My doctor just put me on Humira. Any “heads up” to look for?
He wanted me to start on Enbrel, however, Humira was my prescription plan’s preferred choice.
Hi CJC3! Everyone's RA is a little different and as a result, the (potential) reactions to specific medications are different.
Our editorial team created an article that profiles Humira, including potential side effects. I'm hoping others can weigh in with their experience too. Also, while this article was created in 2013, it was recently updated in October 2020 so the information here is fresh!
https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/treatment/humira-reviews-how-well-it-works/
I hope that helps give more clarity and also general context to Humira! Thanks for reaching out to our RA community.
-Reggie (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)
Hi cjc3. It is great that you are seeking out information before starting a new treatment regimen. I can tell you that Humira and Enbrel are both anti-TNF or TNF blocking treatments (although they achieve the blocking of the TNF molecules in different ways. Humira (along with Enbrel) is one of the oldest and most widely used biologics for RA.
I can't personally speak from experience, although my wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here), used Humira for a period of time with some success and fairly limited side effects. Of course, each individuals experience may be different.
We actually have a number of articles and discussions about Humira on this site and I thought you might want to peruse the search results on the topic from our archive: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/?s=humira. Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences. Wishing you the best and please feel free, if you like, to keep us posted on how you are doing. Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)I was on ENBREL for several years for my RAthen was diagnosed about 4 years ago with Crohns.
I was the moved to Humira injections every other week...the increased to weekly because of Crohns.
Unfortunately Humira is t working for me for the Crohns part and I’m now awaiting my gastroenterologist recommendation for next option drug.
I did not have any bad reactions to either enbrel or Humira while on these drugs.
Maybe I’m just oblivious but had no issues.
Good luck to you on your next adventure.
