Hello everyone. It has been a while. I was wondering if anyone taking enbrel has had dizziness, blurred vision, headaches. I keep on telling my Rheumatologist but she doesn't seem to be to worried. The headaches use to occur every now and then, but I have been waking up with horrible headaches every morning. To me is doesn't seem normal for this to keep on occuring. Hope someone can help. I am so glad ya'll are back.
Hi, I am so sorry you are having those horrible headaches. I never had headaches while on Enbrel (now taking Remicade) but a friend of mine did. She had a bad headache on the days she took her shot. She is now taking Remicade too. As far as the blurred vision, I think I remember when I was on Plaquenil for a short while that one of its side effects was vision problems. If you haven't had your eyes checked in the last 6 months maybe you could go see someone (if anything to rule that out). Prayers and hugs are sent your way and I hope you get the help you need to be in less pain.
I have been on Enbrel for only 2 months. But I have not had any headaches - yet. I was on Plaquinel for over 2 years and did have blurred vision. I would tell your RD about it tho. The blurred vision gave me awful headaches. (I wasn't on the Enbrel yet).
Lu
Hi Tasha,
YEA!!!! It is good to be back, I really missed everyone. I never realized how much I depended on this board for support.
Now about those headaches on Enbrel. I was on Enbrel for about 2 years and don't remember having bad headaches. However Enbrel did not give me as much coverage for the pain , so in Aug. of 2004 I switched to Humira.
That's when I started getting Horrific headaches .These migraines felt like sinus headaches, so I continued taking Humira, thinking that it was just my sinuses acting up. Then I got a nasty sinus infection , and had to take antibotics , and had to go off Humira , and the migraines went away.
I went back on Humira in Dec. , again the headaches/ migraines came back. They were so bad it felt like someone hit me over the head with a brick, or smashed my face in. I was taking Imitrex like it was candy, but the migraine would only respond to the point of being tolerable but not recede completely .
So after 2 doses of Humira, ( you take it every 2 weeks), I hung it up . I'm going back to Enbrel, but haven't received it in the mail yet.Hopefully I can take it again.
Maybe Humira will be better for you than Enbrel. We are all so different when it comes to tolerating medicines.
take care,
Tasha,I took Enbrel for awhile an dwas very satisfied with it, I did gain about 20 pounds though which was fine with me because I felt so much better. I would have the headaches checked out by possibly your PCP. But if you are anything like I am , the PCP always refers you back to the RD because of the Enbrel, vicious cycle huh? As long as I can have my Vicodin and Axanax I should be able to function somewhat but I have got to tell you, moving is THE PITS! I am so sick of boxes and sorting and making all the arrangements, but it will all be worth it an dI will soon be able to RELAX!
GOod to see everyoneand nice to see the board is back up. This is such a wonderful place to go and get some smiles and to know how others are doing on the meds.
NICE FORMAT!
lynndee
Hon Have the dr check your other meds Enbrel doesn't seem to give headaches some rashes around the injection site, but that is about it. I hope you feel better soon. MemeI have gained weight also. I'm beginning to lose faith in my Rheumy since they have a tendency to blow everything off side effect wise. They always give me the impression that "Oh it isn't the Enbrel doing that." And they don't really address the pain issue except to tell me to try Prednizone which I keep refusing and to up my pain meds. Been on it before and it isn't worth it. Oh well, guess I'll go with the flow for awhile. I hope you are able to resolve your headache situtation. Be sure and let us know how your doing.
I usually get the on set of migraines from the MTX.... just a bit dizzy and tired from the Enbrel. I do my injections in the evening that way IF I feel crumby I just go to bed.
Hope you find the cause soon.
Millie,
Reggie, Tasha, and all:
I think we all need to remember to stand firm in our convictions and stick to our guns when we're telling the doctors our symptoms and they give us "that look" we all know so well. Since I've gotten the RA and since I had another medical condition I have learned to listen to my own body and not to be intimidated by so called professionals. After all, they only know what they have learned and that is only good up to a point. Life is the best teacher, and OUR bodies are the best voices. I refuse to let them even hint that it might be all in my head anymore and I don't feel squeemish about telling them that either. At least not anymore. Good luck to all of us. Take care.
I've had severly dry eyes since going on enbrel. It was like looking through a frosted pane of glass all of the time. I got glasses and that didn't help. Then tried all sorts of drops. I finally got plugs in my tear ducts a couple of months ago which helped a lot. I only just recently contributed the dry eyes to enbrel.
I recently have been struggling with migraines too but chalked them up to hormones and not the enbrel. I'll have to keep an eye on this.
I've also gained quite a bit of weight in the past year. I've been a stick my whole life and unable to gain weight. I could eat anything an never gain a pound. Since I was a kid I have been on everything from gold shots to narpsyn to mtx to arava and now enbrel. Until I started enbrel I was severly underweight. Now I'm bordering overweight.
This is actually what prompted me to search for a site like this. Is it my love of cake
While I love the life that enbrel has enabled me to have I'd like to stop having to buy bigger clothes.
I haven't gained any weight since I have been on enbrel. If anything since I got sick I went from 112 to 89 pounds and now am back up to 96 pounds. Are you still active, I know it is hard to be as active as I use to be, which could probally aslo be contributing to it. Sorry I couldn't be much help.
Tasha
I've been on enbrel a little over a year and until I came across this site I hadn't really connected these symptoms (a.k.a. side effects)with the enbrel.
I have gained about 20 lbs. And while I feel like a million bucks this weight gain is very unusual for me. I have always been stick thin and now I'm "plump." Sure, I feel great so it's worth a little weight gain. But none of my clothes fit me. At just 5' 3" 20lbs doesn't have many places to go.
I have blurry vision and very dry eyes. So dry that I've had to get glasses and eventually plugs put in my tear ducts. I never connected this to the enbrel. Just thought my eyes "were going." I work with computers so I figured this was connected to that.
Headaches... they started for me about 4 months ago. I get them once or twice a month. I wake up with them and they turn into migraines. I saw my PC and we both attributed them to hormones. All women in my family gets headaches/migraines. She prescribed midrin and fioricet. The headaches wake me up early. I get up and take a midrin and go back to bed. By the time I get up for work they are gone or nearly gone. I have not needed the fioricet yet.
I haven't noticed any dizziness. Though I have noticed the day after my shot I'm tired and sluggish and it takes my brain a while to do simple things.
I also take arava 20mg every other day and naprosyn when needed.
Margarete;
We love new comers here....but we really get tired of those that just join to push their products or ideas. Is there any other reason you're here? For all I can tell you've got different motives than the rest of us.
Be warned...this group can really get aggrevated!!
Whatever has been said so far, it's as if you've all been reading my mind! lol. I've been reasonably skinny all my life for a female who is 5'4. I've never gone above my regular weight of 105-110lbs. Now i've gained 10lbs (probably even more...I just don't want to check anymore!) and NONE of my clothing fits me anymore! I was starting to get real depressed that I was getting fat (apparently for no reason), but don't feel as bad now that I know it's probably because of Enbrel. I know that Enbrel is a protein and that is what weight lifters consume to build mass. Is this what Enbrel is doing? Can you call it the same kind of protein? Has anyone tried exercising to get rid of some of the weight? Like, is it worth it or does it keep coming back no matter what since we continually keep getting injections? If someone has succeeded, please tell me some of the exercises that you do. I've started to do various stomach exercises to get my flat tummy again...let's see how that goes. I've also started to change my diet to eat less "junky"(even though I didn't too much when I was not on Enbrel) since everything I eat now goes straight to my body.
I get headaches as well. I usually get them at the end of the day and they're pretty bad. They usually occur near my temples and top of my head. Also, the sinus areas. To relieve some of the tension, I massage my head and it does help to some extent.