Humira for my daughter what are your thoughts

[farfalle5]

My daughters dr wants to put her on Humira, what are your thoughts or experience with it

 

[Maya142]

My daughter was on Humira for about two years. It took a while to work for her and didn't really kick in until we added methotrexate (but it's not that way for everyone, don't worry!), but once it did, it was wonderful! She was like a normal kid again. She didn't get more infections with usual and we didn't really have problems with side effects. The shot is quite painful though and difficult to get used to. We always iced before it, but it still hurt quite a lot. She's older though, so she was willing to put up with the pain to have a pain-free week.
Good luck!

 

[my little penguin]

DS has been on it since April .
As above it took a while to work
But so far so good

It is a painful injection
Ask about numbing spray
And see if your doc will let you add lidocaine to the humira .
It helps a lot.

 

[farfalle5]

Thank you for your responses. I am sorry to hear that the shots are painful. My daughter HATES getting blood work done so I cant imagine this!

 

[yellowamc]

i am on cimzia which is very similar, i to had to add Methotrexate. with the two of them it seems to work pretty good . i kind of struggle to keep up with it, the self injection thing kinda creeps me out a lil. i hope it works for ur daughter and she feels better .

 

[Jenn]

Humira has been successful for my son. The epipen loading doses were a shock at first, we now use the syringe for slower dosing, let it warm up 20 min. while he ices up.

 

[polly13]

Lucy had been on humira and methotrexate since July this year. For her this was last drug before inevitable surgery, tbh I don't even think the GI thought it would work, but it did and now she is better than she's been her whole life - (she was diagnosed at two - she's now five!). The injection is painful but Lucy doesn't even flinch when she gets it now - although the first few were traumatic . All in all a very positive experience for us

 

[Brian'sMom]

For quite a long time Humira brought relief for my son. The shots are painful, but he would ice for a long time and used EMLA cream to numb the skin. Its so quick, so the pain is quick and over. Its nice to do it at home. We liked the pens. We use Cimzia now (2 syringes) the Pens were quick!

 

[farfalle5]

Thank you for the responses!!!

 

[Jenn]

Want to add that the top-down approach (using biologics, before trying immunsuppressants or steroids) is now considered the right plan, especially for children nearing puberty

 

[my little penguin]

Also using humira/remicade within two years of dx increases the chance of full mucosal healing.
Even when used later this does not seem to be the case for most.