I started on Humira in April ’09.
In May of that year, I had a change in insurance (for one month, talk about issues) and my regular birth control pill was no longer covered. So, I switched to a generic brand ~ no big deal, really.. but I did like the name brand I was taking. The name brand was one where you take the pill for 24 days, have a really light short period of 4 days and start over. No generics of that sort yet.
I switched to the generic pill and started having issues with break-thru bleeding… and if I skipped a pill, I could cross off the rest of the month – I’d have break-thru bleeding continually. None of it was heavy, but it was enough that I couldn’t ignore it either.
The humira, on the other hand, was working wonderfully for my crohn’s disease issues. The seemingly only issue I was having was slight irritation at the injection site, not uncommon. Doctor prescribed cream that helped with itching (the itching was mad), and I started holding ice on the injection site after I’d given myself the injection, instead of just before-hand.
The bleeding I was dealing with however, got worse and worse. After 4 months or so, I quit the birth control pill altogether, thinking my body just needed time to get back to normal. I was dragging my feet to do anything about it. I kept thinking it’d stop soon. I would periodically google for keywords regarding the situation… and got pretty bummed that it looked like my options were limited (ablation, hysterectomy, etc) and none of them sounded like something I wanted to have done, at least yet. I also didn’t want to see an OBGYN. I had no need of an OB (I’m done with having babies) and it always seems many OBGYN’s are most active in the OB part of their careers. I wanted a specialist for the GYN part. By January of ’10, I was having continual bleeding, and only a couple of days of nothing, every 6-8 weeks.
Yes, really, this relates to the Humira.
In April ’10, I was really putting a lot of thought into how much of these drugs we take, how often. I decided to skip a month of the humira. Rather, instead of injecting twice a month, I’d just do it once a month. I know, who am I to play doctor?
After almost the whole month, I noticed I was getting my first real break in menstrual flow since the start of those problems a year ago… And then it clicked. So after my “trial” month of Humira, I decided to just go as long as I could without an injection. I made it almost two months (less one week) between injections, before my gut was saying “do something soon, please!”… and guess what, I had a “normal” period during that time and no break-thru bleeding, spotting, or otherwise.
I googled this issues and found Humira can cause issues with women’s cycle – it can cause heavy bleeding, continual bleeding and, I think, lack of … but I will have to re-search again, as I just had to reformat my computer and lost those notes (shame on me for not taking better care with my bookmarks).
No, I haven’t been back to my doctor yet.
Now, I’m thinking I am going to have to and soon. I’ve noticed the past two weeks I’ve been itchy, like my arms (Inside upper arm, near elbows) and my thighs (I do injection into belly)… No rash that I can see, but the itching is definitely getting worse. So much so, that today I took a Benadryl to help.
Aggh. I itch. And I just don’t know about Humira at all any more. Heck, I don’t know about any of the medications any more. It’s so frustrating.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I am currently taking Humira and I also wonder about its side effects but not the bleeding kind. I will say that I had severe menstrual bleeding (before Humira) which caused anemia and was interfering with my life in so many ways. I got the Nuvasure ablation and haven’t had any bleeding since the procedure. Not once. It has changed my life. I, too, was done having children, and that is something one must be sure of before taking that step. I have two healthy children, I am 40 and I have Crohn’s, suffer severe migraines and have serious fatigue issues. No more babies for me.
If you want to personally ask me questions about any of it, feel free to email me.
Thank you, once again, for your raw honesty and sharing your Crohn’s life with us. It helps me when I visit. I suffer too.
I also take Humira, the next couple of days after I take an injection. I bleed easily, which means I was working in the garden and brushed against a scrub and my arm gushed blood for about 15minutes, the next time I had an injection I bumped my leg on a laundry basket while folding clothes, and my leg bled. After a few days it does not do this. But I notice right after the injections. Anybody else have this?
I am 26 and diagnosed with Crohns in 2008. My body seems to have broken down. I’ve lost about 15 pounds and have increasing pain in my left side and lower back. Colonoscopy in February was good and I recently had to go to the ER for pain/nausea/ etc for the first time. Had to get a CT, normal of course. Vicodin is a blessing,but I try not to take it unless the pain is unbearable. I am going to start Humira soon and am terrified. It’s weird that the pain is usually at night. It’s exhausting and embarrassing. My doctor’s are wasting my time and money. God bless my wonderful husband and family. I appreciate this website and glad that I was able to vent.
Hi gals,
Have had crohn’s for over 25 years, am 43 and just started Humira. Have to say I am EXTREMELY excited that there are options other than Prednisone (back in the early 80′s there wasn’t anything else, I finally got Asacol from Canada after my first surgery!) But no matter how many options, none is a cure, none work for everyone and all have side effects… so thanks for sharing your stories and hang in there with the support of loving family and friends. I am comforted in some strange way by your stories of bleeding issues, including “the constant period”…I thought maybe I was heading into another fibroid and looking at hysterectomy myself. Still want to hang on to that old thing, despite all the troubles it has given me!