Looking for information on benifits of stelara for crohns related arthritis and fistulas.

[taracuffe]

Hi all,
This is my first time here. Just wondering if anyone knows if stelara is helpful for Crohns related arthritis and fistulas.... i have both. On humira at the moment 40mg every week and its not working like it did at the beginning.
Any feedback would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Tara.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Stelara is currently FDA approved (not sure in your country) for psoriasis but likely in the next few years to be approved for Crohn's. whether it would help with arthritis and fistulas I'm not sure but since you said they are Crohn's related the answer is probably yes. Stelara is an anti-TNF and your arthritis and fistulas are a result of inappropriate inflammation in the body.

More info:
http://www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/Stelara-Ustekinumab

 

[Scipio]

One correction to the above: Stelara does indeed have anti-inflammatory properties, but it is not an anti-TNF. It reacts with the P40 subunit of IL12 and IL23.

 

[Memmy29]

Following - my response to Entyvio was great for Crohn's but the remaining arthritis is unbearable, even on steroids. Hoping Stelara does the trick! Any and all info would be great!

 

[Maya142]

Wanted to add: Stelara is approved for psoriatic arthritis and is in trials for AS (phase III). So hopefully it should work for any type of IBD-related arthritis. I have heard from rheumatologists that it takes longer than anti-TNFs to work - 6 months or so.

 

[Memmy29]

Wanted to add: Stelara is approved for psoriatic arthritis and is in trials for AS (phase III). So hopefully it should work for any type of IBD-related arthritis. I have heard from rheumatologists that it takes longer than anti-TNFs to work - 6 months or so.

Interesting. Thanks for the info. I'm being prescribed it by my GI in hopes that it'll help my joints. I didn't think to ask how long it will take to work.

 

[Maya142]

The dosing for Crohn's is much higher than for psoriatic arthritis (90 mg every 8 weeks vs. 45 mg every 12 weeks) so hopefully it will work faster for you. Plus with Crohn's you get an IV loading dose - that should help too.