When Enbrel stopped working for me, I just started to feel worse. By the time of my next Ruemy appointment, I could not walk on my feet. My husband wheeled me in the office in a wheelchair. I had no interest in what the blood work said, I was getting worse. It did not happen all of a sudden. In June I was doing pretty well, and by September I couldn't walk.
I am now taking Humira. I sure hope this works longer than the Enbrel, which worked really well for about three months.
I hope this was helpful.

1) How klong have you been on it? Long enough to give it a good try?
2) Are you also taking methatrexate which is recommended to use along with it?
3) Did it ever make you feel better and then stop, or never worrked at all?

My doctor and I, base everything on how I feel. Neither of us care much about test scores or numbers. I would not want a doctor who ignored how I felt or gave more weight to anything else.

but don't despair- if one doesn't work another might..

But you have to give it a good six weeks, I think AND take it with MTX

My Rheu does not go by blood work by it self, which is good because my blood work only showed that my vit D level was really low. He goes by how I feel, and the swelling and stiffness I am feeling. I have only been on Humira since the end of Sept - along with MTX. When I started the dr said if I was not feeling an improvement within 2 months, we would try something else.

I have had a huge improvement. I am still sore, get tired easy, my fingers are still stiff, my grip is not where I would like it to be. BUT, I am soooooo much better than I was. If this is all the better I get, I would be satisfied.

Thanks, everyone.

I have been on MTX since January. Started with 4 pills, increased to 6 pills after a month and then increased to 7 pills 2 months ago.

We added Humira in March. I did bi-weekly shots until August, then my rheumy upped it to weekly shots. All in all, I've had 24 shots of Humira. I'm also on 7.5 mgs of Prednisone. I do feel better than I did a year ago but I really think it's mainly due to the Prednisone & MTX. The couple of times I had to skip Humira because of illness, I barely noticed a difference.

I just feel my rheumy is a bit slow to change meds. This has it's pros of course - at least I'm not left wondering 'what if I'd stuck it out a little longer'. Prior to MTX, I was on Plaquenil for 6 months without any benefit before he agreed to drop it and move on.

Hi, I am the queen of failed biologics as i have been on Humira, Enbrel, Remicade, Cimzia, Simponi, Orencia, and now on Rituxan. I probably missed one in there. I have gone through all of these in the past 6 years.The way I know is I have bad flares, I start to become very stiff and with Simponi I had difficulty walking near the end of the day for months. The biologics have worked for various lengths of time. Orencia I was on for 2 years and that was the longest for any biologic thus far. Like Rass, my doctor bases decisions on how I feel. My Rheumatologist also does lab work when i am complaining about pain to see if there is a correlation to the pain I am having and lab work changes. I may have an x-ray done if i am complaning of pain in the knees, limbs or feet. Rass is correct, if one does not work another one may. And there are several of them.

My rheumy asked if I think it's working and she does a joint exam. She does not actually check my SED rate because she says it's obvious that I have active RA. My blood work is to make sure my liver is okay. She let's me be the judge and guides me in picking a biologic.

my symptoms tend to return. First Humira, we upped the dosage and monitored for three months then switched - with enbrel we didn't go much past 3 or 4 months, it was obvious it wasn't working. With Remicade, it was an allergic reaction so I was switched right away. With Orencia, we were "discussing" perhaps changing it at one year when it hadnt' seemed to really "kick in" - then switched to injectibles and had great success

By the way, YOU didn't fail, the drug did. I know the medical community says that the patient failed the treatment, but that is just so wrong!

As mentioned by others, my rheumatologist also judges the drugs effectiveness by asking how I am feeling, how often I am having flares, & by exam of joints. He does not order labs other that usual bi-monthy cbc, chem etc. Good luck!