Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group is humira harmful???

I came to know about humira here at KA..so i read about it on internet... its written that it reduces the ability of your immune system to fight infections,,it may also have some side effects.. Is it true.. And is it given by injections... does it really help.. And what kinda help it is by harming immunity system

I am not on humera but am on remicade which is in the biologic family i get mine intervenous takes 3hrs. Yes it does affect immune system as the purpose of this drug is to shut off part of immune system that is attacking your body. This stops you from being able to fight infection now. I have been on it for little over a month now and have not got sick once. Are there risks with it? Of coarse but there are risks with all meds. This drug has changed my life although short lived right now i can function at a great level. Talk to your doctor about it it saved my life

I was on Humira for 5 months on bi-weekly self-injections. Didn't feel too much better but decided to quit because I'm a side effects worrier. You know the phrase, it's not the disease that did you in, it was the cure. But that's just me and my balancing act brought me back to a couple of Ibuprophen every now and then.
Everyone reacts differently as some feel great right away and some don't feel any better no matter how long they try.

i haven't gone there.....yet.......but may in the future.

with that said,

my stepfather won't take a biologic because he is afraid too. he says he's old enough (60s) and retired, that he can get by without it. he has crohn's and takes asacol, which can be good for IBD.

on the other hand, biologics are the one drug class where i've heard people exclaim, "it gave me my life back!"

so, you will hear both extremes. and thus you just gotta read and weigh the risks.

for me, i've decided when the time comes, it will be worth the risk, f i am bad enough that i'm at a risk to losing my career and have no quality of life. for now, other things are sort of working, so i'm keeping biologics in my back pocket.

The way I look at it, life is dangerous--on any day we could be hit by a truck. Tylenol is dangerous, aspirin is dangerous....these are over-the-counter drugs. Yes, the biologics can be dangerous, but the out-of-control disease is bad for you, too. So, you choose your own risk vs benefit. I've been down the road with many NSAIDs, which either didn't work or caused side effects. (Mobic helps some, with no side effects as of yet.) SSZ didn't help. MTX alone didn't help. Diet didn't help (and I didn't want to give up foods that I love, which is my choice). So rheumy and I decided to give Remicade a try (because of the dosing flexibility), but it didn't help. Next was Enbrel, which sort of helped, but not enough for the cost of the med (my opinion). I took first dose of Simponi last week. Today, I feel 'better'...not sure if it's the med or a fluctuation of disease activity...I felt horrid on Monday. For a really rough flare, steroids may be the only way to break it. Another dangerous drug--prednisone.

It just depends what you are willing to do to feel better and live life to its fullest.

waohhh.... i just came to know that remicade would cost me 3 months of my salary per doze and embrel would cost one month salary...here in india.. and humira is not available here.... is it that costly everywhere...

I think it is like all of the drugs. It may be harmful to some and very helpful to a lot. I was not able to take it because of a severe reaction but I know lots of people who take it with very good results.

I never did refuse to try any of the meds the dr. thought would help me but I just didn't have good luck finding the right one.

Blessings.
Possi

Here in Canada, Remicade can run up to 25000 per yr. My insurance covers it and if you qualify the government will cover the cost as well. Cant say for anywhere else.

Hello, kushagra9120:

I think the best school might be in Bangalore. Wonderful place.

Humira does affect a very specific portion of the immune system, but it is very clever and very selective in this regard; some disease which are normally suppressed could emerge, but this is a rare occurrence.

This drug can help very much, and works by tying up cytokines involved in the inflammatory process; it preferentially reacts with these (as a "chimera") so they are removed from the biochemical reaction.

The drug is expensive to manufacture, so it is very expensive for the consumer. Administration by self-injection is usually required, so some kinds of insurance would cover it if given at a physician's office instead of otherwise by the patient.

So it is not a permanent harm, but it is also not a permanent help; it does not address the cause of AS.

When I was in Delhi many years ago, the elderly Hakim Sayed Hameed, then head of Aligarth University and founder of Hamdard, took my pulse many minutes, and spoke to my friends in Urdu. He told them to make sure I got plenty of garlic and fenugreek, and wrote a prescription that I did not then think much of, but in the years since I have come to know the cause of AS is in the intestinal tract.

Perhaps these herbal pressings (he did not cup and bleed me...) would help heal the lesions that certainly produce AS. I was once a vegetarian and have had vegetarians write to me, asking whether they could somehow just heal their gut to eliminate AS symptoms: Of course, if we can do this, it would be an easier way than to totally exclude starches, but that sewer we carry around with us can be very leaky and this is the seat--the FIRST LESION--in AS.

So I will include an image of my prescription, since as a young person You may not be so able--especially in India--to control what You are eating. There are 3 different herbal pressings to take 3X daily (as clearly stated...):



But I admonish You--You can overcome this disease; it is 100% up to You right now to make the right decisions: AS can become a minor nuisance to You, or become a CAREER! You have a talent, and were destined for better things, and if You can know that within this life that I regret my own distant karma that caused this disease in me, so I work to propitiate this away.

See whether Krishna's VitD information can help, but I think You are too far into this club, albeit one can hope.

Maybe You can prove to Yourself the dietary connection with AS, so decide upon a time You are able to fast, water only, for six or eight days. You can describe each day as the hunger pangs wax and wane and as Your AS vanishes. You will want that remission to LAST! Then You shall know how to be in control of Your AS, instead of the other way 'round!


Namaste,
John