Blue Cross pretty much forced me off Stelara onto Selarsdi. And I get it…Stelara is crazy expensive.
Selarsdi is a bio similar to Stelara. My GI assured me it’s no big deal. Exact same stuff …pretty much.
I’ve been doing great for three years on the Stelara. Taking it every 4 weeks.
Well, yesterday was the first day I injected the Selarsdi. And this morning I woke up about 45 minutes early and felt the urge to get up and go. …and it was loose. Of course, this could just be my diet, but immediately my brain went into “uh oh” mode. I came here to see if anyone has had any issues at all with a switch like this. Switching to a bio similar.
Thanks in advance.
Post Edited (Rusty Barr) : 8/26/2025 6:34:21 AM (GMT-4)
Rusty, hopefully it was something that you ate. More & more people are being switched to biosimilars to save the insurance companies money, this has been going on for several years.
Hopefully this will work for you.Susie Moderator in Chronic Pain & Psoriasis Forums
Probably just a blip. I was really nervous when I was forced to switch from Remicade to Inflectra, too and it turned out fine for me. Hope things settled and all is well for you now.66 yo female diagnosed UC 2013. Remission on Entyvio 10/2016-12/2017. Humira didn't do much Nov 2018. Remicade (5 mg 3/2019, 10 mg 8/2019, 6 wks 1/2020, 4 wks 4/2021), REMISSION 12/2021!! Current: Inflectra 10 mg/4 wks 1/2023, Dexilant, cocktail of meds for hypertension
Sometimes our bodies can react unpredictably with a medication change. I’ve had this kind of thing happen when my generic mesalamine tabs were changed by the pharmacy. Like maybe a carrier agent/preservative was different. Hopefully you will adjust soon.UP up to recto-sigmoid - dx’ed 2014. Current meds - Tremfya (first loading dose in), 4.8g Lialda, 4g Rowasa, Pepcid 20mg, minoxidil 2.5mg, tadalafil 5mg
It’s been 4-1/2 weeks on the new drug, Selarsdi. It’s Not in my head and not something I am eating. Definitely worse. On Stelara I was a 10 out of 10 these past few years. Almost a normal person…(Other than my PSC liver surveillance.)
Since Selarsdi, I’m looser, in the mornings, not as tight, have to watch what I am eating more closely, and occasionally some days I have an afternoon loose or watery movement. That never happened on Stelara. I’d say I’m a 5 or a 6 out of 10.
The great news is ….still no urgency….even with the new medicine. I’m not running to a toilet.
But I did message my GI, I’ll report back what he says.
Hopefully he will say, “common with a new drug. Just stick with it. Others have reported in time it works better”
Have you had your fecal cal checked lately? Curious what that would show. If it has been a month and you are on the normal dose for your disease severity, I would be concerned. I don’t know the dosing schedule for stelara-like drugs. Is it monthly? My last flare in 2023 came out of left field. I doing great on simponi for years and then we went to do our normal grocery shopping. I crapped my pants in an aisle. I hadn’t done that in many years and ran to the bathroom and cried on the toilet. Things went downhill very fast for me. I would say if you are noticing a downhill effect, I would get labs and either increase the dose or try something else.Joanna, 35, Pa
Formerly known as bananagirl
Diagnosed with UC at 16. Tried remicade, humira, simponi, rinvoq and now on tremfya. Definitely no picnic but I am not dead yet! Hoping we get some drugs that work without trying to kill us at the same time.
I hate it when we find a med that works and insurance forces us to a different med. Sometimes generics or biosimilars do not work as well.
You could try to have the doc appeal to insurance that you need the brand name as medically necessary. Sometimes insure will approve.66 yo female diagnosed UC 2013. Remission on Entyvio 10/2016-12/2017. Humira didn't do much Nov 2018. Remicade (5 mg 3/2019, 10 mg 8/2019, 6 wks 1/2020, 4 wks 4/2021), REMISSION 12/2021!! Current: Inflectra 10 mg/4 wks 1/2023, Dexilant, cocktail of meds for hypertension
Well, I’ve been on the Selarsdi for a little over 6 months. Every 4 weeks injection. I’d give it a 7 out of 1-10. I definitely notice as I get close to injection day I drop to probably a 6 out of 1-10. It’s like my body starts running out of the juice.
Anyway. Now I have been notified by Blue Cross they aren’t covering Selarsdi any more. They are switching me back to Stelara.
The hospital pharmacy assures me this is safe.
I guess this is great news for me. Because the Stelara for me was a 9 out of 1-10. These insurance companies are crazy.
Ooohhh, so that's who you are! Why did you have to change it? qMODERATOR - UC FORUM *Heather* Status: ...Mezavant 1200mg @ 2x daily; Salofalk enema @ 2x weekly (nightly for flares, tapered slowly back to 2x weekly maintenance) ~diagnosed January 1989 UC (proctosigmoiditis) ~Bentylol 20mg as needed; Esomeprazole 40mg; Pulmicort/Oxeze/Airomir (asthma); Pristiq 50mg (depression); Rosuvastatin 10mg (cholesterol); Telmisartan 80mg + Diltiazem 120mg (BP & PVCs); Vyvanse 30mg (ADD) ~LDN 4.5mg / Celebrex 100mg x2 for pain ~vitamins/minerals/supplements; Probiotics....(Natural Factors Critical Care 55 Billion / Genuine Health Advanced Gut Health 50 billion alternate or both as needed @ bedtime) ~Metamucil capsules 6 @ 2x daily with meals; Vitamin D 3500 IU ~URSO 500mg @ 2x daily for Primary Biliary Cholangitis ~Sjogren's (secondary)...symptomatic treatment "TREAT (FROM)BOTH ENDS" worth it !!
Post Edited (quincy) : 2/10/2026 11:42:18 AM (GMT-5)
quincy said... Ooohhh, so that's who you are! Whyndid you have to change it? q
for some reason, my auto saved passwords for Rusty Barr just not working. I’m not a techie. So rather than pounding my head on the screen…lol….i figured I would just start a new ID as bigfranco. No biggie.
What’s “funny” is…I must have created two sign ins back in early 2016….so when Rusty Barr no longer worked out of my saved passwords…bigfranco…that one worked. And the screen now shows bigfranco as 2016 member.
lol
Post Edited (bigfranco) : 2/7/2026 9:01:01 AM (GMT-5)
Good that you are switching back to Stelera. Hopefully you can get back to where you were before insurance sidetracked you.67 yo female diagnosed UC 2013. Remission on Entyvio 10/2016-12/2017. Humira didn't do much Nov 2018. Remicade (5 mg 3/2019, 10 mg 8/2019, 6 wks 1/2020, 4 wks 4/2021), REMISSION 12/2021!! Current: Inflectra 10 mg/4 wks 1/2023, Dexilant, cocktail of meds for hypertension
bigfranco... Glad it worked out for you...but still frustrating that you had to change your username. qMODERATOR - UC FORUM *Heather* Status: ...Mezavant 1200mg @ 2x daily; Salofalk enema @ 2x weekly (nightly for flares, tapered slowly back to 2x weekly maintenance) ~diagnosed January 1989 UC (proctosigmoiditis) ~Bentylol 20mg as needed; Esomeprazole 40mg; Pulmicort/Oxeze/Airomir (asthma); Pristiq 50mg (depression); Rosuvastatin 10mg (cholesterol); Telmisartan 80mg + Diltiazem 120mg (BP & PVCs); Vyvanse 30mg (ADD) ~LDN 4.5mg / Celebrex 100mg x2 for pain ~vitamins/minerals/supplements; Probiotics....(Natural Factors Critical Care 55 Billion / Genuine Health Advanced Gut Health 50 billion alternate or both as needed @ bedtime) ~Metamucil capsules 6 @ 2x daily with meals; Vitamin D 3500 IU ~URSO 500mg @ 2x daily for Primary Biliary Cholangitis ~Sjogren's (secondary)...symptomatic treatment "TREAT (FROM)BOTH ENDS" worth it !!
Post Edited (quincy) : 2/11/2026 11:44:12 AM (GMT-5)
I don’t have experience with these drugs but I’m glad you got switched back if the Stelara worked better for you. Hopefully it will again. Have you tried anything else like a probiotic to see if that gets you to 10 out of 10? I do think they can be helpful, though my experience tells me you might have to try different ones to find something that works for you.49 F Diagnosed UC 2010 Entyvio every 8 weeks since 2018, Lialda, Visbiome probiotic In remission
I have UC since 2016 and PSC was discovered I think around 2020. I’m 63 now.
Had a colonoscopy last week. He gave me a B+.
My GI has me changing to Tremfya this Sunday. This is the day I would have injected my dose of Stelara. Now he’s changing it up. Based on the colonoscopy
I’ll be injecting two pens of Tremfya the first three doses… Which is “week 0, 4 and 8”…then I’ll go to one pen.
He says based on what he saw via this colonoscopy, he believes the Tremfya will work better for me.
Insurance did approve.
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I was a 9 on Stelara the initial run. From the summer of 2022 until about 6 months ago. One injection every 4 weeks.
Then the insurance company forced me to change to Selarsdi. They said, “don’t worry, it’s the exact same stuff.”
Well nope. Not for me. Selarsdi dropped me down on it to a 6 or a 7…that’s how I’ve been living the past 6 months.
Then insurance called and forced me back on to Stelara. Off the Selarsdi. Well… Never got back to the 9 on it the second time. Probably a 7 or an 8.
