Is Enbrel any good? | Arthritis Information

 

Hope you don't mind me gatecrashing a US forum.

I live in the UK and our medical system is very different to yours, I am about to be prescribed Enbrel and my Rheumatology nurse is v. excited about this as it is meant to be excellent.

My question is, is it all its cracked up to be? i am worried it might not work and I have got my hopes up for nothing.

So far I have been on Methotrexate (but stopped raised liver enzymes), arava (stopped same reason) sulfasalazine (made me sick as a dog could not hold any food down) and finally plaquenil which has done nothing for me.

In order for me to qualify for Enbrel I had to fail 4 Dmards then have an assessment to see if my disease was bad enough to qualify.

Anyway i have qualified to get the drug so am hopeful it will work but if you could let me know your experiences good or bad i'd be grateful.

Thanks
Hi Lorna, I have been taking enbrel for 4 weeks now. I take a 50ml shot once a week. I felt better two hours after taking the first shot. I found out I had RA in April of this year, and enbrel is my first RX. I am also taking 10mg Pred a day, and I want that to be a very temporary thing. I have a sister that lives in Blackpool.. Best wishes for your healing journey.

I don't think any of us see this site as a 'US site'. Welcome to anyone with something to contribute or gain!

I haven't taken Enbrel - i just wanted to say, you're welcome to be here.

 

I took enbrel for 6 weeks and it worked pretty well except I had a less common side effect of killer migraines (which I am prone to anyways) so I am off of it and on Humira which seems to be even better for me. I still highly recommend it to anyone. Eventhough I didnt get the total results I wanted from it, I still felt alot better than I had in a long time. I hope it works for you, and welcome to the site. We have friends from around the world here.I am on Enbrel and have had great results so far.  I started it two weeks ago.  I felt the results almost immediately, but everyone responds differently.

I was told that you don't have to have blood monitoring for Enbrel and that it is not toxic on your body like MTX.  So that could be a really good thing for you. 

Good luck, and let us know how it makes you feel.  I hope you get all the results you hope for.  It seems to be a pretty successful med for many people.  I am in heaven with it!
Thanks for your replies, I hope this forum will provide me with plenty of useful info.

I have been told I have to have monthly blood tests still with it, which is better than at present as I am having them fortnightly. I guess if i am being monitored its not so bad.

I have also been asked to take part in a study with the University of Manchester so i have to have extra check ups with it. This I don't mind though as if it helps find newer solutions i'm all for it!

I hope this drug works as it is quite hard to ask for specific drugs over here, as its all paid for by our taxes we have to make do with what we are given!
I've been on Enbrel for a little over two years.  Worked great at first but hasn't ssem to do as well lately.  I've never had any side effects from it.  It did wonders to help with the fatigue but lately it's slowly returning.   Looks like I'm trying Humira next.Well i've now been approved I just have to wait for healthcare at home to deliver it and send a nurse round to teach me to inject.

One thing thats got me a little worried on Enbrels website it says that you are at risk of a higher rate of lymphoma, has anyone else heard of this? This has worried me slightly as my grand mothers and great grand mothers passed away due to lymphomas.

Trying to weigh up the benefits of the drug against the possible side effects is difficult

Lorna~Welcome to AI. We've got several members outside of the US so we don't consider you guys outsiders at all. Glad you're here.

I've been on Humira for about 20 months now. It's another biologic which is simular to Enbrel. I've managed really well. Hope you will as well.

Good Luck; and welcome again. Hope you'll visit often.

Hi Lorna,

I've been on Enbrel since 2001.  It works great for me and I have not had any adverse affects from.  You mentioned you had an extremely bad reaction to sulfasalazine.  Your symptoms sounded like an allergic reaction to sulfa (I had a similar reaction to a sulfa based drug).  Are you allergic to sulfa drugs??  If you are, be very careful because, unknown to us, many drugs contain sulfa.   Celebrex is one and so is Lasix as are many diuretics.  MSM is another over the counter drug that contains sulfa.

Good Luck with your Enbrel!

Marianne
I've been on Enbrel for 6 months and I've had good results so far.  I'm the same as you, I'm not able to take MTX, Arava or many of the other DMARDs.  I will have to say the the Enbrel has lowered the severity of my pain and my fatigue, but it has not fully stopped the progression.  I used to wake up during the night and have to take a painkiller due to feeling like a truck had run over me.  That rarely happens now that I've started Enbrel.  But, I am experiencing pain and stiffness in the wrist and ankles much more that I had before. Like I said, severity down, progression slowed but not halted.
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