Humira increase frequency and antibody

[my little penguin]

So Ds has been having symptoms on day 8 after his shot every 10 days
Rheumo and gi
agree it's time to increase the frequency to every 7 days
Also running antibody test for humira ( never had this before )

For now that they agree
Have to wait for insurance to approve
I don't wait well and
7 days isn't a long time to get it approved
:ugh:
:shifty-t:

So now I wait and Ds waits to see if it's approved
Before he flares again

 

[Clash]

Ughhh I hate the hurry up and wait feeling with med approval! I hope approval comes quickly so you can move to the new schedule! Hugs!

 

[Maya142]

Sending hugs :ghug: -- hope it gets approved quickly!

 

[Tesscorm]

Me too ^^^ I hope it doesn't take long! The waiting is the worst! Lots of hugs... :ghug:

 

[pdx]

Sorry to hear that your son is having symptoms. I hope that the increased frequency works well for him, and that the approval comes through fast.

 

[araceli]

I hope it does not take long.

 

[Jmrogers4]

What? We are all just the picture of patience, just quietly waiting.
Just kidding
Approve! and Approve now I say!
Hope it's quick

 

[my little penguin]

Insurance approved
:dance:

 

[Pilgrim]

Insurance approved
:dance:

Hooray!!!

 

[Maya142]

Woohoo :dance::dance:!!

 

[Farmwife]

Happy to hear!

 

[pdx]

Great news!

 

[crohnsinct]

This calls for some dancing Dusty poo!

 

[my little penguin]

Also checking humira levels....
Not sure how timing will affect that one since Ds is on every 7 days now and we didn't get the blood test prior to switching over
:duh:

 

[Mehita]

No matter what the levels are, you'd still change due to symptoms, right?

 

[my little penguin]

Already changed - docs didn't want him cycling through the flare again
He was losing weight every other week among other things
The levels might answer why we keep having to increasing his therapy .

 

[pdx]

While I guess it would have been more informative to take levels at 10 days out, I think it will still be helpful to have them after a week. If the levels are on the low side after just a week, then you'll know that they were even lower after 10 days. And the antibody info will be useful too.

 

[Maya142]

I agree with pdx - even if the levels are fine after 7 days, doesn't mean they weren't too low at 10. Plus the antibody test should still be useful.

 

[my little penguin]

I think it's like the remicade test
It's a combo thing you don't get one without the other
No way on switching back
But might give good info for antibodies
Maybe

 

[Maya142]

We were told it was like the Remicade test - we wanted to do antibodies BEFORE putting M back on Humira last time (for the second time). But we couldn't do just the antibodies test -- always comes with the levels test. We ended up not doing it, just waiting to see if it worked for her (and it did).

 

[kimmidwife]

Hope this helps him quickly! Glad the insurance approved it fast!

 

[Sascot]

Hope the change really helps

 

[CarolinAlaska]

Hope the change brings lasting remission.

 

[Clash]

Did any of you guys catch the post below? One of the posters stated their consultant claims newer studies show you can only create antibodies while on humira but if you don't have them you can go off humira then use again later. Does this seem right?

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=74529

 

[Clash]

At first read, I read it like co committant use and responded but I responded thinking of Remicade and knowing C developed antibodies from stopping for a period of time with surgery. Maybe it's different for humira?

 

[my little penguin]

No different for humira
The biology is the same
Your body can build antibodies to anything
And any drug
Especially biologics ( any of them )

 

[Maya142]

Yes, but not everyone builds antibodies. M has been on Humira twice (with a gap of more than a year between the two times) and it worked both times. She's been on remicade 3 times, and it worked well two of those times (so maybe she did build anitbodies to it? No reaction though). My older daughter has also been on Humira twice, and is doing great on it.'
Both girls have had many remicade level tests and have never had antibodies.

I think there's a lot about antibodies that isn't known. Our GI said it was worth trying Humira again for M because some people have antibodies and do great on the drug anyway and others don't have antibodies and it doesn't work.

 

[Clash]

That was my assumption too but I was only basing it being true on the fact that it was true for remicade.

The poster on the thread said that it could change the standards for pxing humira in the UK which I think would be a shame!

We've had members on the forum who developed antibodies while on humira so it's hard to believe there are studies saying the opposite.

 

[Maya142]

Our rheumatologist thinks you can only test for antibodies when off the drug. She says the tests otherwise confuse the Humira with the Humira antibodies because chemically, they're similar (or something like that...I'm a bit fuzzy on the details). So then, the test isn't accurate since it mistakes Humira antibodies for Humira.

Our GI, on the other hand, only uses the Humira antibody test while the patient is on Humira. I'm assuming she's right because I've always heard of it that way, but S's rheumatologist is very well known in the rheumatology world and very well respected. Does a LOT of research, constantly traveling to all the big conferences. So I kind of wonder about it. I'll ask again when we see her next. It may just be that GI and rheumatology do things about differently.