Humira

As5567

Hi all, I'm new here and just wanted to see how others have reacted to Humira.

I currently take one injection once per week and have been taking it for around 3-4 years now. This drug for me has been one of the strangest ones as at first it worked fantastic at 1x injection every 2 weeks, then when I was about 17 it just suddenly decided to not work so I changed to another medication which went awfully wrong and was put back on humira as a temp measure. Funny enough the medication began to work again within a month but only lasted around 5 days.

At this current time I think my time with this medication is probably up and time to search for something else. It would be nice to hear other people’s experiences with this drug just out of curiosity as I know it’s fairly commonly available now

Cheers

Tom

frogmorton

Hi Tom

Lots of folks on here have been on humira - I have heard it talked about a fair bit. I am so sorry that you suspect it is failing now for you though

Are there plans then for you to try something else as it's only an interim measure???

If you put humira into the search at the tope of the page you can look at other humira-type threads. The forums can be quiet over the weekend so don't worry if you don't get much response quickly

Love

Toni xx

stickywicket

I've not taken humira as I get by well enough on methotrexate. However, quite a few on here do take it.

I'm wondering if you mean it only lasted about 5 days in total, or if it only lasts about 5 days per injection. If it only lasted 5 days and that was that then it would seem as if it's not going to be much use to you. But, if you mean that the effect of each injection only lasts about 5 days then maybe either you need to give it more time or the humira needs another med to support it. One of our regulars on here (dreamdaisy) sometimes speaks of being 'on the thin end of the humira wedge' meaning her body is telling her that it needs another dose of it - usually several days before it's due :roll:

What does your rheumatologist say?

Milly8

Hi Tom
I have been on humira since last August .i take mtx 17.5 and sulphsalzine as well.took a little while to work for me and then had a new lease of life.had to come off it early jan due to op( which I have not had yet)
Taken a shot about ten days ago not working as well but I guess that's because it needs to build up in my system again.
Do you take anything esle with your humira .my doctor says humira works better if you take mtx with but he wants to get me down to 10 mg .Time to talk to your rheumy on your next visit and see where you go from there.please le us know how you are getting on.
Bye for now
Milly

dreamdaisy

Hi, I take humira (fortnightly) backed up with weekly meth injections and daily sulph. The benefit I gain is about five days of slightly-improved mobility (i.e. I can use my crutches instead of the rollator). Woo-hoo. I have to admit, however, that my PsA is well-controlled which has to be a good thing. My OA is un-affected by the PsA meds and that beggar causes much more trouble. I wish you well. DD

As5567

Hi Toni, thanks for your reply. At my last hospital visit we did talk about trying other drugs but agreed on giving the Humira abit more time and hope that I'm just going through a bad flare up as there is not many other drugs left for me to try lol (not ones that my NHS hospital will fund anyway)

Hi stickywicket, thanks for your reply. The effects of the Humira only last around 5 days, as for adding another medication with my Humira I have often asked my doctor this and he says there is nothing that I can take that will be of benefit to me.

Hi Milly8, thanks for your reply. Hopefully you will begin to feel better soon, and from experience I have found after not having the Humira shot for a while it does take a good few weeks to work again, but I'm sure you will begin to feel it starting to work good soon . As for Meth, I'm unable to take this anymore. I did take it for around 6 months when I was around 13/14 but it made me way too sick. Extreme weight loss, sickness 5/7 days of the week, extreme headaches and bad blood results. And I have also taken sulphsalzine. I'm unable to take that as I have some sort of reaction to it which put me in hospital after taking the drug for around 1 week. I'm trying to get hold of the hospital to go and see the doctor next week hopefully and will discuss my medication then as I simply cannot go on the way I am and I'm fairly certain that Humira has stopped working for me. (This also happened on Enbrel, I was told its something to do with antibodies)

Hi dreamdaisy, thanks for your reply. Maybe you could suggest to your doctor that you try Humira 1x weekly, I'm not sure how common it is for doctors to give it weekly but if it only lasts 5 days it sounds like it would benefit you more than your current dosage.

dreamdaisy

I won't do that 'cos I'm very lucky to be on it in the first place. When it stops working (and it will, these things have a limited 'shelf-life') it will be my last anti TNF due to the stringent financial rules the rheumatlogy department has to follow. It doesn't matter, I'm shortly embarking on my 17th year if life with arthritis, the future won't be any worse than my current present. I will hopefully receive some new knees in a couple of years' time - that might help matters. DD