Cimzia - how long to 'kick in'?

Hi -

I've been on Cimzia since the start of May/end April - so I'm running into my 4th month on it. I've attempted to reduce my steroid dosage several times, but as yet haven't got below 30mg without diarrhoea & I've had to increase to max dosage a few times & be hospitalised for iv steroids. But I've also got a small bowel bacterial overgrowth & since restarting the antibiotics for that my lingering symptoms have dramatically reduced, apart from this one pain I can't seem to shake. I'm very steroid depenent so I don't expect to totally get off them, but I was thinking at this stage on the cimzia I should be able to at least reduce down a bit more.

I'm wondering what other peoples experiences on cimzia are, particularly in relation to how long it took to take effect or how long before it was decided it wasnt working? I've had a scope done & prior to cimzia I had quite a lot of ulceration & now I've just inflammation - but they dont know if thats from increasing the steroids or from it. but I elected to hold out a bit longer with the cimzia on the off chance it might be doing something.

Also is anyone combining another drug with cimzia like methotrexate or imuran? I was on methotrexate prior to cimzia & i got down to a low dose of steroids before i got a recurrance of inflammation so I'm wondering would a combination of cimzia & another drug work better? & can you do this on steroids as well or would your immune system be totally wiped? as I know thats a bit of a concern for my drs

Thanks!!

I started Cimzia June 30 along with Methotrexate(used since Apr 7) and slowly coming off Prednisone down to 1/2 pill for one more week...Just had follow up with GI Dr Aug 4 as no change in frequency of diarrhea and spasms/twinges came back when cut to 1/2 tab Prednisone two weeks ago. Dr thinks my diarrhea may be helped with fiber now...after 6 months of limited diet because I have a stricture in sm int...3days on generic fiber con starting to bulk up but still semi loose bowel movements...was experiencing "accidents" 2-3 times a week. Feb 14 started Mercaptopurine and ended up in hospital Mar 19-21 with Pancreatitis/anemia/gallstones. Since I haven't been able to work since Feb and costs are tremendous was wondering if anyone knows of any monetary assistance available? I don't know how am going to get property taxes paid this year and don't want to lose our home!

I started my cimzia treatment about a year ago and am still waiting for it to kick in. :(