Humira or Enbrel ? Which to choose ?

Mormodook

I'm being assessed for anti tnf just now for RA and my rheumy nurse seems to think I will get approved. He said today that I could choose which one i go on , Humira or Enbrel all going to plan. I've been doing quite a bit of reading on anti tnf and am slowly getting my head around the nasty side effects and the risks versus the hopeful benefits. Anyway ..... I was wondering which one i should pick as they both seem to me as equal.
Also , did it take some getting used to mentally ? The actual injecting doesn't bother me it's the really side effects !
Cheers everyone ! Thanks for taking the time to read this

Starburst

All the best of luck, Mormo. I tried my first anti TNF and for the first time since diagnosis (2009), my RA is quiet! I'm on cimzia, so can't recommend between the two you mentioned. However, I wanted to say that it's so hard to tell because we all respond differently. I know that patient choice is paramount but sometimes too much information makes it difficult to make a decision! Does your nurse and/or consultant have an opinion either way?

As5567

The answer to that question is impossible to get a definitive answer to. There is no right or wrong choice, I have been on both of these drugs and never had any side effects.

I found that Enbrel worked the fastest for me, and that might be to do that its a weekly injection rather than a fortnight injection on Humira. I also found that Humira burns more while injecting the fluid compared to Enbrel.

There isn't much else I can add to that, its good news you should be able to get access to these drugs and hopefully they will work for you. Personally I just read about the risks and side effects once then forget about them. I just take extra care with illness and infections.

mig

Hi Mormodook,I've been on humira for 18 months now and it's working well for me so much so that I can lead a near normal life. I haven't had any side effects either from the drug or injecting.But we are all different ,what suits one might not suit another.Good luck with your choice. Mig

Mormodook

Thanks everyone for such positive views . I didn't ask my rheumy nurse if he had a preference , I asked so much other stuff though. It wasn't until I was home and I realised that I had a choice of drug that I thought I'd ask my forum friends for their opinions. It's so good to get real advice on here !

dreamdaisy

It's another of arthritis' Hobson's Choice. Enbrel works both beneficially and usefully for some for some, didn't work for me. The same applies to the humira I currently take: it works wonders for some, it does something for me but not so I notice - my bloods are good is all.

When taking these meds you are regularly monitored - this is how I found out that things were going wrong with Enbrel, I had to go for an emergency blood test whilst on holiday but I felt perfectly OK within myself. Side-effects? They are not guaranteed and I reckon that not enough is known about the long-term 'risks' of taking these drugs, hence the 'you may turn green and grow another head' nature of the dire warnings. We live in a litigious age, yes? If you were warned you can't sue. A cynic? Moi? Yep. DD

cherrybim

Oh! Dear me, lighten up DD :shock:

I won't bore you with my antecedents Mormodook, they are irrelevant to your current decision.

My first biologic was Cimzia. (I was offered the choice of any of the currently prescribed biologics) Believe it or not I chose that purely for the name :oops:

I thought the results were jolly fine but my Rheumy decided I could possibly do better on another; then I chose Enbrel.

I'm very closely monitored (Yes it's an American influence this suing business. My OH, a Solicitor of some 40 years becomes the devil from hell when he sees the adverts on the tele :roll: )

Good progress with whichever you choose. Either or any of them will certainly/possibly put you in a better place

Cherry

barbara12

Hello Mormodook
Sorry I cant offer any help..but I do want to wish you well with whatever you decide..x

ichabod6

Humira has always worked for me and still is.

Boomer13

Hi;

I'm currently researching these because I'm to start on an anti-TNF in a few months. I'm not sure that I will be given a choice. Anyway, from what I've read (science journals) Enbrel, of the group in use now, has most likelihood of neurological side-effects, but even then they are extremely rare in those people taking it.

Sorry, I didn't keep the name of the journal article with this finding but I was specifically looking for neuro side-effect frequencies. Otherwise, I thought I would flip a coin to decide.....

Mormodook

Once again ....cheers for all the advice ! I agree with you DD that we are in a sueing society ! That actually makes sense ! I found out that Enbrel has mouse protein in it and humira is from human cells .... That is about all I could see that splits them ! Maybe it's like coca cola or Pepsi ! The same but different :P

dreamdaisy

Many of these meds involve mouse protein, hence the 'mab' in their names. One of my better GPs (they number two ) reckoned I didn't do so well because I was based on cat protein: he had a point methinks! DD

toady

Hi, just to repeat what I've said to a couple of other posters on this topic more or less - I was offered the 4 different anti-tnfs, & a few things that helped decide me were; 1. Enbrel stays in the body for a shorter period than some of the others, which to me is a thing in its favour (if you have problems, or side effects, or need to come off it, it will be out of your system much quicker) 2. the side effect list was slightly less scary than some! though that isn't an indication in itself, i'll clutch at any straw in that line! not so much the major possible long term side-effects that is, more the ongoing nausea type stuff. I had read a comparatively higher amount of accounts of nausea with humira, and a personal friend also found that with humira. One friend and some internet trawling is not a scientific study of course. 3. not sure how quickly humira works but enbrel *can* kick in quite quickly which is certainly what i needed at that point, and it did - by the next day in fact.

Have had no side effects bar 2 minor injection site reactions so Enbrel has been excellent for me (having said that, I am showing signs of being less well controlled after less than a couple of years which is a disappointment.) Good luck with whatever you decide.

Mormodook

Thank you Toady ,you've been very helpful .... I think I am siding with team Enbrel at the moment all things considered !

toady

All the best, it's a lot to consider isn't it; and with mig's excellent results with humira, & daisy's less than happy outcome with the enbrel, it will boil down (as it annoyingly has to) to your own individual experience. Some people choose on the basis of how often you have to inject & so forth, so there are all sorts of reasoning behind people's decisions - hope it works out well for you.

mike26

yes toady
im also about to start TNFs
im pulling towards humira thinking once a fortnight is better than
every week (inject) still ive yet to see if it works for me.
hope you get the result mormodook and chose right first time.
good luck mike26..