Is my Gi Jumping the gun by starting me on Humira?

[Mary]

I just wanna make sure this is the right decision? Im so confused and depressed by it. I dont want to have this disease and take a shot for it that can cause all sort of side effects.

 

[MADiMarc]

Mary,
I understand your fears. I did take humira but it did not work for me. If it had, I would still be doing it. So many of my friends have had positive results and no side effects. Are there side effects? Of course there are. The incidence rate is rather low though. For every person you talk to about this, you will have that many opinions. If you are feeling so bad honestly, what do you have to loose at this point?
Give yourself a chance for a real life again. You deserve it.
Michele

 

[ChefShazzy]

You've mentioned in previous posts that you have a fistula. I think your doctor is prescribing you the right medication. The only side effect that has been bothersome to me so far is a reaction at the injection site, but that is now under control. Of course everyone is different, but you'll never know if it will make you feel better until you try it.

 

[Lydia]

I was afraid of remicade, for the same reasons, but it was the best decision I have ever made. It has made all the difference. It closed my fistulas up in 4 days! Humira works much in the same way.

 

[flavrphil]

When I think back when I was diagnosed a long time ago I wish my doctors would have prescribed the "heavy hitter" drugs earlier instead of going the conservative route, but that's just me.

Remicade (very similar to Humira) really did wonders on closing up my fistula as well.

If you have severe Crohn's or Colitis I think going straight to the big guns is the way to go.

 

[Welsh-bird]

Hi Mary,
I haven't been around for a while, but have just seen and caught up with some of your recent posts. I hope you soon start to feel better.
I've never taken any of the biologics, so can't comment on them. But I would say, that if you have a good GI and trust them, then go with what they recommend. I trust mine 100%, and although I hate the drugs that I'm taking and would rather not be on them, I know that my medical team are batting on my side and trying to help me.
Good luck with the Humira. Hoping it works for you.

 

[Mary]

Thanks everyone!! Makes me smile to read the replies.

 

[saidinstouch]

If you have a fistula, it doesn't matter how severe your other symptoms are, you have SEVERE crohns disease...classified as fistulizing crohns disease. I don't know much about your story, but if your crohns can form a fistula, it is not something the lighter drugs (i.e. pentasa and flagyl) can take care of. You need something like humira to control the disease and you want to stay ahead of the inflammation. I started with mild crohns where my only symptom was a fissure that wouldn't heal and slow bowel movements. Within a couple years I had a fistula develop and could barely stay ahead of the inflammation until I ended up on multiple rounds of prednisone (worse than humira in my book) and ultimately a resection. I hope this helps make the choice easier, because you do have a severe form of the disease with one of the more painful and hard to treat symptoms.

 

[dreamintwilight]

I agree with what everyone saying about needing the stronger drugs especially if you have fistulas. There aren't any other drugs that are supposed to help with that. So, no, I don't believe it's jumping the gun at all. Your doc is doing a good job of being proactive about it as soon as they found out you have one.

If it's any help to know...I just got my CT scan results back today and I've bene taking Humira for almost exactly a year and there are NO more signs of fistulas! And my doc considers my case of Crohn's to be MILD. It was moderate-severe when I was diagnosed.

I was TERRIFIED of Humira when I started it and it has pretty much improved my life ten-fold since taking it. I had forgotten what it felt like to LIVE without pain.

You can do it Mary!

 

[DougUte]

Mary, My G.I. gave me another prescription for Humira today. He prescribed it initially 3 months ago, but my insurance would not approve. Said I had not tried anything else. I was put on sulfasalazine for 2 months - which failed. I have also been on Flagyl and Cipro for 2+ months, so we are now hoping the insurance company will approve Humira.

This seems fast, but I had a bad enough case of Crohn's to require surgery last October. Fistulas and whole bit. I can't wait to get on one of the heavy hitter meds. Maybe I can get my life back. Living without the gut pain would be really nice. I trust my G.I.. If you trust your G.I. then I think you should make the move. Just my opinion.


Doug