hey you guys
just a quick question. my arthritis doc wants me to go onto remicade, my crohns doc wants me to go onto humira. they are kinda the same, one is iv'd every 8 wks and one i get every 2 wks from my doc. just wondering if any of you guys are taking this and if its helping you much at all.... would it have any long term affects on me since im only 26?
i wasnt gonna take it cos my two main areas of pain, hip and foot, were operated and fixed and everything else, crohns and arthritis, seemed to be ok so i didnt see a need.. but over the last few weeks my crohns has been killing me, my knees have been swollen and are sore still with some fluid on them (never sore before) and the last couple pf days my eblow has been getting stiff which was never a prob before.
would love to know if anyone out there is taking either of the above meds and what they think of them???
thanks
:)
I also have crohns and RA. I tried Remicade in early March.. I felt like a new person. Within 4 weeks most of my pain was gone. But the second infusion I had a strange reaction. ( a warm feeling throughtout my body and feeling very light headed) So I decided not to try again.. I just took my first shot of Humeria last week. Feel pretty good. The only pain that seems to be hanging in is the left hand. I may try Remicade again..if humeria doesn't work. But take steroids a couple of days before to reduce my reaction.
Both drugs are still very new long term side effects are still unknown.
I am 49 with 2 children.. my RA/crohns went into remission for nearly 16 years on crohns and last attack with the RA was when I was 25 (they did not know it was RA at the time.) All came back about 2 years ago.
I take Humira weekly along with MTX for RA. It's been really good for me. Good Luck with which every you choose. Both are getting really good results for lots of people.
Long term effects? I'm not sure any of us can answer that at this point....but it's not really something we can afford to be overly concerned about either. Truth be told none of the medications we take for RA are good for us long term. BUT; then again neither is the long term effects that will be caused by untreated RA. Once your joints are gone.....their gone!! (to repeat a Humira commercial) I kind of feel like it's worth the risk. Course that's just my opinion; not all agree with me.
Iv'e been on both. 1st Humara, I did 4 injections, each time my reaction got worse. I had a red circle around the injection site. Each time it got bigger. The last one was the size of a grapefruit and I was swolllen from the injection site side(on my stomach)all the way day to my underware area. The swelling was so weird just on one side. It was like jello under my skin. No more of that stuff. Next we moved on to Remicade. Had 1st infussion did fine, 13 days later I broke out into a complete body rash head to toe. Talk about itching. So Dr. said no more of that either. I had high hopes of feeling better with them. I believe the biologist are all similar as to how they work. Best wishes for which ever one you go on. DB-just curious, did you rotate your sites? Have you had sensitive skin or skin rashes before?I did rotate the sites, and since I worked at a surgery center I had one of the nurses give me the injection, so I would'nt do it wrong. They kept an eye on me and my progress after each injection. I was fortunate that my friend there had been a nurse at the remicade infussion deptartment at the hospital. I don't have sensitive skin at all, only other time I've had a rash was from shingles (ouch!). Just my luck I broke out from it.I was on Remicade for a year and I absolutely loved it. I responded very well to it and felt better after each infusion. But then I no longer qualified for patient assistance and the only thing that the insurance would cover is Enbrel. I don't feel like it does the same job, but I just can't afford Remicade again.