I got the call yesterday that I'll be starting on Humira. A nurse will come out and show my husband and I how to give myself shots. I am so damn scared to get on this stuff!! I read up on it last night and now I'm seriously going to ask my rhuemy AGAIN if I really do have RA. I keep asking him. It's so stupid because he gives me the same answer everytime.
I feel like I'm in somebody else's nightmare
I know it's ridiculous that after all this time I'm still "shocked" that I have this disease. sigh.
Any thoughts on Humira?
I do humira and it has worked for me. It took 2 injections before I started to notice the difference. It does burn when you inject. Warming your shot to room temp helps a little bit. What I do is take it out and put it in the bathroom when I shower. It is warmed by the time I get out and I am all clean and ready to inject. Call your pharmacy and see if the Humira Pens are available in your area. If they are, call your RD and tell him you want a script for the pen. Easy to use and takes about 5 seconds. Even if they aren't available, the injection is still very easy to do. I have had no side effects from the humira.
As with all biologics, it does suppress the immune system so if you get sick you can not do your shot. It can take up to 3 months for the humira to work. I have found it works best in combination with something else like mtx, plaquenil, or pred.
Denial is part of this disease. I feel that we all have gone thru it at one point or another. My outlook on it now is that this is what life has handed me and I have to make the best I can out of it for myself and for my family.
Have you talked to your doc about your unusual heart beat lately? Do you feel that it could be partly stress from diagnosis and figuring out what do I do now and how is my life going to change?
Good luck with the humira and I really hope it works for you and you get some relief.
I have been on the humira for a few months now and haven't noticed any side effects. I know the literature sounds scary and I'm sure a very few people end up having some problems but honestly, it has helped me so much that its more than worth it. Try not to dwell on all the things that COULD happen but instead try to think of how much better it should make you feel! Love and hugsGrammaskittles,
Thanks for your advice. As far as the heart beat thing, the only thing that's different in the last month is that I started on sulfasalazine. I see my dr. next week and I'll bring it up to him. I was on mtx and plaquenil but was taken off both when I had no results. I'm going to find out about that Humira pen.
Micheleb, thanks for your thoughts. I feel better now. I guess if we thought too much about the side effects from all the drugs we're on we wouldn't get out of bed in the morning!
I know the feeling of being scared and Humira.I gave every excuse for not taking it and researched every available piece of literature on it. Told my husband I was going to end up with cancer from it ( oh god such a hypercondriac). I then gave in and had the injection.....no burn ,no pain and two days of bliss. I had a bad flare on the 3rd day but settled down again. I have a chest infection at the moment so have missed a dose. I have been on so many meds all with bad reactions but if we dont try we dont know. Hope you feel better.
OMG You guys. This is so good for me to read. Maybe Humira will do the trick