I have been on Humira since Feb and although it has elminated 98% of my symptoms, it is not working to take away inflammation in two joints so they are switching me to weekly shots of Enbrel for better medicine coverage since the humira seemed to start wearing off 4-5 days before I could take another shot.
My question is this... Humira hurts like $%^*& does Enbrel sting as bad too? I chose Humira over Enbrel in the begining because of the less shots but if I am going to weekly shots I am hoping its not as painful as Humira
And is the Enbrel usually an injection pen too?
thanks all!
Abby
Crap- I plan to start Humira and then I read posts about how bad it hurts and it makes me want to change my mind. Yet other people say they are not bad at all.
What makes it bad for one and not for another?
abby what exactly hurts- the prick? How long does it hurt for? Where do you inject? Do you leave it out of the fridge for 20-30 mins.?
Its definitely not the prick or the coldness. It has a preservative in it that stings BAD. Its like an extremely bad bee sting full of alcohol if I could liken it to something. If you have ever had some IV meds at a hospital, you would know that some medicines sting going in and this is DEFINTELY one of them. You can hear the injection "click" and there really isnt much pain (I dont hardly even fill the stick) until the medicine starts flowing and then OH MY GOD. The only good thing is that the shot is short. Its like 5-7 seconds but its the longest 5-7 seconds of my life. The results are good and thus worth the pain but still it kind of sucks
I was a little shocked to say the least when I found out how much it hurt but like I said it works and its better than a life with arthritis. I have tried waiting to inject it 20-30 mins, using ice, etc but the fact still remains it hurts! I do it in the top of my thighs. It either has to go there or your stomach and I just dont think I could do the stomach. Also after its been injected I cant even touch 1 inch around the injection site because it still hurts SO bad if you bump it from the medicine.
abbyrhoades2009-05-05 10:58:23Dang! You think they would be able to improve that! I wonder if people write in and complain about it?enbrel doesn't hurt me at all.... I shoot it without icing up and without warming the solution because I thought that was maybe compromising my potential....
it is a slight burn.. sometimes.. not usually though
Enbrel stings, but nothing like you are describing with the humira. Yikes!I find it makes a difference how cold the Enbrel is. Room temp is better so take it out about 30 minutes before you use it. I switched from thigh to stomach and it usually does not sting or hurt. Now and again it seems I hit 'something' and there is some stinging and pain but definitely not unbearable. It's all over in 3-4 minutes. Humira does sting like hell in my opinion too. I've found that the regular needle is better for me than the quick pen. You can control the flow a little better and sometimes that makes a difference.
I'm surprised your doctor isn't switching you to weekly Humira since you are getting good results with it. Changing to Enbrel might compromise those good results. I hope not. I would have tried weekly injections before switching. In fact; I did. I took it for about two years weekly and it made a big difference.
Hope the switch is a good one for you.
Bee stings scare me!!!!!!! Once I got stung in the toe and it was stuck in there stinging over and over again. (I thought they died first time they sting) I was flipping out running around screaming I got stung by a bee and it hurts! I got stung by a bee and it hurts! Can you see me running around with a Humira needle sticking out of me shouting the same thing?
I've had both. I had an easier time with the Humira pen vs. the Enbrel sure click....both sting a little bit, hardly anything at all though, only lasts a couple of seconds. I did leave both out to get to room temperature, and I did ice for a minute before injecting. For me,
really it wasn't a big deal at all. Good luck
I have tried both as well. The sting is/was non existent when the drugs were room temperature and given in the belly. Even at room temp, there was slight discomfort for me when given in the thigh.
A word of
warning about icing the area prior to a shot -
DO NOT apply the alcohol before you ice - it will freeze your skin. Make sure you apply the alcohol after you ice the area. This way, it is nicely numb and
clean.
I wonder if some people are more sensitive to the preservatives than others- thus the different reactions here?
Another question- while this awful stinging is going on do you have to hold the pen in place?
WTB, I hold the pen in place until the little flag shows in the window. I really do not feel the pain of the injection at all. I do not use ice to numb up prior to the shot either. When I was on Enbrel premixed 50mg inj., (not a pen, but needle and syringe) I hated it! It hurt so bad and there seemed to be no single or combo of things I could do to keep it from hurting. I will be getting the Enbrel pen next month, so I can speak of that then. I too wondered if I was hyper sensitive to the preservative, but the Humira pen gives me no issue as long as I do what I said above.
IDK... we are all so very different!
I just hope I'm one of the lucky ones when it's my turn....
That's why I continued to use the old-fashioned pre-loaded syringes...I could inject as slow as I needed to and avoid the burn. Unfortunately I'm off Enbrel now due to an allergic reaction...waiting to see what I can take next. Sigh...I do miss it...worked really well.
Alan
There are 3 reasons for the injection stinging..
Injecting before the alcohol dries on your skin
Injecting the Enbrel too fast
Having the Enbrel too cold
I run my injection tips out every so often.. After I figured this out I never had a painful injection since
Even though the Enbrel, and the Humira pooped out on me I am so proud that I became adept at self injecting..
..Here is what works for me.
First thing give yourself time, this isn't a facial, but it is something you are doing for you. treat it like a gift. fix a cup of coffee, go someplace quiet, play calming music.
Make sure the syringe is WARM. your body is 98.6... room temp will be a shock. I rest the syringe across the top of my coffee mug. Then just before I inject I roll it between my palms.
Ice the area of your tummy you will inject. Get it REALLY cold. I have an ice pack in a light t shirt, and leave it there for a good long time. You want that area numb. Wipe your tummy with the alcohol pad and let it dry.. Completely. The sting is mostly from wet alcohol on your skin.
Pinch up a roll of flab about the size of your thumb and finger together, check the syringe, and gently push the plunger in a little to get the air out of the syringe..
Hold the syringe like you are throwing a dart, and slide the point into the skin you have pinched up. The ice will have numbed it so much you won't feel the needle slide in.
Release the flab, and shift your fingers on the needle holding it between the index and middle finger, with the thumb on the plunger.
SLOWLY depress the plunger..I depress to a chant..."My toes won't hurt, my ankles won't hurt, my knees won't hurt, my hips won't hurt, my fingers won't hurt, my wrists won't hurt, my thumbs won't hurt, my elbows won't hurt, my shoulders won't hurt, my jaw won't hurt...this shot stings but far less than my body hurts."
You should be finished then, remove the syringe, place the ice pack back on for maybe 30 seconds, and dispose of the needle...now finish your coffee.
You can do it
If you use the sure click do you still pinch flab?Yes, You still pinch....or at least we do. I say we because my husband gives them to me. I've done the injections for three years total (I say it that way because I had a long stretch where I was taken off; but returned) and in all that time I have only done one injection by myself because my husband was extrememly ill and I didn't want to wake him....or risk the additional exposure to his illness.
I did it ok and I'm sure if I had to I could get use to it.....but he doesn't mind doing it and I appreciate him doing it for me. It sort of sounds weird saying it out loud; but it also gives him the opprotunity to help with my care and he seems to like feeling involved. He's an unusual man....and I am so grateful to have him.
The Humira, when I was on it, burned. I did let it sit out and warm up and did let the alcohol dry before injecting.
The weird thing of it all, mostly because my belly is numb from c-section, is that I never felt it burn, until it started to spread out and go where I was not numb. So... I started making hubby do the shot a little lower that way when it spread out, it was still in the numb area of my belly and I did not feel the burn as much.
I think I asked this but I didn't see any answer. While it is stinging- do you have to hold that sure click still and in place? How long does it sting for?
If you're using the sure click it has a little window on it that indicates when you can remove the needle. It shows you when all of the medication has gone in. It doesn't sting long after it's over......and it doesn't sting so bad that it deters me from using it.
WTB, with the enbrel sure click you don't hold the button down, but you do hold the shot in place. It doesn't take long, just long enough to go "ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ". I dunno, maybe kathy's way is better :)
Linncn- If it stings as bad as I am imagining it to I will find it hard to hold that pen in place! The only thing with Kathy's message is that I don't know if I read it here or elsewhere that someone said if you warm it up it loses it's potency or effectiveness...I would ask the drug company that question myself before I try it.
All said- I get myself all worked up but I have always had a high tolerance for pain. What a lot of people call pain I call discomfort- so I am hoping it will be the same in this instance.
We leave it out for 20 to 30 minutes just to knock the chill off. We don't really warm it up....I wouldn't really advise that. You can leave it out for a little while provided it's not in a hot place. It's not going to hurt it. [QUOTE=Linncn] WTB, with the enbrel sure click you don't hold the button down, but you do hold the shot in place. It doesn't take long, just long enough to go "ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ". I dunno, maybe kathy's way is better :)[/QUOTE]
Hahahaha, that is exactly what I do! It is about 6 to 7 Ow's worth of time. And yes, wtb, It IS weird and it DOES go against your natural instincts to hold the shot in place while it is stinging.
That's right, I said it! But you do it...because you know how much its going to help. I am having really good results with the enbrel, and I've only just started it.
On the topic of bee stings, my youngest son when through a nearly a whole summer getting stung at least once a week. He was 18 months old and had discovered that bees don't move very fast. He would stand out by our lavender bush and catch bees in his chubby little fists. They'd sting him, he'd cry, and I'd think ' good ,now he's learned to leave bees alone'. Several days later I'd find him back at the lavender bush; the lure of slow moving insects being too strong for him to resist.
The moral of the story is.... If a baby can endure weekly stings for no real good reason, then we can endure them to feel better.
Tah Dah! I just linked two unrelated stories to make it seem like I had a point. Perhaps I should go into politics..
edited to change 'I' baby to 'a' babyleila2009-05-06 10:59:56I asked my dr. she pointed out. "well once it hits the inside of your skin it instantly becomes 98.6 degrees".. so she said she didn't see why being that temp 5 minutes earlier would make a difference.
and aslo when you roll the vial between your hands as directed the point is to warm it up.
sooo
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