On biologics with pain?
I’ve been taking Humira for five months now, and although I have much less flares than before the treatment, I still wake up with a lot of pain and stiffness.
Do you take biologics and still feel some stiffness or does it go away completely for the treatment to be successful?
Hi
, I have been taking Enbrel since I was diagnosed 2 years ago and it has really helped my pain and stiffness go down a lot! But I also do a lot of stretching and exercises for my back and have cleaned up my diet a lot too which I think has helped too. But maybe if your Humira isn't helping as much as you had hoped you could speak to your doctor or rheumatologist about trying another biologic as there are other options out there!
Hope your situation improves soon!
All the best,
James (Community Member)
I've been on Enbrel for 6 months, still have a lot of stiffness and pain
but I guess the activity is making less damage- or I prefer to think of it like that! 😀 that’s what I’m hoping 😊
I take Exemptia (Adalimumab) in a gap of 3-3.5 months (depending on the trigger)
and the pain starts reducing in 3-4 days.my doctor suggested we shorten the gap that was of 14 days to 12 or 13, given my symptoms. Hopefully I’ll soon do it with more than a month’s interval as is your case 😀 yes absolutely🙌😊 initially i too took them in a gap of 2 weeks n then slowly increased to months. Am sure you'll get back better😎✌
, thank you! I feel I was much better off about one or two months ago - stiffness wise - and that it has gotten much worse since I relaxed on my low starch diet. Confusing though, because I did do a microbiota test, examining all bacteria in my gut and there is no excessive klebsiella, so it seems that the entire low starch diet basis wouldn't necessarily apply to me, I don't have a thriving gut for this bacteria. BUT, regardless, my symptoms HAVE worsened since I picked up on eating bananas and other fruits, rice, lentils, beans and granola. 🙁
Other than that, I am feeling much better with my treatment, I have daily injections of FORTEO - a medication to treat my severe osteoporosis and twice a month, my HUMIRA injections.
My hip inflammation is much better, and I feel stronger and can move more easily than months ago - when I was stuck in bed with limited mobility, wishing for a walker!
But it's so clear that these things can change from one day to another and that another crisis is just around the corner. All it takes is a long drive or a night slept in a poor mattress, or if I deviate further from the ideal diet...
But I do need to improve my sleep, will invest in a massage mat and more medication for better sleep. Thank you! 😀
That is so interesting! I have actually had multiple gut microbiota tests done, as well, because of all of the research linking AS and other autoimmune disorders to the microbiome. I pursued them on my own with alternative health practitioners, not with a medical doctor (to my knowledge, they don't offer them, at least in the US). I have used different labs over the years, and I've had various different results each time—one time there was indeed an overgrowth of Klebsiella, but other times it was normal and other bacteria had overgrown. It is quite a puzzle. I have taken antimicrobial and antiparasitic herbs to reduce these overgrowths, and while my digestive health always felt better, it never really equated with an improvement in AS symptoms. Even with my microbiome looking better on testing, my AS symptoms were still bad.
Regarding the low starch diet for AS, I haven't looked deeply enough into it because years ago, I read that you have to perform an "iodine test" on all foods and it felt like too much work. But I did commit to a low-carb diet for several years, and I have grown curious again about low-starch. I know there is a study being done now to examine this diet for AS. Did you follow a list of foods to avoid, or did you test the food with iodine? I am curious to know! (There is a Low/No Starch Diet group on Facebook that I am a part of, perhaps I should poke around in there a bit more.)
I am so glad your hip inflammation is better! Every win counts. I totally agree with you—even small things like eating a little more loosely or sleeping in the wrong way can throw us off and worsen symptoms. It's not fair because life happens and we can't be perfect all of the time! I'm just grateful for this community so we can share our wins and losses.
Gentle hugs,
Diana (Team Member), I researched a bit on the low starch diet and also spoke with someone who was a patient of Dr. Ebringer. A lot of foods have starch, so it is basically a low carb, adding some further restrictions. Using iodine to test is just on those cases when you have a doubt about a certain food, and actually really simple. I have some from the pharmacy and when in doubt (a coconut chip or a nut), I put some drops and will immediately know if there is starch. It's actually fun to do with the kids...
But a diet focused too much on protein and I'm not too keen on animal protein, so it's a bit frustrating, to have to depend on meats and eggs so much. 😀
