Two babies for the Crohn's Baby!

Baby Boy A

Baby Boy B

Hi everyone,
I know...it has been over a year. In that year a lot has happened! You have guessed the obvious! Twins are expected this spring!

Sooooo it turned out Humira gave me drug induced Lupus....BUT it did help stabilize my Crohn's. Granted, not being about to move around and being in immense pain for a few months is not my cup of tea, but I am grateful. Please note, this is not a typical reaction, in fact it was quite surprising for the doctors that care for me.

I took myself off Humira last January, and a few months later, the chemicals were out of my body, leaving me to explore other options. I found two wonderful options- 1. a vegetarian lifestyle and 2. acupuncture. I attribute my continuing health to this new lifestyle!

We found out this past summer that I could not conceive naturally (it seems my body attacks more than just my digestive system....) BUT lovely NPs and techs at the Reproductive Science Center helped my husband and I through other avenues. The outcome...twins! I went into the pregnancy with my Crohn's in a good place, and so far it has continued.

I look forward to sharing my baby-bearing Crohns experience and please let me know if you have any questions. AND if anyone else has Crohns and twins, I would love to learn more about your experience:)

October Greetings

To be 100% Italian...to have a Sicilian Mom who makes incredible tomato sauce...and to only eat it when I feel like spending ample time in the bathroom.....that is a curse.

But there are worse things! I hope everyone's tummies are doing okay this month! Guess what- I am 90% there!! GI Doc/Hero has given me 2 more months to play around with Humira. I have increased injections to now 1x/wk and it is working!!! AND I am a still a big baby every Saturday when my husband needs to inject me....

HIM: "It's time."
ME: "Nah, let's do it later..."
HIM: "No, let's just get it over with."
ME: "Come on! Inject yourself and see what it feels like!"
HIM: "Yeah Right. "

Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to try for babies soon!!!! The power of optimism combined with plain food, no dairy, no high fructose corn syrup, and no processed foods.

TIP: For those of you who need protein, but have a hard time digesting meat, even if you are lactose-intolerant, I would try Chobani Greek Yogurt! I can eat this! It is packed with protein and probiotics, makes me full and does not make me sick! Give it a whirl!

Humira Tales

The Humira Pen

Look at the medicine in the window. It's clear, no bubbles, good to go!

Terry prepares to release the button

Hello all. It's a sticky, dreary day in Rhode Island. Perfect weather for blogging. I want to take this opportunity to discuss Humira. While I will provide my humorous, patient perspective, please visit: http://www.humira.com/ to learn more.

For those of you who don't know me as well...Quick Recap: I have had Crohn's for almost 9 years. Traditional pill and maintenance methods had not worked to control it or send it into remission. A blockage in my ilium led me to surgery in 2004 where they removed 1 foot of diseased intestine. Reasonable for a few years on maintenance meds, then it got bad, I opted to try homeopathic methods (cause I want to have babies and rid myself of crazy chemicals). Bad idea for me, got worse. Traditional and maintenance methods (with the exception of prednisone) did not work and since no one should be on prednisone for a lengthy time...we have moved onto biologics.

Since I was a lovely rare case and had an allergic reaction to Remicade, I am now trying Humira, which is an injection that I take every two weeks. I have been on Humira for 3 months now.

*One dose is one pen (see above). Treatment 1 is 4 pens, Treatment 2 is 2 pens and every dose thereafter is just 1 pen. *Maintenance breaks down into 1 pen every two weeks.*

Where do you inject? Crohn's patients in ject either in their belly or their thighs. My mom started Humira the same week I did and she prefers her thighs while I prefer my belly. It is essentially, where does it hurt less?! Let us tell you- that injection hurts like a M*F*. Obviously, we can deal, cause we are still on it. I whine the 10 minutes prior and tend to pysch myself out (which is why you can see Terry in the picture- he is the one that actually pushes the button to inject). The actual injection only lasts a few seconds, it is over when you see neon yellow in the window of the pen. After you give yourself a safety of a few more seconds, you can remove the pen and discard in a "sharps container".

The injection site is not tender, within minutes the pain is gone and then...I start to feel like a wimp cause I whined for so long before hand.

The big question: Is it helping?

I think so...I will still on prednisone when I started Humira and we weaned me off of that in the first few weeks of the treatment. At the last doctor's visit, one month ago, my very cool and creative GI Doc decided to tag team my Humira up with another med for a short period of time since I was not showing as much improvement as he wanted- my options- prednisone (steroid), entocort (steroid) or Xiflaxan (antibiotic that only targets the intestinal tract). Can you guesss which one I chose?

Of course I chose Xifaxan! With their powers combined, I have had on average 4-5 bathroom trips a day, I still need 9-10 hours of sleep each night but I am not fatigued during the day and my activity level is up. In a few days I will be done with Xifaxan, let's see what happens with just Humira! Will I visit the bathroom more frequently? To be determined!

Note: If you would like to learn more about Crohn's Disease and biologics, this is a very helpful webcast from Everyday Health.