Half life of Humira?

[JamieG]

I read somewhere that Humira has a half life of 12-15 days. At the moment I am injecting every 2 weeks (just done my 3rd injection, started with 160mg, then 80 then 40). I noticed symptoms getting a bit worse on days 12 & 13 after an injection, and then it was still bad in the 24 hours after I injected. Had a better day today (2 days after injection). Do other people notice symptoms get slightly worse in the last couple of days before an injection? And is it normal to only notice an improvement 24 hours after? I just increased from 5mg back up to 10mg of Prednisone so it might be that making my symptoms slightly better an not the humira... I hate all this guess work.

 

[Trysha]

Hi Jamie
Sorry I am unable to answer your question, just wanted to say hello and
mention there is a subforum on Humira which you might like to visit.
Other members discuss their treatments there and you night find it helpful to read.
I am not on humira but on the pathway to Remicade.
Feel better soon
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I had allergic reaction to humira. It has a long half life. It could take between 1-3 months to fully leave the system. I wouldn't worry that it's losing it's effectiveness. Just be sure to stay on schedule.

 

[Thermo]

There is half life for medications but as you take medications over long periods of time they also build up in your system. So that is the effective half life of Humira the part that is working and doing something but as Noguts says it will stay longer. With that said I notice the same things you notice, the last couple of days its common to be ready for the next dose. I personally feel it in my joints more so than my stomach and I get an unwell feeling of just being run down. Make sure you get lots of sleep and take extra care of yourself during these days. It is also common for it to take a few days to start working, it has the opposite effect on me I feel it start working immediately and I get a euphoric feeling of those little Humira nanobots as I like to call them going to work. Watch for side effects but let the medication work it does have crazy side effects but for the most part so does everything now a days, just let it work and don't analysis it too much. Hopefully it continues to work for you!

 

[Mark in Seattle]

The short half life relative to remicade is one of the main reasons I chose Humira over Remicade; I didn't want to suffer too long if I had an allergic reaction. I have adverse reactions to so many meds it's not even funny.

noguts, what sort of experience did you have in terms of allergic reaction? Was it immediate? My nurse said she's never seen an allergic reaction with all of the injections she's done for patients. So maybe you're just a rare unlucky one. Maybe you could have better luck with Cimzia. If I'm not mistaken, I think that requires a shot weekly, which might mean it has a shorter half-life than Humira.

 

[ThanksP]

Cimzia is once a month and it takes 72 days to fully leave the system. When I was on Cimzia, I noticed the same thing. A few days before my next injection, I'd start to feel Crohn's coming back. I also feel it with Remicade.

 

[Mark in Seattle]

Thanks for clarifying the Cimzia regimen, I was apparently mistaken. I wonder if the medical establishment is aware of the wearing-off effect of these meds as the re-dose day draws near. Maybe the regimen needs to be made a little more aggressive. Or, since folks on Humira get the same amount of med regardless of how much they weigh, is it the heavier folks who feel the med wear off? I think remicade is dosed by weight, is it not? Not sure about cimzia. But Humira is not. I know I read a research study where the talked about this, and I think posited that lighter-weight folks might have better response to Humira.