Saw my doctor today. He's concerned about crohns activity and concerned methotrexate not slowing down symptoms. Wants me to start on Humira or Remicade. Anyone have opinions? Seems like it's the end of the road with medication. His concern is that I've already had one surgery and wants to avoid second as long as possible. Any side effects with these drugs? Does it help symptoms? Thank you
Humira or Remicade?
- Thread starter Darmora
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Help Support Crohn's Disease Forum:
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Not sure if you are aware that Humira you inject yourself and Remicade is injected by a nurse. Biologics are relatively new and am wondering too if the long term side effects are understood yet. Seems like it helps lower the inflammation process from the company's postings and gives many relief while taking it but from reading the disclosure and readers opinions often causes other problems. It would be nice to see an independent study and the effects long term and after getting off of the medicine.
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Remicade is not an injection it is an IV infusion that you do at the hospital IV lab or and IV lab center your GI(Some have IV labs in their offices) has or is associated with(off site IV lab centers). The infusion takes about 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on the speed of the drip and what you tolerate well. After loading doses, standard interval is every 8 weeks but some require every 7 weeks or even 6.
Humira is a self injection shot you give your self every two weeks, I believe.
There are side effects with these medication, I'm not sure about Humira since it hasn't been out as long but we have members on who have been on Remicade 10 or more years you might ask a question about long term remicade use in the treatment forum.
My son did awesome with the loading doses of Remicade, his symptoms went away after the first infusion. It was so great to have my kid back as he had been experiencing severe bouts of fatigue, joint pain, some ab pain. But once we got out to the 8 week schedule some of his symptoms would start to return, we shortened his dose schedule, then upped his dose and finally added methotrexate. This seems to have him feeling really well again and not having symptoms. He even actually has started growing again, the CD had stunted his growth from malabsorption.
There are serious side effects with these meds just like with methotrexate and the other immunosuppressants(6MP/Imuran). It is a difficult decision even though the scary side effects are rare. It is definitely a personal decision each person has to make. We felt at the time with my son's QOL being so affected by CD that Remicade was a good choice for him. Untreated or undertreated CD has a set of risks that scare me just as much!
I would make a list of your concerns and questions about each medication and go over them with your GI, explain to him you are wanted to understand the ins and outs of each one in an effort to make a decision you are comfortable with.
Good luck.
Humira is a self injection shot you give your self every two weeks, I believe.
There are side effects with these medication, I'm not sure about Humira since it hasn't been out as long but we have members on who have been on Remicade 10 or more years you might ask a question about long term remicade use in the treatment forum.
My son did awesome with the loading doses of Remicade, his symptoms went away after the first infusion. It was so great to have my kid back as he had been experiencing severe bouts of fatigue, joint pain, some ab pain. But once we got out to the 8 week schedule some of his symptoms would start to return, we shortened his dose schedule, then upped his dose and finally added methotrexate. This seems to have him feeling really well again and not having symptoms. He even actually has started growing again, the CD had stunted his growth from malabsorption.
There are serious side effects with these meds just like with methotrexate and the other immunosuppressants(6MP/Imuran). It is a difficult decision even though the scary side effects are rare. It is definitely a personal decision each person has to make. We felt at the time with my son's QOL being so affected by CD that Remicade was a good choice for him. Untreated or undertreated CD has a set of risks that scare me just as much!
I would make a list of your concerns and questions about each medication and go over them with your GI, explain to him you are wanted to understand the ins and outs of each one in an effort to make a decision you are comfortable with.
Good luck.
Hi Darmora, sorry for the late reply.
We have sections on the forum for both Humira: here and Remicade: here
Many are faced with this choice (I'm not exactly sure why Cimzia isn't on the table as well but its also a possibility) and back when I had to choose I decided to try Humira first because of the convenience (injection I could do myself at home rather than an infusion at a clinic).
Both are very effective at treating Crohn's (this information and more can be found in the forum wiki under Remicade and Humira):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10220494
http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(12)00159-X/fulltext
Some time has passed already, did you make a decision to start either one? Keep us posted.
We have sections on the forum for both Humira: here and Remicade: here
Many are faced with this choice (I'm not exactly sure why Cimzia isn't on the table as well but its also a possibility) and back when I had to choose I decided to try Humira first because of the convenience (injection I could do myself at home rather than an infusion at a clinic).
Both are very effective at treating Crohn's (this information and more can be found in the forum wiki under Remicade and Humira):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10220494
http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(12)00159-X/fulltext
Some time has passed already, did you make a decision to start either one? Keep us posted.
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