HUMIRA is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of moderate to severe Crohn’s disease in adults who have not responded well to conventional treatments. HUMIRA is also for these adults with moderate to severe Crohn's disease who have lost response to or are unable to tolerate infliximab.
HUMIRA is a medicine called a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blocker. HUMIRA is taken by injection and is available by prescription only.
HUMIRA is used to:
Reduce the signs and symptoms of:
moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in adults. HUMIRA can be used alone or with methotrexate or with certain other medicines. HUMIRA may prevent further damage to your bones and joints and may help your ability to perform daily activities.
moderate to severe polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in children 4 years of age and older. HUMIRA can be used alone or with methotrexate or with certain other medicines.
psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in adults. HUMIRA can be used alone or with certain other medicines. HUMIRA may prevent further damage to your bones and joints and may help your ability to perform daily activities.
ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in adults.
moderate to severe Crohn's disease (CD) in adults who have not responded well to conventional treatments. HUMIRA is also for these adults who have lost response to or are unable to tolerate infliximab.
Treat moderate to severe chronic (lasting a long time) plaque psoriasis (Ps) in adults who are under the ongoing care of a physician, have the condition in many areas of their body, and who may benefit from taking injections or pills (systemic therapy) or phototherapy (treatment using ultraviolet light alone or with pills). When considering HUMIRA, your physician will determine if other systemic therapies are medically less appropriate.
Directions:
You take HUMIRA by giving yourself an injection under the skin, once every other week (after your initial starting doses). HUMIRA cannot be taken by mouth. Ask your doctor to show you or a caregiver how to inject HUMIRA. Make sure you have been shown how to inject HUMIRA before you do it yourself.
The first injection should be given under the supervision of a healthcare professional.
Side Effects:One of the most common side effects with HUMIRA is injection site reactions such as redness, rash, swelling, itching, or bruising. These symptoms usually will go away within a few days. If you have pain, redness, swelling around the injection site that doesn’t go away within a few days or gets worse, call your doctor right away.
Warnings:Serious infections have happened in patients taking HUMIRA. These infections include tuberculosis (TB) and infections caused by viruses, fungi, or bacteria that have spread throughout the body. Some patients have died from these infections. Your doctor should test you for TB before starting HUMIRA, and monitor you closely for signs and symptoms of TB during treatment with HUMIRA.
Before starting HUMIRA: You should not start taking HUMIRA if you have any kind of infection. Tell your doctor if you think you have an infection, are being treated for an infection, have signs of an infection (such as a fever, cough, or flu-like symptoms), have any open cuts or sores on your body, or get a lot of infections or have infections that keep coming back. Tell your doctor if you have diabetes, have TB or have been in close contact with someone with TB, were born in, lived in, or traveled to countries where there is more risk for getting TB, live or have lived in certain parts of the country (such as the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys) where there is an increased risk for getting certain kinds of fungal infections (histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, or blastomycosis), have or have had hepatitis B, use the medicine Kineret (anakinra), or are scheduled to have major surgery.
Tell your doctor if you have any numbness or tingling, or have a disease that affects your nervous system such as multiple sclerosis or Guillain-Barré syndrome, have heart failure or other heart conditions, are pregnant, become pregnant, plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. Tell your doctor if you are allergic to HUMIRA or any of its ingredients or are allergic to rubber or latex. The needle cover of the prefilled syringe and the pen contain dry natural rubber.
Also, tell your doctor if you have recently received or are scheduled for any vaccines. Except for live vaccines, patients may still receive vaccines while on HUMIRA. It is recommended that children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis be brought up to date with all immunizations prior to starting HUMIRA.
