Made it thru 1st illness since starting Humira

[Brian'sMom]

Well, I wanted to wait to post until I had the whole story. As you all know, Brian started Humira in Jan 2011. He hasn't had any illness this whole past year. Not even a cold. I always would say that 'knock on wood' thing after that statement. Well, I'm here to report that he had a fever all day mon 2/6...and then all day tues. I took him in late tues and he tested positive for strep throat. (My worst fear because of the antibiotic part). We started antibioic that evening and by wed he was feeling much better, no fever and energy back. Kept him home thurs just in case...but his body fought this like anybody else. Back to school Friday. I was so relieved..no diarrhea..no cramps...no flare. He got his shot as scheduled on Friday 2/10. Still fine today...just got home from him playing 2 basketball games.

So Humira didn't interfere with his immune system in fighting this off.

 

[imaboveitall]

A thought, if you ever need to treat strep again -hoping you won't need this tip- is to have them give a penicillin injection rather than the oral med. It bypasses the gut (obviously) and works FAST. V has had strep twice in her life, at age 4 and age 13, and within hours of having the shot she was almost symptom free. No need to f/u with oral meds, just the one shot does it.

Thanks for posting this, as I am worried about V catching stuff now that she's on Humira. She never gets communicable illnesses usually, and it's great to hear your boy hasn't had an increase of them while on it.

 

[DustyKat]

Woohoo, fab news Kathy! anda:anda:anda:

Thanks so much for posting, so happy that Brian flew over the first hurdle! Go Brian!

Onwards and Upwards. :thumleft:
Dusty. xxx

 

[Dexky]

That's awesome Kathy!

 

[Crohn's Mom]

Great to hear ! Thanks for sharing ! :soledance:

 

[Brian'sMom]

Ok, Now we've gotten thru pink eye!! Tis the time of year However, we made it thru that without problems also. Just like a normal kid on no medication. So far, Humira hasn't caused us any problems in this area at all.

 

[imaboveitall]

Sweet. Thanks for this, it helps those of us new to these drugs to worry less. :thumright:

I'll add that I had an awful respiratory thing these past three weeks that turned into a sinus infection and has been hanging on and hanging on, but VIOLET had just a mild version that was like three days of snotty nose/chest and GONE without any treatment, despite being on Humira so that was cool to see. :soledance:

 

[DustyKat]

Thanks for the update Kathy! It is so wonderful to hear that all continues to go well and Brian is powering along! anda:anda:anda:

Fab news too that V is going well on the Humira! :banana::banana::banana:

:mademyday:
Dusty. xxx

 

[Brian'sMom]

It comforts me to hear about Violet too! Just shows that Humira is targeting one thing...binding the extra TNF and not 'lowering' the whole immune system's ability to fight infections. One good thing, right?!! Now if Abbott labs could figure out how to extend out the shots to once a month, or longer...or maybe make it not an injection!!! That'd be wonderful.

 

[Brian'sMom]

Well, showing some signs...hopefully will be brief. Doc thinks the illnesses back to back may have revved up his immune system. Entocort is the thought....then maybe Humira weekly for a month. (I pray the entocort does the trick and we stay bi weekly)

 

[momoftwinboys]

Sending good thoughts your way Brian is feeling at the top of his game shortly.

 

[Johnnysmom]

Great news!! I am happy to hear Brian is feeling better and playing baseball again. Thanks for sharing, I have been nervous about what Johnny's first illness will be like on 6 mp. Glad to know Brain's was pretty uneventful.

Tiffany

 

[Mary:)]

I'm always worried about getting sick.....but when I do I am able to fight it off also.

 

[imaboveitall]

Thanks for updating. V's Humira response has been less than stellar and her doc mentioned going to weekly dosing but I won't do it. She just finished short pred burst that totally stabilized her in six days much to my amazement. Next step for her shall be naltrexone.

 

[Jenn]

ahhh, haha. Alex now has pink eye. Wonder if he's more susceptible while on Humira? Got him to the pediatrician yesterday and started eye drop antibiotics. seems to be recovering a bit, but slowly. Then the pharmacy called to send his next Humira and told me to hold off on the shot til his eye is normal again. We have the full week, but he could take longer than usual to clear it I guess. I'm afraid it's something more serious, like iritis, giving the antibiotics a few days before checking with the opthmalogist. argh!

 

[Brian'sMom]

Imaboveitall, I hope the Naltrexone is your answer. Brian's GI said they haven't seen it help in more 'trouble' cases. I guess they have us in that category

Jenn, Interesting how each GI doc is different...We were told to go ahead with the Humira. Fever was only thing they were concerned with. We took Brian to the eye doctor to be safe. He didn't have the iritis...just pink eye and then a clogged oil gland on his eyelid just below the lashes. That has taken the longest to get rid of. All the doctors acted like it wasn't connected to the pink eye or Humira...It was within days of the pink eye clearing up. Sounds to me like they were connected. Our pediatrician used an ointment antibiotic to get rid of the pink eye...I think that thick stuff did the clogging! PS, Brian's pink eye cleared up within a few days.
Seems that Brian gets sick every February!!! And last year and this one it starts with strep throat. ARRGGHH! He went a whole year without even a cold...then here comes February! Maybe I'll keep him home next year

 

[imaboveitall]

BMom, I don't have a crapload of faith in naltrexone. I asked physician pals about it and they all said it was unproven and they didn't think much of using it. These aren't GI men, though. V's GI HAS tried it on others and said he "couldn't achieve the same results as the study authors".

My thought is, since it is a benign drug and "may" help, I'm going to try. Pred is what has helped her recently and I figure if I can get inflammation under control with pred, maybe naltrexone can keep it under control.

 

[DustyKat]

Good luck to your boy Kathy. I hope all settles again with Entocort!...:goodluck:

Dusty. xxx

 

[Jenn]

Oh, poor Brian with the eye. I was thinking the gel might work better as it'd actually stay in the eye. Seems we have turned a corner, Alex's eye went from blazing red to pink last night and I got him back to school this morning, hooray! I really hate strep, it's so prevalent and resistant. Alex used to be sick all the time, then stopped thanks to Crohn's, I guess. now it seems he heals slower, both between Crohn's and Humira anyway.

Hope the naltrexone works for V, figure it can't hurt to try?

 

[Brian'sMom]

Jenn, just fyi, pediatrician and eye doctor both said my theory that the ointment clogged the oil gland was wrong. I felt like it might've...but I just wanted to blame it on that! The Pediatrician used the ointment for the very reason you said...its stayed in there longer...but made him have blurry vision for awhile after...it was a pain. But its all a pain...isn't it?!

 

[Jenn]

Indeed, it is all a huge pain!

I dunno, your theory about the clogged oil gland sounds reasonable to me and Docs don't always like to think that we can think too.