Infection & other illness on Humira

[Grant]

I've been on Humira for 22 months now, so far I've had 4 or 5 infections one I was hospitalized for & now I've got Bronchitis. My GP is convinced its happened because of my immuno suppression. But its doing me proud for my Crohns since my last surgery & I really dont want to give it up, but @ the back of my mind is a little warning light flashing.
Take care everyone
Grant

 

[Jennifer]

Hi Grant, sorry for the late response. I've been sick because of Humira actually so I've been on the forum less often than normal.

I just recently had to stop taking Humira because its been making me sick. I got an upper resp infection after every shot to the point of it never going away before the next shot. My Rheumy told me that for some people Humira tends to cause a lot of upper resp infections and if you're getting sick all the time then its not really doing the job it needs to be doing.

I did really well on the loading doses. Had no joint pain and diarrhea and mucus were gone but once I started the lower doses every other week, I just got sicker and sicker. I was only taking it for about 3 months.

Now I'm being switched to Remicade because I did so well on the loading doses of Humira. I'm told its a lot easier to give higher doses of Remicade and that it doesn't have as high of a risk of getting the upper resp infections like Humira does.

Just sharing what's happening with me. You don't have to switch if you don't want to.

 

[Grant]

Sorry to hear that Crabby, hope the Remicade works for you. I think as long as I can shake them off albeit with the help of AB's then fair enough, but for the long term I'm not sure tbh. I need Humira, I missed my fortnightly dose because of Bronchitis & being on AB's was advised to miss it for a week. Well I could feel my gut getting sore even after the AB's were finished & the diarrhea started again. Since I jabbed its quietened down nicely.
So far apart from the infection that hospitalized me its not been too bad but I am a tad worried that I might get one thats difficult to get rid of.
I can also now tell when one is brewing because my gut starts producing mucus which is passed. Then when the infection is gone everything is normal or @ least as normal as can possibly be. So IMO these infections are going straight to my weak spot.
Tks for replying Crabby, hope your feeling better soon.
Best Wishes
Grant

 

[Jennifer]

For me I'd get strep like symptoms 6-7 times a year before I started Humira. Yet once on the smaller doses these same strep like infections came every week. I had been trying to get my tonsils removed since 2008 but no doctor will do it cause its not bad enough. Well I figured my Rheumy (who prescribed the Humira) would be ok with having my tonsils removed so I could give Humira a chance to actually do its thing (I thought my weak spot was being hit as well). He told me that no matter what, these infections would keep happening and as I saw only got worse over time plus he said putting me on a higher dose would make them worse. He said lots of people just get infections a lot while on Humira.

Every time I'm sick in general with any cold I usually have diarrhea and sometimes see mucus and get tons of joint pain. These are the symptoms I was trying to get rid of with the Humira but it only made me sick. If you can tolerate it a little longer then that's great and I hope you stop getting sick entirely but keep in mind that it is possible for these infections to be more frequent and worse with time as you're already getting the upper resp infections that it can cause people to have.