switching treatment

[nofun]

I am on Entyvio which worked well for the last 2 years, but symptoms returned in the last few weeks.
When a biologic loses effectiveness do you switch right away to a new drug?

I had a brief episode or symptoms while being on Entyvio but decided to hold on and the symptoms subsided.
How long do you usually wait before declaring a drug not working?

 

[Delta_hippo]

When this happened to me the doctor doubled the entyvio frequency to an infusion every 4 weeks but it didn’t work so ended up switching to stelara - don’t know if your doctor will want to try that first

 

[nofun]

Did you notice a decrease of symptoms right after an injection and then getting worse over time? That would explain why the doctor increased the frequency. I don't have this...I still feel bad right after the shot.

I will probably wait couple of months before trying to switch the drug. I had such a good time with the drug working, I hope it starts to work again.

It is interesting how our mind works. As soon as I started to feel bad, I started to look at what has changed in my life that could have triggered it. The first thing accused was a sparkling water maker that I just purchased. Maybe it is sparking water that triggered my Crohn's symptoms? Well, it was easy to put it away, but obviously it didn't help.

 

[Jo-mom]

You shouldn't wait too long though. You don't want to get into a full flare. Did your doctor check for other possible reasons you might be feeling this way? Is there a blood test to determine if you have the proper levels of Entyvio in your system?

 

[Scipio]

Is there a blood test to determine if you have the proper levels of Entyvio in your system?

Yes. Prometheus laboratories, Labcorp, Quest Laboratories, and probably some others (Mayo? ARUP?) all make blood tests for Entyvio and antibodies against Entyvio.

 

[Delta_hippo]

I don’t really get obvious Crohn’s symptoms more just a general tired/ weak/ feeling rubbish that varies in intensity and doesn’t improve following injections/ infusions or get worse before the next one. The GI went to double dose because when I first started entyvio my FCP dropped from 600+ (the chart stops at 600) to about 450 as I recall so he figured it had helped a bit and more might help more