Update on starting Humira

[Dogrose]

This will have to be a bit of a digest as I'm just back online after waiting 8 weeks for BT to connect my phone line after a house move!

The company that deals with the Humira deliveries and the nurse who comes out to help are really easy to communicate with, you get loads of phone calls and the helpline is really good too. There is never any reason to feel in the dark about any of it.

I decided the best way to go with the injections was just to do it - in fact I was so keen to get the second one over and done with I didn't warm it up enough - YOWCH, it stung like a wasp sting! The third time I warmed it up by curling up in bed with it for a while and barely felt anything.

For anyone scared of needles - if you use the pen injector you never even see the needle, it only comes out after you have pressed the pen on you skin and when you pull it out a cuff comes down and covers it.

One bit of advice for anyone using a sharps bucket for the first time - DO NOT fiddle with it; handle it carefully and read all and any instructions that come with it. If you accidentally seal it you will not be able to re-open it and you will have to order a new one. Dim old me grabbed the first one and said "oooh what does this slidey thing do?" Ooops. The nurse said loads of people do that, maybe there should be more of a warning!

I haven't noticed a huge improvement yet, though I was in terrible pain before the third injection and it has lessened noticeably. Unfortunately I caught a virus over Christmas and have been exhausted and felt sick for weeks. And for some reason my right eyeball really hurts

[Hidden]

That's really clever the way you made your smiley face look like the right eye is hurting somehow Dogrose? Hope your eye isn't RA too. BT are impossible aren't they?

Now about this injection thingy - my Metoject comes in a ready filled syringe and normally is quite easy to use. But tonight I got stuck and the needle just wouldn't go in? I had to retry elsewhere on my overly large saggy belly and it really unnerved me because a dribble of MTX came trickling out of me. So I think those pen injectors sound much more the business - I don't like seeing the needle itself one little bit although I try to think of this stuff as a kind of golden honey cure rather than a cytotoxic substance. Sometimes it works but tonight it did not! Hope the Humira works wonders and the eyeball settles down very soon. Tilda x

[Dogrose in reply to Hidden]

It probably is RA causing the eye as I have Sjorgren's too, luckily I was referred to an opthamologist back in the dark ages and the appointment is coming up soon. no idea what I did to get that smiley!

Some people don't get on with the humira pens but I don't have any trouble at all with it.

XX

[mistymeana]

Don't get me started on BT! They were my caring sharing ex-employers ..... nuff said x

[Hidden]

virgin no better.. the provider of telephone.. not my employer I hasten to add.. there is a van in my cul de sac most days every house has called them out on diffferent days...( misty meana)

Back on track let us know how Humira works for you please dogrose., how long did it take to approve and get?

[Dogrose]

It seemed fairly fast, I tried MTX and Leflunomide but neither were suitable for me due to side effects. I needed to see my consultant twice a month apart to make sure the disease was still active then have TB tests and answer some health questions with the nurse, then approval came through in just a few weeks.

It hasn't really kicked in yet, I have had three injections now, I felt some improvement after the last one but I'm in a lot of pain today.XX

[Nantucket]

I am due to start this also I was informed by the rheumy nurse it would be about 2 weeks before the drug company contact me, it is now 3 weeks and heard nothing. I tried to ring the rheumy nurse but she is on holiday so don't know what to do, I am in so much pain due to waiting for this to go through. Please keep us informed how you are going on with this medication as i have struggled with lots of other medications including mtx. x

[Dogrose]

I was told 4 weeks but it was sooner, I was put on Prednisolone by my consultant to tide me over but it ran out before I started, currently I'm getting a few days relief after each injection but fighting off a virus too which is making me feel poorly. Have you have a letter yet confirming NICE has approved you being prescibed Humra?