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Going back to Humira

Does anyone have experience with going off Humira for a few years and going back on? Curious if anyone had any issues with building antibodies to it. I am currently on Cimzia and have had no results. I was on Humira a few years ago and went off after I experienced remission. Thanks all :)
 

Scipio

Well-known member
Location
San Diego
I don't have personal experience, but some research publications indicate that the stop/restart approach has an increased risk of antibody formation. Hopefully in your case this did not happen or did not happen severely enough to neutralize the Humira medicine.
 

Maya142

Moderator
Staff member
My daughters were luckier.

My younger daughter stopped Humira for about a year and a half. Then went back to it. It did work well, but not for long. Within about 4-5 months, she had a big flare, Humira stopped working and she was soon put on something else.

My second daughter had a more successful run. She was on it for about five years the second time. It worked really well for her. She did need it weekly and with Methotrexate but it really was a miracle drug for her for those 5 years.

Generally, it is a bad idea to stop biologics because you are in remission. Studies show that the disease is very likely to come back and biologics tend not to work as well the second or third time you try them. Since there are so few biologics for IBD, it is best to stay on a biologic till it stops working and then switch.
 
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