With the help of this FirstRxSavings.com website, you can save up to $500 on your prescription for Cimzia, the UCB pharmaceutical company’s unique treatment for two health problems: Rheumatoid Arthritis and Crohn’s Disease.
To obtain or activate your Cimzia discount card, click here: Cimzia.
About Cimzia, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Crohn’s Disease
Cimzia is a treatment for adults with moderately to severely active RA that provides fast and lasting relief and comfort, so you can focus less on your RA and more on what’s important to you.
What is CIMZIA? CIMZIA (certolizumab pegol) is a prescription medicine approved to treat adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis, or RA. Because it blocks the action of a substance in your body called TNF-alpha, CIMZIA is often referred to as an “anti-TNF therapy.” It’s believed that people with rheumatoid arthritis have too much TNF in their bodies. For many people in clinical trials, CIMZIA was shown to help reduce the inflammation, stiffness, and joint damage that moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis can cause.
In clinical trials: CIMZIA has been shown to reduce rheumatoid arthritis pain, stiffness, and improve fatigue within 1 to 2 weeks in some patients. Many patients on CIMZIA experienced lasting relief at both 6 months and 1 year. X-rays of patients with rheumatoid arthritis on CIMZIA show reduction of further joint damage at both 6 months and 1 year.
Patients taking CIMZIA experienced low injection site burning or stinging (less than 2%). CIMZIA may be administered by a healthcare provider in your doctor’s office or at home. Patients who are capable of self-injection also have the option of administering CIMZIA at home using the prefilled syringe.
How CIMZIA works: CIMZIA is taken by an injection under the skin. After initial doses, CIMZIA can be injected every 2 or 4 weeks, as prescribed by your doctor. CIMZIA may be taken with or without certain other rheumatoid arthritis medications like methotrexate.
Your doctor will determine which dosage is right for you. Once injected, CIMZIA works to inhibit the TNF cells causing the inflammation.
Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements. Especially, tell your doctor if you take Kineret® (anakinra), Orencia® (abatacept), Rituxan® (rituximab), or Tysabri® (natalizumab). You have a higher chance for serious infections when taking CIMZIA with these medicines. Also tell your doctor if you are taking a TNF-blocker, such as Remicade® (infliximab), Humira® (adalimumab), Enbrel® (etanercept), or Simponi® (golimumab). You should not take CIMZIA while you take one of these medicines.
Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune disease. This means the body’s natural immune system does not work as it should, often first attacking the lining of the joints, known as the synovium, and causing inflammation. If left untreated, rheumatoid arthritis can lead to long-term joint damage and further damage to other areas such as the skin, lungs, and nervous system, in later stages of the disease.
As you likely know, rheumatoid arthritis may be a painful disease. Common problems include joint stiffness, fatigue, and loss of mobility. Rheumatoid arthritis is also a chronic disease. That means it may keep getting worse unless you take a medicine and/or try other therapies or lifestyle changes to lessen pain and prevent further joint damage.
Usually rheumatoid arthritis symptoms are symmetric, meaning that joints on both sides of the body are equally affected. While the symptoms may lessen between flare-ups, even disappearing for months at a time, to be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis is to be faced with a long-term health challenge.
What causes RA? According to research, there is no single cause for rheumatoid arthritis. It can result from environmental, genetic, or hormonal factors, or a combination of these. While the cause of rheumatoid arthritis is still unknown, life with this condition can be improved by talking to a doctor sooner rather than later, and—if the doctor thinks it appropriate—by introducing treatment early.
Who does RA affect? Typically, people develop the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis between the ages of 30 and 50. Women are 2 to 3 times more likely than men to develop rheumatoid arthritis, while different ethnic groups seem to get it at the same rate.
Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD. It causes inflammation of the digestive tract. Crohn’s disease usually occurs in the small intestine (the ileum) and/or the large intestine (the colon), but it can happen anywhere in the digestive tract. Typical symptoms of Crohn’s disease include frequent diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, and sometimes rectal bleeding. It can also lead to damage to your gastrointestinal (GI) tract that may require surgery.
When you have Crohn’s disease, your immune system produces too much of a protein called TNF-alpha (tumor necrosis factor-alpha). TNF-alpha attacks healthy cells in your GI tract. This triggers the inflammation that leads to the painful symptoms of Crohn’s disease. About half a million people in the United States have been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease can affect anyone at any age, but it primarily affects people between the ages of 15 and 35.
No one knows exactly what causes Crohn’s disease. It may even differ from person to person. For instance, the cause might be a kind of bacteria, something in your intestines, or even your family history. In fact, scientists now believe it may be a combination of all these factors.
But as you know, Crohn’s disease can affect you differently from one day to the next, which can put limits on the way you live your life. No one experiences Crohn’s disease in exactly the same way—the symptoms may be different for each person and can change over time. Sometimes you may forget you even have Crohn’s disease, and other times your symptoms may be very severe. For all of these reasons, it’s important to have a treatment plan that works for you. The right treatment for your symptoms will help you live your life the way you want to live it.
Additional Cimzia Resources
Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis – Learn to identify them
Symptoms of Crohn’s Disease – Learn to identify Crohn’s
Track symptons, wellness progress – Download Wellness Widget
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