Apparently it is time for another medication - Benepali

[Lisazs]

After feeling rubbish with lots of tendon pain for months and with some help from this group I realised it could be related to coming off Humira (which wasn't thought to be helping me enough to warrant cost & risks). So a visit with my Rheumatology nurse last Friday pretty much confirmed it - DAS was 5.9, along with my Costochondritis back in several areas of the ribs and inflammation in my spine - immediate steroid shot with the nurse saying she'd take my details to the weekly meeting today to discuss my case with the whole team and promised to ring me with outcome. As promised I got a phone call early afternoon with the news that I definitely need to be on additional treatment and would I be ok about trying Benepali (I did have Enbrel for a few years before swapping to Humira) so we'll see how it all goes, hopefully the steroid will keep me ticking over for a bit, already seeing some improvement, hats off to my Rheumatology nurse, she's been really great. Be interested to hear anybody else's experience with Benepali.

[sylvi]

The good thing is they are doing something quickly which is good to hear. Sorry i don't nothing about that drug.xxxxxx

[Mall]

Hi Lizas

Benapali is Etanercept. Pfizer was the original researcher and producer of Etanercept, named Enbrel, of which you have past experience. It's now off license and Benapali is the cheaper version which the NHS now prefers to prescribe because of the cost involved. I recently changed from Enbrel to Benapali and haven't noticed any difference other than Benapali injections are easier to inject.

Hope this helps, hopefully it works for you following your break from etanercept.

[Lisazs in reply to Mall]

Thanks. Unfortunately Enbrel didn't work very long for me in fact my Rheumatologist thought it might have been more of a placebo response than anything. Humira definitely helped but after a couple of years stopped being quite as effective. It's such a shame that these things take a while to show any effectiveness but at least I'm on the road to finding better treatment. Time will tell...