How soon do rheumatoid arthritis patients typically notice an improvement in symptoms with TNF inhibitors?
A. Improvement can be very rapid. Some people feel better after the very first dose, although people with very severe disease might take longer to respond. On average, however, patients usually see improvements in a matter of days or weeks, which is one of the big advantages of TNF inhibitors. By comparison, in patients treated with methotrexate, improvements may not be seen for several months. Q. How are TNF inhibitors administered? A. Humira is self-injected subcutaneously, usually every other week. If there s no response, we can switch the patient to a weekly injection. Enbrel is also self-injected subcutaneously, usually once per week. Remicade is administered by intravenous infusion at a doctor s office. Two weeks after the first dose, patients receive a second dose. A month after that, they receive a third dose. They then receive subsequent doses every eight weeks, although this schedule can be adjusted. The big plus with Remicade is that it s the TNF inhibitor with the biggest d
