekly, and now in complete remission with no side effects. The 6MP seems to be the more effective drug of the two.

 

[KickingRocks]

I am on 6MP 75 mg daily and Cimzia 200 mg biweekly, and now in complete remission with no side effects. The 6MP seems to be the more effective drug of the two.

That's awesome. I hope I have the same luck. I'm almost at the end of my Prednisone taper. So I'm pretty excited to start the Cimzia. The listed side effects are pretty freaky for the 6mp and Cimzia, but I think worth the payoff if they can control the Crohn's.