I started Humira June 2, 2010. It changed me from being in constant pain to being able to work in my garden and take a 2 week road trip. After about 8-9 months, I noticed that it wasn't working as well. By the middle of Summer, 2011, it just didn't do anything at all. My Rheumy said to quit taking it so we could see of I had an increase in pain. There was no difference. I decided to give it a try again at the beginning of December, as I was having a flare and needed to do something. It seems that the Humira is helping. It's not helping as much as it did when I first started taking it, but I defiantly feel better then I did before I restarted it. I am sleeping better, have more energy and less pain. It has made a big difference over Christmas, I was able to do all the cleaning and cooking that I would not have been able to do without the Humira.

I don't know how long it will continue to help, but I am happy for every day that I feel good.

hope you get good relief once again

That's wonderful that it's helping you again, Donna - I sure hope it continues to! Nice timing to get some help in time to enjoy Christmas.

Everyday feeling good is way better than the opposite..!

Maybe the break helped? Hope it keeps working for you. Cool.

Isn't there some evidence somewhere that stopping and restarting can cause a patient to develop antibodies against the med?

I'm sure I've read that significant treatment breaks are suspected to be one possible cause or risk factor in the development of anti-drug antibodies in some people... but there is still so little known about this.. and I can't find the references I had saved somewhere. argh

Here are a few articles that talk about anti-drug antibodies and the potential loss of efficacy, that might be of interest:

Ann Rheum Dis 2009;68:1787-1788 doi:10.1136/ard.2009.109702
M K de Vries1, E Brouwer5, I E van der Horst-Bruinsma1, A Spoorenberg6, J C van Denderen3, A Jamnitski3, M T Nurmohamed1, 3,B A C Dijkmans1, 3,L A Aarden2,4, G J Wolbink2,3
Decreased clinical response to adalimuma...ibody formation

Ann Rheum Dis 2007;66:1252-1254 doi:10.1136/ard.2007.072397
Mirjam K de Vries1, Gerrit Jan Wolbink2, Steven O Stapel2,Henk de Vrieze2, J Christiaan van Denderen3, Ben A C Dijkmans1, Lucien A Aarden2, Irene E van der Horst-Bruinsma1
Decreased clinical response to inflixima...ximab formation

Oxford Journals > Medicine > Rheumatology > Volume50, Issue8 > Pp. 1445-1452.
Dora Pascual-Salcedo1, Chamaida Plasencia2, Susana Ramiro1, Laura Nuño2, Gema Bonilla2, Daniel Nagore3, Ainhoa Ruiz del Agua3, Antonio Martínez3, Lucien Aarden4, Emilio Martín-Mola2 and Alejandro Balsa2
Influence of immunogenicity on the effic...atoid arthritis

The antibody formation will make you sick and rev up the disease.

I suspect what happens is after taking the drug for a long time your body starts to ignore it. then you take a break and it works again.
That is if you dont develop the antibodies against it. You will know the differnce because it will make you feel terrible.

I don't have a problem with any antibodies because I take 6-MP for my UC. It's a DMARD like MTX. My Rheumy said that it would prevent forming antibodies to any Biologics. So far it is helping, I'm not pain free, but much better then before and I have noticed that I have much more energy. This is good, I had a terrible problem with fatigue with every flare. I just hope it keeps working for a long time.

I am thinking about asking my specialist to put me on Humira. My mother is taking it and says it works for her.

But I am a bit worried about some of the side effects. I just read weight lost in the long list of possible adverse effects. And I really cannot afford to lose any weight right now.

But I've been having flare ups and anti-inflammatories only help a little bit for a very short time. And I have been feeling increasingly tired and just have so little energy. I must do something because I can't get much done around the house and it's causing me a lot of stress.