can i take my enbrel injection if i have chicken pox?

[alira]

[Hidden]

I would say seek urgent medical advice you may require the anti viral drug aciclovir and allso may hve to miss out a week of enbrel too x

[Smartygirl]

Be very careful!! I went on HUMIRA injections & that was one of the first things i was told about ,...i could'nt even have a tooth out ,( because of how this injection reacts to any infections) ...... so be on your guard,and don't take chances, I had to stop my injections because i was having a lot of problems ..... so now i have to try something eles but don;t know what ... I have had RA for 16 years & still have'nt found the right MEDICATION Good Luck hope i have been a little help to you, luv to all X

[Dogrose in reply to Smartygirl]

I'm on Humira and need two teeth out, pretty desperately actually, hope there is some way round it!

[Smartygirl in reply to Dogrose]

You should tell your RA nurse about this, i was told to miss two injections befor going to the Dentist, Please ASK THE QUESTION phone your RA nurse if she is good at her job she will be glad you told her. GOOD LUCK x

[Dogrose in reply to Smartygirl]

I hate phoning the RA nurses, they are always short tempered and always tell me to have endless blood tests or I'll be sorry even though it is very difficult for me to have them. I'm in way too much pain to miss injections at the moment, will probably see if an antibiotic course will do.

[Paula-C]

You really MUST phone your RA nurse. I was asked if I had had chickenpox before I started Enbrel. I haven't had chickenpox (well I can't ever remember having it) and I had a blood test done to see if I have any immunity to it, that is how seriously they take chickenpox. If you have any infection you have to come of anti tnfs and go on a course of antibiotics and I do think like Summer said you have to have something different than normal antibiotics for chicken pox, even if you have come into contact with anyone that's got it you have to report it to your nurse. If you don't want to ring your RA nurse up (but you should), ring the NRAS helpline up, but I am 100% positive that they will tell you to seek medical advice.

I read the comment about going to the dentist which alarmed me abit. Tomorrow is my Enbrel day and next week I have a dental appointment. I've phoned my RA nurse and she told me that just for a filling there is no problem with having an injection, only a small hole that will heal very quickly, not much risk at all there. But, if I was having invasive treatment i.e. root canal or extraction, something that really breaks the skin I should tell the dentist and he should give me a prescription for antibiotics for a few days and if I did have a tooth taken out not to take Enbrel until the hole has healed up.

Please seek advice tomorrow and don't inject until you have.

Paula

[Hidden]

Thanks Paula C - that is indeed exactly what we would say! I hope you have managed to speak to someone at the hospital about this Alira.

Kind regards

Sarah Kate

NRAS