Re: medications for RA

[Guest guest]

There is no guarantee what will happen with RA in any one person.

Some people go into remission and can stop taking their drugs. That

isn't very common. Enbrel has only been out about 5-6 years, and

it's possible that after some number of years your body can get used

to it and it won't work as well. That happens with other drugs.

The times I've heard of this happening with Enbrel, it is temporary

and it gains its effectiveness back. I take Humira, it's been on

the market for less time but is human protein rather than man made

protein like Enbrel, so who knows what the differences will be over

time.

Except for the few that only have RA a few years and it goes away...

RA is for life. Therefore some sort of drug treatment is for life.

It is also possible that in several years there will be a new drug

(there is one I read about) where you can get treated for a few

months and it keeps on working in your body for years. That's

almost a cure in my book. Because the recent biologicals have been

so profitable for the drug companies, there is a lot of research

going on right now. Maybe they will figure out what causes it and

be able to fix it. Who knows.

But from my point of view, I hope Humira keeps working and I expect

to be on it forever. At least until something better comes along.

This may sound depressing, but I don't see it that way. I think

it's wonderful, a miracle, that there are drugs that can make me

functional enough to live my daily life and that I expect will keep

me from becoming horribly disfigured and disabled. If you got this

disease a dozen years ago, that is almost always what you faced.

Jennie

> I am currently taking MTX for my RA. I have been reading others'

posts on

> Enbrel, Remicade etc. Let's take Enbrel as an example. Something

I'm not clear on

> is how long you take Enbrel. If you start taking it, do you take

it for life?

> If it puts you in " remission " then can you stop taking it? What if

the RA

> flares up as soon as you stop? Does that mean you are only in

remission as long

> as you are on it? Are you then looking at taking this for the rest

of your life?

>

> Kathy V

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I was diagnosed with RA about 8 month ago. I have been taking

Methotrexate since that time. How long have you been taking Humira?

I am hoping to start on Enbrel in two weeks. Did you ever take

Enbrel?

[Guest guest]

I have been on Humira since January. My timeline was basically

symptoms starting 2 years ago, Bextra, Vioxx, then prednisone,

officially diagnosed about a year ago and started MTX with the

prednisone, worsing of RA last December so started Humira in January

in addition to MTX and now am weaning off prednisone very slowly.

My mom started taking Enbrel when it was in the testing phase. She

has been on it ever since, but has to switched to Remicade soon

because that is the only one Medicare pays for (she's on disability

now). My rheumy gave me a choice of Remicade or Humira. I think he

likes them because they are newer, but he was on the Enbrel training

video so he doesn't have anything against Enbrel per se. Humira is

easier to manage than Enbrel because it is premixed and you only do

it once every other week vs twice each week. I was going to pick

Remicade because I was afraid of injecting myself but the nurse

talked me out of it. She told me how fast and easy it was, compared

to having to go to the clinic every 8 weeks and being there for

hours. I work full-time and have a 4 year old daughter, so Humira

made more sense. The plan was that if Humira didn't work for me, we

would try one of the other biologicals, but thankfully it did work

for me wonderfully.

Jennie

> I was diagnosed with RA about 8 month ago. I have been taking

> Methotrexate since that time. How long have you been taking

Humira?

> I am hoping to start on Enbrel in two weeks. Did you ever take

> Enbrel?

[Guest guest]

I've been taking it since January. I never took Enbrel. The Humira is really

helping me except for this week for some reason I'm really hurting a lot. Maybe

it's the humidity here, I don't know. Also, I've been eating tomatoes and corn

on the cob and it seems those things bother me so maybe that's the reason.

Becky

[ ] Re: medications for RA

I was diagnosed with RA about 8 month ago. I have been taking

Methotrexate since that time. How long have you been taking Humira?

I am hoping to start on Enbrel in two weeks. Did you ever take

Enbrel?

[Guest guest]

Jennie,

Isn't humira a biological? If not, what is? I take antibiotics at this

time but may have to add something else. Thanks,

ette

[Guest guest]

Jennie,

How do you feel since you've been on humira? How did you feel before going

on it? Do you still have pain and stiffness?

Thanks,

ette

[Guest guest]

Yes, Humira is a biological. It has made a huge difference in my

ability to function each day. I feel so much better than I did

before. For a while MTX was enough, but as often happens with RA,

the disease gets worse and you have to adjust the treatment of it.

The combination of MTX and Humira is workig well for me, and so far I

am able to wean to a very low dose of prednisone and hopefully soon I

will be off that completely.

Jennie

--- In , " Warren Portnoy " <wport@c...>

wrote:

> Jennie,

>

> Isn't humira a biological? If not, what is? I take antibiotics at

this

> time but may have to add something else. Thanks,

> ette