Possibly dumb question: Humira and Bleeding Internally

[krloury]

This may be an obvious question, but I've not been able to find a diffinitve answer on it as searching only turns up information on bleeding caused BY Humira, which is not the case here.

Anyway, some background: I've been on Humira for years now for UC or Crohn's (doctor is unsure which, but we move as if its Crohn's) and its kept me in remission save a few little spikes here or there usually related to me forgetting to stRtvthe refill process fast enough. However I find myself flaring now and its been going on for weeks which is very, very odd. Humira never has this much issue getting things under control but this time it just doesn't seem to be enough. This flare is not a "full" flare, in that nausea, cramping, and the skin irritation I get have not made an appearance. But the lose stool, blood, and mucus are very present.

My question is: if you take a drug that's injected, like Humira, but your bleeding internally which I'm doing thanks to the ulcers, does that impact the effectiveness of the drug? If the medicine is going into my blood stream but that blood is lost in my colon has the medicine been lost and wasted?

 

[PsychoJane]

It is not suppose to impact the effectiveness or at the least not significantly. I would suggest you to contact your GI and mention that you are going through a potential relapse. Medication like Humira can be effective for a long duration but it is not impossible for them to become uneffective after a while due to a series of factors, one of them being the antibodies.

 

[theOcean]

Agreed with PsychoJane: I would also talk to your GI about your current flare. Please, please be careful about your refills, and see if you can get them refilled automatically: if you stop biologics like Humira (or take them late consistently), you can develop antibodies to them and they can stop working.

Your GI will probably suggest combination therapy if you aren't already on it, which is what I'm on. Humira did wonders for me, but I need to be on multiple medications to be kept safely in remission. (In my case: Humira and 6mp.)