Humira brought me tuberculosis

[laura2015]

I wanted to post this as I got recently diagnosed with tuberculosis. I've been diagnosed with Colitis and when pentasa and cortison didn't work I started with Humira. Few months later I got pregnant and continued with Humira till week 23. Mainly because I started having a cough which didn't Go away and everybody thought it's because of the pregnancy. My Ibd Specialist wanted me to continue. Few weeks after labour I got diagnosed First with Sarcoidosis and then after with tuberculosis. My Baby tested with the skin test also positive. We're both taking Tbc antibiotics. It's actually a quite frightening and sad story as I Never have thought that Humira which helps quite well can do so much harm. The wirst thing is that i Infected also my Baby. I'm done with biologics and will never use them again.

Is there somebody with a similar experience? Have you recovered fully? How is it going with your Ibd?

 

[Charlotte.]

I'm sorry you and your baby have to go through all this.
Have you been tested for "silent" Tbc before you started Humira? There is a skin test and a blood test available.
Hope you both get better soon. Best wishes!

 

[laura2015]

Thank you! Yes we had the blood Test and x-ray before the start and both of it was negative..so I must have caught it under Humira.

 

[Charlotte.]

Oh, I'm so sorry.
Everyone hopes not to be one of the persons experiencing more serious side effects but sometimes even the rare side effects do occur, unfortunately.
What is your current medication for Crohn's?

 

[laura2015]

Thats what I also thought. Apparently its a rare sideeffect but I caught it. I think that even the rare sideeffects can occur and should be taken serious before starting such a medication. Now I regret having started with it in the First place but can't change it anymore. At the moment I'm not taking anything however testing regularly for changes. If something changes then I'll start probably Budenosid or Pentasa as it's working only local.

 

[Charlotte.]

If your GI offers Budesonide to you, I would recommend trying it, it kicks in really fast (after a few days) with less side effects than prednisone so that's probably worth a try when your TI is inflamed. I heard mesalazine is more effective for colitis than for Crohn's but if only your colon is inflamed that should be worth a try as well.
Do you know which part of your intestines are inflamed?

 

[laura2015]

Yes i will definately!
My colitis is right sided however in the first screening it was the whole upper colon but in the second screening right sided. Its not a typical colitis and therefore called colitis indeterminata as the rectum and ileum is fine and only the top colon part is causing the trouble and is chronic.