Is Humira worth the risk?

[isabel_alfonso]

Hi, my nephew was recently diagnosed with JIA. He is 15. He is not in pain but he has some erosion in the joints. My sister and I are trying to decide if Humira is worth the risk, as we are reading the indications and they can be pretty scary. Thanks for accepting me as part of the forum. My sister will join in, too!

[clairem87]

My son has been on humira and methotrexate for 2 years and I honestly don’t know how we would have managed without it as we tried lots of other medications and they didn’t work he was in a lot of pain at the time and had a lot of active joints. I know every one is different and you have to do what right or each individual child.

[isabel_alfonso in reply to clairem87]

Thank you so much for your answer!

[Daniel-Madge]

Hello

To be honest you need to discuss this with your doctor. Preferably a consultant paediatric rheumatologist. you might want to discuss with the doctor the long term impact of the medication re the long term impact of having damaged joints. The advice we were always given was that they medics wanted our daughters to finish growing with as little joint damage as possible. I guess this makes sense to us as a family as there is a chance of the JIA going into remission but no chance (as I understand it) of the joints healing later in life (though there are presumably a range of options for managing the joints if they become painful later in life)

I don’t think it would be sensible for anyone to advise you other than the doctor in charge of your nephews care. There are too many individual factors to take into consideration. The paediatric rheumatologists in England have a good reputation.

[isabel_alfonso in reply to Daniel-Madge]

Thank you Daniel! My sister is getting a second opinion. Thanks for sharing yours!

[isabel_alfonso in reply to isabel_alfonso]

We are in the United States.