Does your cimzia wear off?

[stewraz08]

I was diagnosed with Crohn's after a colonoscopy in 2014. I had paid off and on for five years but doctor's chalked it up to a variety of issues that were not correct. I went on Budesonide initially and then the doc couldn't get me off of it. So the doc put me on 6MP and unfortunately, I had a drug reaction to the 6MP after two weeks and ended up in the hospital for five days with pancreatitis. No, I don't drink

I was then put on Cimzia to get off of Buedesonide. It worked great through the loading doses but the last two months, it seems to wear off after about two weeks. I am also getting wierd red, under-the-skin, blood spots about the same time frame. My doc is working with a specialist at UCSF to see if they should split the dosage into two shots (versus one) per month.

Has anyone else had this problem with Cimzia wearing off? Thanks.

 

[4peace]

Yes, I believe the efficacy is lost after awhile. When I first started Cimzia 2 years ago I was doing 2 shots every month. Then GI moved it to every three weeks and now I do them every 2 weeks plus Azathioprine. I noticed you're in Oakland. My GI just moved to Stanford and he is AMAZING. I will be driving 3 1/2 hours each time I need to see him. He is worth the trip. His name is Dr. David Limsui, just in case you ever need a different GI

 

[northwesterner]

I found from the start that two shots once a month would not get me through the full month.

Moving to one shot twice a month has been much better.

Should be a non-issue to change the dosage interval.

 

[SCCrohnie]

Mine wears off about three days before my next shot is due and it takes about five days for the new shot begins working, so I have about a week every month where I have to watch what I eat a lot more closely.

 

[Tabs]

I experienced the same thing. The last 5 days would be rough and then it would take another 5-7 days to kick in, so I had almost a two week window where dealt with untreated flare symptoms.

I was discussing splitting the does with my doctors and none where opposed. In fact one of the nurses at the Mayo Clinic was telling she has had a lot of success with the 200mg every 14 days dosage.

I was going to start splitting my dose, bust Cimzia hasn't really helped me so I am switching to Remicade. I wish I had personal data to share on the subject.

Good luck!

 

[SCCrohnie]

I just started splitting mine into 200mg every two weeks. Hasn't been long enough to know if there's any improvement yet but hopefully so!

 

[Tabs]

Mine would wear off about a week before the next dose. It sounds like it is becoming more common to split the dose and take it biweekly instead of monthly.

 

[northwesterner]

I just started splitting mine into 200mg every two weeks. Hasn't been long enough to know if there's any improvement yet but hopefully so!

Let us know how it goes.

 

[SCCrohnie]

Splitting it up has been better for me. I feel more even from week-to-week in terms of inflammation and overall health. It was the right move for me.

 

[northwesterner]

Splitting it up has been better for me. I feel more even from week-to-week in terms of inflammation and overall health. It was the right move for me.

Great news!

 

[aparrish]

Yes, I had the problem of mine wearing off. My gastroenterologist is involved with conducted clinical trials for this and other meds. He suggested going to one 200mg shot every two weeks (instead of two shots once a month) and called this dosage optimization. We did this because I was having issues for 10-12 days before my monthly dose was due. However, he has explained that a key when switching doses was to redo the loading phase before going to the 2-week thing. He said this way we could make sure the Cimzia was at the proper levels in my system. I did this over 6 months ago and have now been doing a 200 mg shot every two weeks since that. It has been great - my symptoms have really improved and it has kept me off of methotrexate. I would highly suggest discussing dose optimization with your doctor. I found that my previous GI doctor was not aware of enough options, so I switched to a Research I hospital that is up on the very recent research - they are much more informed. Good luck!

 

[ronroush7]

Cimzia was great for me for a while but then wore off. I had pancreatitis but it was from TPN.