3 months on adalimumab | When the miracle drug doesn’t work for you

At the beginning of February, I changed medication from Golimumab to the Humira bio-similar, adalimumab. I take this medication for my arthritis and changed because Golimumab stopped working after a few months.

When I was told I was going on Humira (or it’s bio-similar) I was nervous because that was the last medication I had before I had my first ostomy surgery. I’d only had one loading dose but it didn’t work and I had a panic attack when I took it that one time.

However, EVERYONE told me how amazing this drug was. The nurse who came to help me with my first injection told me how life changing it would be. She told me how all of her young patients swear by it as it’s given their life back.

So, I got my hopes up and excited that I’d be pain free. I know these things can take up to 3 months but people I’d spoken to said it’s much quicker.

So I waited, and nothing happened. I still had bad pain days. Then, two and a half months in I started to feel like crap!

I took my normal injection and suddenly that week I had heart palpitations, chest pain, breathlessness, mania and low moods (which had been happening since taking it), feeling hot/sweaty, nausea and loss of appetite.

I went to the doctors who thought it was my thyroid and told me to keep on at my injection. However, my thyroid is normal (yay!) and I ended up with hives around the injection site (and it was really painful).

So, the hospital has taken me off adalimumab and I’m currently waiting to hear what’s happening next.

When the miracle drug doesn’t work for you

I have to say, because everyone I’ve spoken to who is on adalimumab said how good it was, it really got to me when it wasn’t working for me.

I saw no benefit from being on it, it was just making me ill, and I know that at the hospital I’m at there aren’t that many options left to treat my arthritis.

So I got upset and frustrated which made me feel even worse. It didn’t help that I struggled to get hold of anyone at the hospital.

Luckily, my GP used to work in rheumatology and has referred me to a bigger hospital who can treat my arthritis a lot better!

It can be really disheartening when medication doesn’t work for you. It can be frustrating, upsetting, make you feel angry and like you just want to scream at everyone.

But, that doesn’t help in the long run (although, you DO need to get it out of your system!).

Remember that you are a priority and fight to see the relevant doctors/specialist nurses. Ask for what you want and make sure you’re getting the best care possible.

I didn’t do this with my bowel and didn’t get the right medication which is possibly one reason I don’t have my bowel anymore. I want to make sure that what happened with my gastro team DOESN’T happen with my rheumy team.

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