My husband has been on enbrel since it's been available in Canada, about 2001. At first it was a miracle drug. In the past year it seems like he has more flare ups, general pain and discomfort. Has anyone else heard of the drug loosing it's effectiveness. He also takes 90 mls of MTX weekly by injection and Celebrex and prednisone daily.
Also, we've both been having this strange body rash that resembles slight psorais.My naturopath says it's because we have too much yeast in our systems but I see on the latest Enbrel mailing that it can cause fungil infections. Has anyone had an infection like this and how did they get rid of it?
Hello Richaunt
I used Embrel for 3 months and it quit working. There is a member of my support group that got a rash on her back and other places. Her rummy Dr. told her it was drug (Embrel) induced Lupus. She goes on plaqunil each time she has an outbreak and the rash and the lupus goes away for a while.
Good luck with your embrel battle.
I hear of a lot of people having to change doses or meds after awhile. I know of some who have success for quite a long time and then suddenly start having symptoms again. Good luck to you both. Do you have RA also?Yes I would say sooner or later we all end up switching meds. Your husband was very lucky to have Enbrel work that long! I got about 1 1/2 yrs from it then on to Humira, which did nothing for me , then Remicade, short lived help then back on Enbrel, its working again! I have never had a rash or any kind of infection while on it. dj-I think that is interesting that your system kind of needed a break from the Enbrel. I have heard of medications doing that before, but not this kind. It is something for all of us to keep in mind if we start having trouble with a med.I sent you a private message detailing my rash problems with Enbrel.I'm on Enbrel. I found out the hard way that it has side effects of making you suseptible to bronchitis and giving you fungal infections. The bronchitis really flared everything up and they put me through all kinds of heart and lung tests as a precaution.
The treatment for the fungal infections was very simple though. The doctor said that I had to keep the area extremely clean and dry. I use baby powder for that. But first I put on a fungal cream. It took awhile, but it cleared up the infections.
You have to be extremely careful with skin infections on Enbrel because they can become septic and that can be extremely serious.
Otherwise, it's just another thing we do to take care of ourselves.
I don't feel particularly better on the Enbrel. But I am already on mtx, prednisone, plaquenil. I liked Remicade much better. The Enbrel does not seem to be slowing the joint damage and they reduced the mtx because my blood tests came back abnormal. So, I feel like I am taking everything and still not getting better. Back in physical therapy for the third time, hoping to avoid shoulder surgery. Already have knee and hip surgery in future plans. It is really disappointing.