I am on Cimzia since last November, after pretty much 2 years of D (at a manageable level). I was also on Asacol and whatever else was needed to keep sudden stuff at bay. My dr. decided to put me on Cimzia to prevent a fistula. I had to get a Hepatitis check and a CBC. The CBC's continue to keep check of your white blood cell count (from my understanding) and initially, for the first 3 months I had to go bi-weekly. Then for 3 month on a monthly basis, after that and if the CBC is good one can go every other month.
The Cimzia is send to me by El Rx pharmacy and for the first time a nurse comes and shows you how to use it. She told me that I am on it for a year and that it can work positively in a short amount of time but she has patients in which it can take months to take effect.
I was lucky enough that it pretty much worked right away and I was tapered off the Asacol but still keep the Aza. Two weeks ago I started developing another abcess and had to take antibiotics to fight that off.
As I mentioned in another post I am not usually reading the pamphlets with the side effects and wait until something is off. So far I have not noticed anything. However, I have "only" Crohn's and therefore the Cimzia does not interact negatively with other medications.
It is very expensive and sometimes health insurances might balk. Thankfully, mine was not in that category and I got approved within two weeks.
Edit: while the D was manageable I was in a lot of pain
