I have Crohn's Disease and recently started a course of Humira.

[HarryC]

I have noticed over the past few weeks, mid-treatment cycle I start feeling anxious,depressed and rundown, I was sent by my IBD adviser to my GP for some blood test which revealed Haemoglobin @ 9, B12 OK Folate OK and Ferritin down to 8. I was wondering has anyone else experienced this reaction with this medication and could it be an iron defiance ?

Best Regards

HarryC

[Marz]

...sorry - I was diagnosed with Crohns some 40 years ago - but I do not know what Humira is. Having been told your Folate and B12 is OK makes me suspect things are not - both need to be HIGH in the range. 'GP's often happy for you to be just in range. Ferritin far too LOW.....as that is stored Iron I am suspecting Folates are also low and B12.

With Crohns these items are often VERY low due to malabsorption...also VitD. You may wish to look at vitamindcouncil.com where you can seek out an article about Crohns and VITD. VitD is a steroidal pre-hormone and is also anti-inglammatory. I have had years of surgeries for Crohns et al and have recently confounded gastroenterologists here in Crete with a recent colonoscopy. Apart from low-medium lesions all was good. Apparently at my age that is RARE !!

Do you have Hashimotos ?

[HarryC in reply to Marz]

Hi Marz, thank you for your reply, I was diagnosed in 1984 and had a section since then I have been taking steroids and other drugs which have resulted in numerous side affects,14y's ago I got a new consultant and though private health care he manage to put me on Infliximab which was relatively new a the time and is an ant-inflammatory drug, three months ago I had a massive reaction and went into anaphylactic shock which meant I could no longer have that treatment, hence the reason I started on Humira which is a later version and based on human protein as apposed to infliximab which is based on Mouse protein! yes you read it right.

The doc's have now put me on Ferrous Fumerate which I think is an Iron supplement which should help.

[Marz]

Do you have Hashimotos ? Are you on Vitamin D ? I have always refused all steroids for the Crohns and only once took an anti-inflammatory which made me worse and had me crawling around. I have had several surgical interventions for Crohns over the years and always with complications of an abscess in the gut and so on. Have you read any books about healing the gut ? What is your diet like ? With the Ferrous Fumerate you need B12 I believe and of course a whopping dose of Vitamin C to aid absorption. Did you read the article of Crohns and VitD on the VitD Council website ? There is so much we can do to help ourselves and steer clear of the nasty drugs. Are you on T4 as well ? VitD is anti-inflammatory as I mentioned before. Docs not aware of what is going on outside the box ! Keeping the body alkaline is also good as illness rarely takes place in an alkaline body - just the acidic.

Books: Gut Reaction - Gudrun Jonsson - old and cheap on Amazon !

Gut and Psychology Syndrome - GAPS - by Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride

Books about Hashimotos - if you have it - always cover healing the gut in great detail.

Wishing you well -

[Marz]

I sent you a helpful reply some 9 months ago - how are things....?

[URBANHERBALIST]

GET OFF GLUTEN

START TAKING HERBS THAT HEAL THE GUT

MARSHMALLOW ROOT

PLANTAIN LEAF

CALENDULA FLOWER

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to URBANHERBALIST]

In common with most on-line forums, we appreciate posters who do not shout (use all capital letters).

All three of your responses here are in all capitals.

[URBANHERBALIST in reply to helvella]

my apologies i was making a label for a formula and left the caps lock on

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

I know nothing but found this:

Med Hypotheses. 2012 Jan;78(1):33-5. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2011.09.035. Epub 2011 Oct 13.

Complications of TNF-α antagonists and iron homeostasis.

Ghio AJ1, Weinberg ED.

Author information

Abstract

TNF-α is a central regulator of inflammation and its blockade downregulates other pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. Subsequently, TNF-α antagonists are currently used in treatment regimens directed toward several inflammatory diseases. Despite a beneficial effect, the use of TNF-α antagonists is associated with an increased risk for infections and neoplasms; the basis for these complications is unclear. This cytokine also participates in iron homeostasis and the sequestration of this metal, mediated by TNF-α, is considered protective. We hypothesize that treatment with TNF-α antagonists predisposes the patient to infections and neoplasms by reversing the sequestration of host iron mediated by the cytokine and increasing available concentrations of this metal. It is recommended that patients who are to receive TNF-α antagonists be tested for iron overload and the use of these agents in those individuals with excess iron should be reconsidered. Furthermore, it is predicted that alternative attempts to treat inflammatory diseases by blocking other pivotal cytokines that also participate in iron homeostasis (e.g. IFN-γ, IL-1, and IL-6) will similarly be associated with infections and neoplastic complications.

Published by Elsevier Ltd.

PMID:

22000712

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] [i/]

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/220...

Rod