Stelara every 4 weeks - how long does it take to notice the improvements?

[Crohn2357]

How long did it take for you to get into remission after your Stelara injection intervals were halved (from every 8 weeks to every 4 weeks)?

 

[my little penguin]

My kiddo took Stelara every 8 weeks for 8 months
Was miserable -scoped with inflammation
Switched to every 4 weeks and 2-3 months later was good
Fecal cal /bloodwork etc normal
Recent scope 1.5 years ago clean

 

[Crohn2357]

My kiddo took Stelara every 8 weeks for 8 months
Was miserable -scoped with inflammation
Switched to every 4 weeks and 2-3 months later was good
Fecal cal /bloodwork etc normal
Recent scope 1.5 years ago clean

Was he miserable during the whole 8 months, or did Stelara help at first but lost effectiveness and and he became ill again over that time?

 

[my little penguin]

He was miserable the whole time .
So much so the Gi wanted to just stop the med and try something else .
Rheumatologist was fighting insurance company due to his age at the time (it was only approved for those over 18 for crohns at the time )
He takes it for his juvenile arthritis and crohns.
Scope/mri at 8 months proved he was still inflamed.
So insurance approved higher frequency quickly then .
First 4 week dose he was drastically improved .
By the second one a new kid.

three years later insurance decided he needed to go to every 8 weeks again.
Gi fought it and tried one dose at every 6 weeks.
He got sick and fecal cal/bloodmarkers went up.
Insurance decided he still needed every 4 weeks and approved.
He has been on Stelara 7 years so far so good .
He does take methotrexate as well but that’s for arthritis.
He also takes a second biologic for auto inflammatory condition which does not treat crohns or arthritis.

 

[Crohn2357]

It’s infuriating how the insurance companies can play with people’s health like that. The healthcare system is fundamentally wrong. Glad to learn of his success with Stelara and other meds though. I hope it continues like that.