I did humira, it did not work. After 2 more bios and failed, I got on Orencia and it worked. Orencia is great, but takes the longest to see results. Took me over 6 months to feel back to normal.

Truthfully if this is your first bio, I would try humira first. Orencia is usually given if others do not work.

Lin

When I was first diagnosed (June, 2012), I was put on Methotrexate, and Folic Acid. That did not help at all. In October, the Rheum. added Humira, along with Methotrexate and Folic Acid. Within 2 weeks, I could feel a positive difference. Before, the pain in my feet was horrible, almost all day long and all of the time. Now, my feet have some discomfort and are a bit sore. I can easily, and happily live with this. For my hands, there has not been much change, but RA was not affecting my hands nearly as badly as it attacked my feet.

I am giving myself the injections, every other week. It is a very easy thing to do, but the shot - at least for me - really, really hurts/burns. But, I try to remember that the 60 seconds of burning is well worth the end result.

I did get a sinus infection 3 weeks ago - something I have never had before. I had to skip my Humira shot until after my antibiotics were done.

The down side of biologics: they have a lot of potentially nasty side effects; they are ungodly expensive; your insurance company will hate you for even trying to get them; it can take a lot of trial and error to find one that works for you; your body gets used to them after awhile, necessitating the search for another that works; they all have to be given by injection or as an IV.

The up side: when they work, they really work. They can help slow (not stop) the disintegration of your joints.

You have to decide if you feel crummy enough to assume the risks of these drugs. That decision can change with time and experience, too.

your insurance will probably decide which one you can have, and it will probably be the humira, because as dreamchaser said, orencia is usually used after others don't work. i've tried both, with not great results from either one. i was allergic to the orencia, and the humira worked great at first but my body got used to it shockingly fast and then it just stopped doing anything. if your body doesn't get used to it so fast, the humira might be great. and i've heard great things about orencia from lots of people, but man did i ever hate it. good luck with whatever you end up trying!

Humira is working really well for me. It does hurt to take the shot - like a wasp sting, but I feel so good that I'm willing to deal with it. I haven't had any side effects and I have a really good doc that watches for any abnormalities.

And as far as I know, my insurance company desn't hate me lol.

I was diagnosed with RA two years ago, and I have been on Orencia for 1.5 years. I had milder symptoms of RA (mostly bad left foot), but other meds didn't work for me, so my doctor started had me start Orencia as a first biologic med. It works pretty well for me and I am on medically induced remission for quite a while now. I do not take any pain medication. My insurance coveres a cost for Orencia at 100% but I was shocked to see how much it costs per month for me to get the IV. The bill is $3,800 per month!!!! I am lucky that I haven't had any issues with my insurance, but I have to keep working so I can keep my insurance. lol.