Humira- A WARNING | Arthritis Information

My father injected himself with this "wonder drug" once a fortnight for over 18 months.

THIS IS THE DRUG THAT MASKED THE INFECTION WHICH KILLED HIM.

The drug surpresses your immune system, which is what it is meant to do. But when he was septic with infection the humira also masked every symptom of infection including fever and chills (he had none) until it was TOO LATE.

There is very little literature available to anyone- including doctors and nurses.

I beg you to be very very careful.

Do your homework.

And just for my curiousity, is there anyone here on Humira AKA SATAN???

I'm on Humira and I'm well aware of the side effects and possible catastrophic events. There are terrible events that surround each of these drugs (in fact most drugs) but we choose to take them because for the most part they give us our lives back. I'm so sorry about your father. For every terrible event there are millions that have benefited from taking these medications. Once again I'm sorry for your loss. Lindy LinB2008-08-17 21:17:41I am so sorry to hear about your father. I know I was made painfully aware of the side effects these drugs have. Most medications for RA lower your immune systeme, that is the goal.

My mom had the exact same thing happen to her on MTX and prednisone (older medications).

I'm so, so sorry about your father. How awful and scary. I took humira for 8 months but it didn't work very well for me so now I am taking enbrel every Tuesday. It worries me but after consulting with a pharmacist I knew, my sister who is an rn, her FIL, SIL and BIL are all dr.'s and they told me to take the meds unless I want to end up being disabled and possibly crippled. It's a scary decision to make and I thought it over for a week or more and decided to take the meds and try to live my life to the fullest. There are side effects and some people do get them. You have to pick the lesser of two evils. They are rare but so is getting hit by a truck while crossing a road.

Again, my sympathies to you and your family.

Did they do an autopsy on your father?

I am so sorry for your fathers death, and all the pain and suffering he went through...And it's so hard, you really loved him so much

My dad died of septic shock, 4 years ago, in August, also..He never had RA, but a bad case of PArkinsons..When the ambulance took him to the hospital, i thought it was a mere case of a bladder infection..

I got the call at 3AM, his whole system shut down, kidneys, blood pressure was 50, but he was 89, and after calling my brother, we decided not to put him on life support..And his family doctor later told us that was a good desicion.

He died just about the same way Pope John Paul died, who also had Parkinsons....

I've been on Humira for 5 years, with no problems..

Just wanted to tell you how sorry, and know how much it hurts c I think you guys misunderstood me... I was in no way saying to not take meds. We were aware of the side effects too.

I'm glad its working for someone.

I hope no one ever has to go through it.

I wish there was a cure for RA :o(

Biologics can be very scarry. I have bacterial vaginosis, a small infection that's easy to take care of, but my body makes it several times a year.

I was going to get on humira but the lady at the company (humira) told me that i can never have the biologic and shouldn't have any other due to repeatable infections, even if minor. She told me that it will not stop, the infection will grow very quickly and kill me.

She was very blunt and to the point when she explained it and it scared me.

I'm also on HUmira and haven't had any problems; but I know they can arrise very sudddenly and be very serious.

I'm real sorry to hear about your father.

I am aware that the biologics lower your immunity (that's the point). But I never knew they could "mask" symptoms of an infection. That sound more like prednisone to me. Does anyone know more about this? [QUOTE=hessalina]I am aware that the biologics lower your immunity (that's the point). But I never knew they could "mask" symptoms of an infection. That sound more like prednisone to me. Does anyone know more about this?[/QUOTE]

If the biologic drug is muting the immune response, I see how this could happen. The immune response is what raises the fever and all the other wonderful symptoms that tell us we're sick. If the immune response is muted, those symptoms may not get noticed. Just taking a wild guess.
Wow, I took my first Humira injection last week and as I mentioned in a previous post I had terrible pain within 6 inches of the injection site for 2 days.

I have had repeated UTI's and highly suspect a fistula has entered my urinary track somewhere due to air/gas coming out. I will be calling my Dr today but I think I should stop all biologics for now until this issue is resolved.

Take care.

I was on Humira for 9 months and started off with a slight pain in my right lung after 3 weeks and a couple of visits to my GP, she sent me to my RD because my crp was 109. My Rd took me straight off Humira and a couple of days later I was rushed to hospital with a very bad infection in my lung where they had to eventually do a lung drain. I had no temp or any other sign that I was sick until the pain got so bad I couldn't move or take a breath without excruciating pain. My RD and chest specialist said to this day it wasn't the Humira. I have my doubts! It took me a couple of months to decide to go with Orencia, so will see how that goes....hope this helps.