Crohn's Disease Support Group

Anyone on this med? How are the side effects? And how well it is controlling your symptoms? Any trouble with co-pays or insurance coverage?

My GI dr wants to switch me from Remicade to Cimzia, I have poor vein access, and the remicade is becoming less effective. My ins wants 100.00 a month for the copay for this drug.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Bendertwins I do the cimzia. Alot of the other members also take this treatment. It is expensive to say the least.. But cimzia has a program that sets you up with the extra cost. I have yet after 2 years on this med paid a penny out of pocket. Including the homecare nurse visit I get each month from the nurse who does the injections. Most likely your Doctor if he stated he wants to start you on this has started the ball rolling? Once he gets his paperwork done and your insurance company approves the treatment you should be good to go. Call your insurance company if you need to. And call cimiza directly if you need to. I can give you the number.

But for me cimzia has been the only option other then surgery that has kept my crohns in remission for any length of time. I believe I have tried every medication out there for crohns and nothing worked or it made me worse. I have no idea how long it will continue working for me or even how long my insurance company will allow me to continue on with the treatment. At the costs I am accruing with them I must be a patient who is on some sort of list with the insurance companies Nationwide...

I get a 3 month supply shipped once every 3 months at a cost of 8,282.41 - this does not include the homecare companies bill. I have no idea how much that is since I have never recieved a bill in that 2 year period.

But when I started taking the injections I was in a full fledge flare according to the Doctor, I was also dealing with the first of two abcesses caused by fistulas. (a horrible nightmare).

I did not start to feel any better for a good 6-7 months. I don't know if the seriousness of my flare at that time was why it took so long or if that is typical for any patient with crohns.

When I started the injections I also started a log of how I felt each month after getting the injections. I started noticing more and more joint pain, debilitating at times. Then the headaches. The headaches were pretty bad. I'd say they surprassed any migraine I had ever experienced. This went on each month and before my next dosage I'd be starting to feel good until about the week before my next one was due. Then again over with the same feelings.

Now I do not get the headaches after the injections. The joint pain is seldom but still there just not as severe. I have other issues along with crohns like arthitis and osteoporosis which could contribute to what I have issues with now. My BMs are not D. I'm not perfectly fine but I am in a heck of alot better condition then when I started these.

Sorry for going on but I wanted to share what I could. The direct number to cimzia is 866-424-6942 they are extremely helpful and could tell you anything you needed to know about the assistance program.

Hopefully some of the members that do the cimzia will let you know how its worked for them. It may not work for you as well as it has for me since we all differ in that regard. But my best to you in getting all the information you need to find somethng that will work for you and keep you in remission.

yes, the dr got the paper work rolling....i am just waiting for them to call me. I will do the injections myself. i am glad it is workign so well for you. I am on Remicade now and we had to increase the duration frolm 8 to 6 weeks, due to break thru flares. I am just nervous about the side effects of the Cimzia...

I understand that. When I was first diagnosed I'd read every warining and freak out. I was pretty young and adamant I guess. Had a few disagreements with my GI for sure. But I did get severly ill in 08 and I never ever want to go down that road again. Just do your research and ask questions. Having some normalcy in your life with crohns can be at times rare. I am enjoying quite a bit of normalcy now - more so then I have in years past. So I hope you find something that can help you also.

I've been on Cimzia for several years now. It controls the symptoms to the extent I'm not having a major flare. I have severe Crohn's and have tried just about everything short of voodoo (not opposed to it). For daily maintenance it's very good with no side effects. My doctor doesn't want me to miss any doses because if I'm teetering toward a flare, missing a dose will certainly bring it on. Overall, I can definitely recommend Cimzia.

I have tried everything but cimzia.Since I did not respond to any of the other meds, my dr highly doubts that i will respond to Cimzia.Personally, I read all the side effects on it and I am a little scared of it.I am hope that the bag takes care of a lot of my problems.Plus I dont have insurance I would have to jump through so many hoops to get cimzia paid for!so frustrating!

I failed Remicade and Humira, but Cimzia might be working. I say "might" bc even tho i stopped running to the bathroom 30 times a day, I still go a lot and I also feel like someone kicked the living daylights out of me most of the time. So...seeing as how the only way we know I failed the other two is I almost bled to death, I can't say I know for sure its actually working. I find the side effects a lot milder than those of the other 2 biologics. Remicade is made with mouse protein and my body rejected it in a dozen different ways. Cimzia is made with human protein and it stays in the body longer than Humira 'cos its "pegulated."

Soooo, does that mean it would help if we all took protein caps or powder????

...no I think that's the method for administering the compound...they stick it in a protein and then infuse you with the protein and it goes and sticks to the stuff that causes the problem. Something like that. The protein, I believe, is the "targeted" part of the therapy. So Remicade sends you the medicine through a mouse protein that your body is more likely to reject, and Cimzia and Humira use human proteins, which your body is more likely to accept (less side effects). You'd never know I spent years working at a biotech by that explanation, eh?