Adalimumab
About Adalimumab
Adalimumab is an injectable prescription medicine used to reduce chronic inflammation in the body. It is clinically approved to treat several autoimmune conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. By targeting the source of swelling and pain, this medicine helps manage symptoms and prevent further tissue damage.
For best results, you must inject Adalimumab consistently on the schedule prescribed by your doctor. Because it is given as a subcutaneous injection, you can take it with or without food. To support your treatment, incorporating lifestyle changes such as a nutrient-dense diet and low-impact exercise can help manage your symptoms and improve overall mobility.
While using Adalimumab, you may experience mild side effects, such as pain or redness at the injection site, headache, or cold symptoms. However, you must contact your doctor immediately if you experience serious side effects, including signs of infection like a high fever, severe skin rashes, or yellowing of the skin or eyes.
Before starting treatment, tell your doctor if you have a history of tuberculosis, frequent infections, heart failure, or nervous system disorders. Do not take this medicine if you currently have a severe active infection. Your doctor will run blood tests to ensure it is safe for you to start.
This medicine can interact with other treatments, such as live vaccines and other biologic drugs, which can increase your risk of severe infections. It is also important to talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or are an older adult, as special precautions may be needed.
Uses of Adalimumab
Medicinal Benefits
Using Adalimumab as prescribed helps reduce inflammation and improve symptoms of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. Here are the key benefits you can expect:
- Relieves pain and inflammation: Helps reduce joint pain, stiffness, and swelling, making everyday movements more comfortable.
- Supports digestive health: Helps heal the lining of the digestive tract, reducing flare-ups, abdominal pain, and improving digestive stability in inflammatory bowel disease.
- Improves skin health: Helps clear red, scaly skin patches, relieving itching and discomfort associated with plaque psoriasis.
Directions for Use
- Follow your doctor’s instructions on the dosage and timing of this medication to ensure safety.
- Adalimumab will be administered by the doctor or healthcare professional.
- Do not self-administer.
Storage
Side Effects of Adalimumab
Common Side Effects (Usually mild):
- Pain, redness, swelling, or itching at the injection site
- Cold symptoms, such as a runny nose, sneezing, or sore throat
- Headache
- Mild skin rash
Serious Side Effects (Consult your doctor right away):
- Signs of a severe infection, such as fever, sweating, chills, muscle aches, or a persistent cough
- Shortness of breath, swelling of your ankles or feet, or sudden weight gain
- Numbness, tingling, muscle weakness, or changes in your vision
- Pale skin, easy bruising, or unusual bleeding from the nose or gums
- Allergic reactions, including swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, or severe dizziness
Medicines Containing this Salt
View AllDrug Warnings
- Check before use: Inspect the liquid in the syringe or pen before injecting. It should be clear and colourless to pale yellow. Do not use it if it is cloudy, discoloured, or contains visible particles.
- Do not reuse needles or syringes: Dispose of used needles and syringes immediately in an approved puncture-resistant sharps container.
- Avoid live vaccines: Do not receive live vaccines, such as live influenza or shingles vaccines, while taking Adalimumab, as they may increase the risk of serious infections.
- Inform healthcare professionals: Tell your doctor, dentist, surgeon, and other healthcare professionals that you are taking Adalimumab before undergoing any medical or dental procedures.
- Keep an injection record: Maintain a written log of your injection dates, times, and injection sites to help ensure proper rotation of injection locations.
Drug Interactions
- Biologic medicines: Taking Adalimumab alongside other biologic drugs (such as abatacept, anakinra, or rituximab) can significantly increase your risk of severe, life-threatening infections.
- Live vaccines: Combining this medicine with live vaccines can cause active infections from the vaccine virus because your immune response is lowered.
Drug-Drug Interactions Checker List:
Safety Advice
Alcohol
consult your doctorIt is not known if alcohol interacts with Adalimumab. Please consult the doctor.
Pregnancy
cautionIf you are pregnant or planning pregnancy, inform your doctor before receiving Adalimumab. Your doctor may prescribe this medicine if the benefits outweigh the risks.
Breast Feeding
cautionIf you are breastfeeding, inform your doctor before receiving Adalimumab.
Driving
cautionAdalimumab will be administered in the hospital setting. Hence, driving is not recommended.
Liver
cautionAdalimumab should be used with caution if you have liver disease. Dose adjustment may be needed in patients with liver impairment.
Kidney
cautionAdalimumab should be used with caution if you have kidney disease. Dose adjustment may be needed in patients with liver impairment.
Children
cautionAdalimumab is not recommended in children below two years of age as safety and efficacy are not established. In children above two years of age, it will be administered by the pediatrician. Adalimumab is used in children only for the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, paediatric Crohn’s disease, and uveitis.
Habit Forming
Diet & Lifestyle Advise
- Practice excellent hygiene: Because this medicine lowers your body's ability to fight infections, wash your hands frequently with soap and water, and avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Avoid raw or undercooked foods: Protect yourself from foodborne illnesses by avoiding raw meats, raw seafood, and unpasteurized dairy products, as your immune system is less active.
- Stay active with gentle exercise: If you are treating joint conditions, engage in low-impact physical activities like swimming, cycling, or walking to keep joints flexible and reduce stiffness.
- Identify food triggers: If you are treating Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, keep a food diary to identify foods that trigger flares, and focus on a diet rich in easy-to-digest nutrients.
- Protect your skin: Wear sunscreen and protective clothing outdoors, as some inflammatory skin conditions can become more sensitive during treatment.
Special Advise
- It is advised to closely monitor the patient for infections like active tuberculosis during and after the treatment, though the patient gets a negative tuberculin test.
- It is essential to inform your doctor if you have any active viral, bacterial, and fungal infections before starting Adalimumab.
Patients Concern
Disease/Condition Glossary
Rheumatoid arthritis: It is an auto-immune disease (the body's immune system attacks its tissue) that causes joint pain and damage. It occurs when the immune system does not work properly. Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include pain, swelling, stiffness, deformities and loss of joint function.
Ankylosing spondylitis: It causes pain and stiffness in the spine. The pain generally starts in the lower back and can spread to the neck, damaged joints, or other body parts. Ankylosing spondylitis symptoms include decreased flexibility, which usually leads to a hunched-forward posture and pain in the back and joints.
Psoriatic arthritis: It is a type of inflammatory arthritis which occurs in patients with psoriasis. It could also occur in patients without psoriasis, particularly in those with a family history of psoriasis. It affects large joints in the lower extremities, the distal joints of toes and fingers, and the back and pelvis. Symptoms include inflammation of joints, difficulty moving, swelling, patches of red, scaly skin and pain.
Plaque psoriasis: Plaque psoriasis is a most common autoimmune condition in which skin cells multiply faster than normal, resulting in white scales and itchy, red, dry patches. Certain medications, infections, skin injury, stress, and tobacco or alcohol use are the common triggers for plaque psoriasis.
Ulcerative colitis: Ulcerative colitis is a serious inflammatory bowel disease causing inflammation in the digestive tract. It produces ulcers on the inner lining of the large intestine, which may cause bleeding and discharge of pus and mucus. The common symptoms include bloody stools, stomach pain, rectal pain, diarrhoea, fever, or weight loss. Additionally, it may cause other problems such as joint pain or swelling, mouth sores, skin problems, decreased appetite, or nausea. Ulcerative Colitis mostly occurs in people between the age of 15 to 30 years.
Crohn’s disease: Crohn’s disease is a type of chronic inflammatory bowel disease that can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from mouth to anus. But mostly occurs in the small intestine and large intestine. The symptoms include blood in stools, stomach cramps, tiredness, diarrhoea, fever, weight loss, or loss of appetite.
Uveitis: The inner wall of the eye's middle layer is called the uvea. Any inflammation in the uvea is known as uveitis. The causes of uveitis could be an eye injury, viral/bacterial infection, or any underlying disease conditions. If untreated, uveitis could lead to loss of vision. Common symptoms include redness, blurry vision, pain, and swelling. Sometimes, it can also occur after eye surgery.
FAQs
Adalimumab is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, plaque psoriasis, Crohn's disease, uveitis, and ulcerative colitis. By reducing inflammation, it helps relieve pain, swelling, redness, stiffness, and other symptoms associated with these autoimmune conditions.
Adalimumab contains adalimumab, an antirheumatic medicine belonging to the TNF inhibitor class. It works by blocking TNF-α, a protein that causes inflammation, helping reduce inflammation and symptoms of autoimmune diseases.
Adalimumab affects your immune system and makes you more susceptible to infections. Hence, it is not recommended in people with active infections like tuberculosis or abnormal liver enzymes. Adalimumab can also increase the risk of developing cancers; hence, informing your doctor if you have a history of any cancer is essential.
Treatment with Adalimumab can help reduce inflammation, pain, redness, and swelling associated with various autoimmune disorders.
Adalimumab which contains Adalimumab, can weaken your immune system. Since it affects the immune system, it may increase your risk of developing infections. It is important to follow your doctor's advice and inform them if you have any existing infections or health concerns before starting treatment.
Adalimumab can be used alongside other arthritis medicines such as methotrexate, prednisolone, naproxen, ibuprofen, and paracetamol. However, Adalimumab should not be used with other biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs).
Adalimumab should be stopped before surgery. It can be resumed after the operation, once the wound has healed and there is no infection, as determined by your surgeon and rheumatologist.
Adalimumab causes side effects such as rash, headache, sinusitis, upper respiratory infections, fever, and application site reactions. Therefore, please contact a doctor if these do not reduce and persist for longer durations.
Yes, you can travel with Adalimumab. It can be stored at room temperature up to 77°F (25°C) for up to 14 days, but it must be protected from light and kept from freezing. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about travel cases and airport security documentation.
Yes, your doctor will perform a tuberculosis (TB) skin or blood test and check for hepatitis B before you start treatment. They will also monitor your blood counts during therapy. Talk to your doctor about these safety tests.
There is no direct interaction between alcohol and Adalimumab. However, alcohol can increase liver strain or trigger flares for conditions like psoriasis or inflammatory bowel disease. Talk to your doctor to see if drinking alcohol is safe for you.
Because Adalimumab lowers your immune response, even a mild cold can sometimes turn into a more serious infection. Contact your doctor immediately if you develop a fever, persistent cough, or cold symptoms, as you may need to pause your injections. Talk to your doctor for guidance.
Yes, you can get the standard injectable flu shot, which is an inactive vaccine. However, you must avoid live vaccines, such as the nasal spray flu vaccine, while on this treatment. Talk to your doctor before scheduling any vaccines.
Adalimumab should only be used during pregnancy or breastfeeding if the benefits outweigh the risks. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to have a baby, talk to your doctor to make an informed decision.
No, you should rotate your injection sites with every dose. Injecting into the same spot repeatedly can cause skin thickening, bruising, or pain. Use your abdomen or thighs, and ensure the new spot is at least one inch from the last one. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you need help with injection techniques.
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