There has been some recent news breaking the airwaves/internet waves about some clinical study data which you may find impressive especially if you are interested in entyvio reviews from patients. Farther down you can read about entyvio side effects as well.
The name of the medication behind all the hype is of course Entyvio aka Vedolizumab. Many of the news articles and published studies are describing it as a “new class” or form of medicine. Take for example Colazal or Asacol, or Pentasa, those three medications might have been described by your doctors as being in the “5-ASA” class of drugs.
Then you have other drugs like Humira and Remicade which may have been described as “Biologics”.
Anyways, Entyvio aka Vedolizumab is part of the (or starting since I have not heard of any others yet) “Integrin Antagonist” class.
What’s New with Entyvio / Vedolizumab?
Below, please feel free to read as much as you like about this new medication, I’ve included several links to studies from PubMed which go into some nice details about Vedolizumab.
But generally speaking (and I’m sure some immunologists can take this WAY further), the way entyvio works is different from some other “immune suppressants” in that it does a much better job of targeting specific parts of the immune system related to the colon and ulcerative colitis symptoms. If you step back a minute and think of our bodies as a whole…well that’s a huge complex massively complicated group of many different systems working 24/7. Within our bodies we of course have our immune systems. And within our immune systems we different sub-systems. With UC, we often think of the inflammatory response. So, to simplify the thinking, lets assume that Vedolizumab does a better job at targeting specific parts of the inflammatory response compared to some other medications. (That is at least a major part of the marketing that Takeda which is a massive drug company is explaining to the FDA in hopes of gaining approval.)
So again, please do some more reading on this medication if you find it interesting. I’m not big into medications myself, but they are successful for many UC’ers and that’s what this info-share is all about.
Vedolizumab links you may find interesting:
• My favorite diagram showing how this is different & how the drug works: diagram picture
• New and emerging treatments for ulcerative colitis: a focus on vedolizumab – PubMed Free article
• Vedolizumab – Wikipedia link
• Vedolizumab for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease – Free PubMed article
If any of you have first hand experience with a clinical trial and would like to share a “review” of your use of Vedolizumab (assuming you did not receive the placebo…) feel free to add that below.
Takeda has stated that this is the world’s largest clinical trial for IBD EVER… And, it seems that a major goal of this medication is to come up with another immune suppresant related therapy which hopefully will have less side effects when compared to its peers. So whether or not your into western medicine, I think we can all agree that’s a nice goal to have.
Best of luck to all of you,
Adam Scheuer
Submit your review | |
I had been taking other meds to control my symptoms but they weren't working anymore. I had absolutely NO life - I couldn't even go for a walk. I started on Entyvio in the summer of 2021 and I am totally symptom free. If it is possible, I would like to get off all drugs and manage my disease with my diet. In the interim, I definitely support anyone who has the opportunity to use Entyvio. The infusion is about an hour and I have had NO side effects.
I have been getting Entyvio IV infusions every 8 weeks since the Spring of 2018 and have never felt better. I am 53 years young and have suffered from colitis for about 28 years. Went through every medication under the sun and they would only keep symptoms and pain to a manageable level for years upon years until I was approved to receive Entyvio. What a game changer. A flareup now is slight diarrhea maybe once every 4 or 5 months at the most. Cannot recommend it enough and have had no side effects whatsoever.
After trying a lot of medication to get my uc under control ,Vedolizumab is the only one that is leaving me symptom free,i have an infusion every 8 weeks and I’m reducing my Azathioprine,hopefully I can come off all my tablet medication
After a severe flare this spring, I was put on the dual therapy of Xeljanz and Entyvio. I had developed antibodies to Remicade and Humira. I lost a LOT of hair previously with both Remicade and Humira. I was hoping it wouldn't be the case with Entyvio, however, the loading doses caused light hair loss, and the 4th infusion led to significant hair loss. I have probably lost 90% of my hair. I do not recommend Entyvio.
I have been on Entyvio since mid 2016 so three years on total. Before this I had unsuccessfully been on Asacol followed by Remicade and with Prednisone when flaring was bad and calprotectine levels high. Entyvio has worked well. I get infusions every 8 weeks and combine it with the SCD diet. I wouldn't say my stools are normal but I get by fine and have no blood in the stool. I have been in remission for about half a year judging by the calprotectine levels measured in the stool. I do not seem to have any side effects from Entyvio. As others have said it did take a while to take effect (if I recall it correctly about 3 months).
I was on remicade and built antibodies unfortunately. I started entyvio 16 MAY and had 2nd does 30 MAY. I hate this drug. Yes, I can tell my insides are doing well but that could have been from the remicade but the side effects of this entyvio are too much for me. I have a tender throat when I breath in or bend over, I have bad muscle weakness and shakiness in legs and arms, my anxiety has worsened, I have started to have bad dreams and dreaming in black and white when most the time I dream in color...that is when I don't have insomnia from this. I feel like I am in a fog but it's the muscle stuff that is really bothering me. I want off this med and see my doc on 24 JUN before my 3rd dose on 27 JUN. I want off all biologics but with remicade I only had some skin issues. This stuff which is supposed to be gut specific is messing with me worse than anything I have ever used. I don't want to do it anymore. Glad others get well and don't have side effects but it's been horrible since the first dose for me.
Used it for 8 months... no help...
This coming September(2019) I will have been getting Entyvio infusions for two years. It has kept my symptoms in remission with few exceptions. It takes longer to work than Humira but,Humira stopped working after a year of injections where Entyvio is staying the course. After some experimentation I have eliminated gluten from my diet so that may be a factor as well.
After trying just about everything else and being in a severe flare for 16.months,my consultant put me on this drug. Within two infusions, I was significantly better both from a Ulcerative Colitis and general wellbeing viewpoint, the relief was fantastic. I have to take prednisolone for another autoimmune problem, EPGA, but prednisolone never helped with my UC. I have been on Vedolizumab for 18 months now.
From a gut perspective, I have my life back, a recent flexible Sigmoidoscope showed that I am in remission and I can leave the house without fear. Side effects have been few, I still get tired for around a day after the infusion but that is nothing in comparison to the delights of UC. The length of effectiveness between infusions can and does vary a little, sometimes no issues, other times after about 6.5 to 7 weeks frequency and urgency increases a little but never any blood. I am happy to live with this.
The consultant has no intention of stopping this drug currently, which I am very grateful for, as I am that the NHS granted funding for its use.
For me, Vedo and I'm not overstating this, has been a life saver.
I didn't want to take Entyvio but a really bad, long flare led me to taking it. It has worked well so far (2.5 years). I combine it with 4 Lialda/day. I haven't had major side effects, primarily fatigue the day or two after infusion, plus increased anxiety. And it's expensive as all get out.
I started site shortly after being diagnosed in October of 2008 with severe pancolitis (when my whole colon was inflamed).
For me, it was a very rough start with severe symptoms. Getting bounced from medication to medication was not easy or too helpful. But, I did meet another UC’er, changes several parts of my diet, and of course the rest is history.
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