decision between Remicade and Humira
for patients and doctors out there
What do you guys think?
For general care of our Crohns, which do you guys think is better to go with?
Humira? or Remicade?
I was on Remicade once about 3 years ago, but they took me off of it
after 12 months, because the GI doctor said, he heard there was a risk of getting Cancer for patients who are on imuran with Remicade over 12 months.
I don't know if thats true or not, but thats what that particular GI told me. I'm not here to judge one way or the other, just stating the fact here...
As I recall, I was on 5cc's of Remicade every 6 weeks, for 12 months, this was around 3 maybe 4 years ago, I can't remember for sure.
The first question I wondered about, they say your body forms antibodies against the Remicade drug after so long, if thats the case, would Remicade not be effective for me now?
Also, I'm unemployed, on (SSD) so my insurance is Medicare. They say I don't qualify for Medicaid, because I'm getting Medicare, which I don't think is right but thats what they keep telling me. I have to pay my medicare premiums out of my own pocket, just over $100 a month, because according to Medicaid, I get too much on SSD for them to cover my Medicare premiums. I still say $904.50 is hardly too much, especially since after those expenses, my net income is only $768.50, and since my apartment rental is $529 monthly alone, that doesn't leave me much to live on at all. Really sucks but what can you do, ya know? I'm totally blind, so its not like I can goto the local grocery store and stock shelves. lol I gotta find a job a blind person can do, which takes time. I'm not giving up, but my point being, I can't just get a job at a local fast food or walmart, I gotta find a job a blind person can do, which isn't always easy in this economy.
The reason I bring all that up, taking all that into account, wouldn't Remicade be an expensive choice? I mean, with those shots being $10 grand a piece, even if Medicare did cover 80% of it, 20% of 12-13 grand is still a big chunck of change every month, especially for someone who is unemployed, am I right?
So....taking that into account, wouldn't you think Humira might be a better choice? but then that raises another question, how much cheaper is Humira vs Remicade? I do have Medicare part D coverage thru AdvantraRX, and since its November now, I do have the option of switching to someone who does cover Humira, if AdvanceRX doesn't, so its something to consider, don't you guys think?
I know I should talk about these things with my GI doctor, but so far, he's not being very helpful in this particular situation. He just ays "well its up to you". Why is it up to me? Am I not the patient who is supposed to do what my doctor tells me? As patients, we can't make a sound decision about something like that without all the facts, so I guess I'm here to ask and to do research for myself with the help of my peers, otherwise I don't know whats best to do?
I think the GI's are wanting me to have an illeostomy, although they don't say it directly, while the surgeons keep saying "no he's not ready for an illeostomy yet. Yeah eventually, but not right now". Right now the surgery they have done has fixed the fistula problems, so they keep telling me I don't need an illeostomy, which I agree completely with, I think an illeostomy is way overkill, and will be causing me more grief more problems messing around with those stupid bags sooner then I have to, I agree with my surgeon on that, so now they want me to go all the way to Indianapolis for better care, when the doctors there are saying the same thing my surgeon keeps saying, that "well I can give you an illeostomy or Remicade or Humira, its up to you". Thats it, so here I am, a blind patient, who can't drive 3 hours down to Indy to have Remicade shots in the first place, I'm single and I live alone, and I just don't have transportaion like that at my disposal, so I guess I don't understand why the GI can't just make that determination for me? Remicade or Humira?
I understand you guys can't make my decisions for me either, but what are the facts before I jump with both feet into this? Have I probably formed antibodies against Remicade? is Humira really cheaper? what do you guys think?
for patients and doctors out there
What do you guys think?
For general care of our Crohns, which do you guys think is better to go with?
Humira? or Remicade?
I was on Remicade once about 3 years ago, but they took me off of it
after 12 months, because the GI doctor said, he heard there was a risk of getting Cancer for patients who are on imuran with Remicade over 12 months.
I don't know if thats true or not, but thats what that particular GI told me. I'm not here to judge one way or the other, just stating the fact here...
As I recall, I was on 5cc's of Remicade every 6 weeks, for 12 months, this was around 3 maybe 4 years ago, I can't remember for sure.
The first question I wondered about, they say your body forms antibodies against the Remicade drug after so long, if thats the case, would Remicade not be effective for me now?
Also, I'm unemployed, on (SSD) so my insurance is Medicare. They say I don't qualify for Medicaid, because I'm getting Medicare, which I don't think is right but thats what they keep telling me. I have to pay my medicare premiums out of my own pocket, just over $100 a month, because according to Medicaid, I get too much on SSD for them to cover my Medicare premiums. I still say $904.50 is hardly too much, especially since after those expenses, my net income is only $768.50, and since my apartment rental is $529 monthly alone, that doesn't leave me much to live on at all. Really sucks but what can you do, ya know? I'm totally blind, so its not like I can goto the local grocery store and stock shelves. lol I gotta find a job a blind person can do, which takes time. I'm not giving up, but my point being, I can't just get a job at a local fast food or walmart, I gotta find a job a blind person can do, which isn't always easy in this economy.
The reason I bring all that up, taking all that into account, wouldn't Remicade be an expensive choice? I mean, with those shots being $10 grand a piece, even if Medicare did cover 80% of it, 20% of 12-13 grand is still a big chunck of change every month, especially for someone who is unemployed, am I right?
So....taking that into account, wouldn't you think Humira might be a better choice? but then that raises another question, how much cheaper is Humira vs Remicade? I do have Medicare part D coverage thru AdvantraRX, and since its November now, I do have the option of switching to someone who does cover Humira, if AdvanceRX doesn't, so its something to consider, don't you guys think?
I know I should talk about these things with my GI doctor, but so far, he's not being very helpful in this particular situation. He just ays "well its up to you". Why is it up to me? Am I not the patient who is supposed to do what my doctor tells me? As patients, we can't make a sound decision about something like that without all the facts, so I guess I'm here to ask and to do research for myself with the help of my peers, otherwise I don't know whats best to do?
I think the GI's are wanting me to have an illeostomy, although they don't say it directly, while the surgeons keep saying "no he's not ready for an illeostomy yet. Yeah eventually, but not right now". Right now the surgery they have done has fixed the fistula problems, so they keep telling me I don't need an illeostomy, which I agree completely with, I think an illeostomy is way overkill, and will be causing me more grief more problems messing around with those stupid bags sooner then I have to, I agree with my surgeon on that, so now they want me to go all the way to Indianapolis for better care, when the doctors there are saying the same thing my surgeon keeps saying, that "well I can give you an illeostomy or Remicade or Humira, its up to you". Thats it, so here I am, a blind patient, who can't drive 3 hours down to Indy to have Remicade shots in the first place, I'm single and I live alone, and I just don't have transportaion like that at my disposal, so I guess I don't understand why the GI can't just make that determination for me? Remicade or Humira?
I understand you guys can't make my decisions for me either, but what are the facts before I jump with both feet into this? Have I probably formed antibodies against Remicade? is Humira really cheaper? what do you guys think?