You didn't fail Humira, Humira failed you

[BlueSky]

I say it all the time. "I failed Remicade; I failed Cimzia; I failed Humira." Its worth taking a moment to consider how this phrase shapes our thinking. When a medication doesn't work, you didn't fail, the drug did.

And that's common. Biologicals have 40-50% response rate that drops off with time. They can be extremely helpful for individuals. I benefited. I know someone who has been in remission for seven years on Humira and went through medical school. But in population terms, they don't work long-term for many.

The implication of "I failed" is that lifelong remission was a possibility-unfortunately just not for you. In reality, this is a marketing message. The commercials of happy people running in slow motion through purple flowers advertising Humira on TV imply life transformation. If you're not in the TV garden, its an individual failure not a typical result.

I guess my concern is that the blockbuster drug marketing is replacing the medical management model for IBD. GIs used to say, "there is no cure but we will do our best to sustain remission as long possible." That kind of management is an art; it requires highly individual treatment and close rapport with patients and families. The new model is much more standardized: a series of wonder-drugs (failures) that end with removing the colon.

I miss the candor of the old days. We knew we faced hard choices and real side effects and doctors talked about it frankly. After all, nobody "fails" prednisone. You taper before it fails you.

 

[Clash]

I have never like the "I failed.... insert med" It does imply that the fault is somehow the patients. I do like and have used Remicade failed my son.

I think the choice to be pro-active and candid haven't changed you just have to find a GI you are comfortable with because the GI will be on that journey as well. One of the reasons I love our ped GI and have stuck with him is because he told us on our first visit(son was dx'ed by an adult GI then I transferred him to this peds GI) that it seemed pred was failing my son and did not have the great results seen by most when first px'ed. I thought it fabulous that he worded so that my son had no reason to feel bad. He went into say that the pred was giving my son all the terrible side effects without any of the benefit so he was ready to kick it to the curb.

It can be such a long battle. I'm thankful for biologics and the advantage they can provide. I truly still mourn for the loss of remicade due to antibodies production, even though the Humira he is on now seems to be effective.


With CD it seems the more tricks in the bag the better since this disease can be so insidious! Thank you for your post!

 

[UnXmas]

Interesting way of looking at it. Here is the UK meds don't get advertised though, I wonder if that means we have a different medication culture.

 

[trinity1913]

UnXmas, I always feel like any suggested meds are somehow getting kickbacks to a doctor also. I am so cynical. My husband is peripherally in tge business, medical equipment not pharma, but he is in doctors offices a lot. Pharma reps and the lengths they will go to for their stuff to be prescribed is always horrific to me. And then you have patient/doctor relationships like my mother's where anything she asked for they gave, to the point that she started having psychosis from the meds.