Humira?? Anyone taken it?

[Cynful]

I made the mistake of googling/youtubing humira since I'm supposed to start it either this weekend or Monday evening.  I wasn't really thrilled with what I found about how it might be pretty painful and I might feel pretty sick at first from it.  Has anyone here every taken it and can give me their take on how it was?  

 

I have psoriatic arthritis which has been very aggressive and debilitating this past summer.  We need to get it under control and methotrexate and prednisone are not cutting it.

 

Thanks,

[Tammi K]

No advice about Humira. I just wanted to share that I have a friend with psoriatic arthritis and I've seen what an impact it has on her life. Lots of :grouphug:s for you. I know what a struggle this form of arthritis can be and I hope you find the best control.

[Jann in TX]

I have.  I have severe chronic psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

 

Good-- it worked and I saw results in a few days

Bad-- I had TERRIBLE flu-like symptoms.  The first time I was on it I was only able to stand it for 6 weeks (then I gave up).  I felt ill after the first week (draggy then VERY flu-like aches and fatigue).

 

Good-- my psoriasis went into remission for almost ONE YEAR with just that 6 week dose!!!

 

I tried Humira again last year-- I made it 3 weeks-- it did give me relieve for several months.

 

I do better on Enbrel-- but this year I took a bad fall while on the loading dose of Enbrel and injured my hand.  The Enbrel masked the severity of my injury.  I had to have surgery  (due to injury) and it was 25 weeks AFTER I fell... had I not been on Enbrel the Drs would have known so much earlier that I needed surgery!  It has been 6 weeks since I went off Enbrel and my symptoms are returning with a vengance... I will wait as long as possible before I go back on the Enbrel (probably late next spring).

 

HINT:  Let it warm to room temp before injecting. It was MUCH better if I injected into my tummy (since I have 'lots of padding there).  I did not have injection site reactions.

[Cynful]

No advice about Humira. I just wanted to share that I have a friend with psoriatic arthritis and I've seen what an impact it has on her life. Lots of :grouphug:s for you. I know what a struggle this form of arthritis can be and I hope you find the best control.

 

Thank you.  It's definitely not easy when it's flaring badly.  Good luck to your friend as well.

[Cynful]

I have.  I have severe chronic psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

 

Good-- it worked and I saw results in a few days

Bad-- I had TERRIBLE flu-like symptoms.  The first time I was on it I was only able to stand it for 6 weeks (then I gave up).  I felt ill after the first week (draggy then VERY flu-like aches and fatigue).

 

Good-- my psoriasis went into remission for almost ONE YEAR with just that 6 week dose!!!

 

I tried Humira again last year-- I made it 3 weeks-- it did give me relieve for several months.

 

I do better on Enbrel-- but this year I took a bad fall while on the loading dose of Enbrel and injured my hand.  The Enbrel masked the severity of my injury.  I had to have surgery  (due to injury) and it was 25 weeks AFTER I fell... had I not been on Enbrel the Drs would have known so much earlier that I needed surgery!  It has been 6 weeks since I went off Enbrel and my symptoms are returning with a vengance... I will wait as long as possible before I go back on the Enbrel (probably late next spring).

 

HINT:  Let it warm to room temp before injecting. It was MUCH better if I injected into my tummy (since I have 'lots of padding there).  I did not have injection site reactions.

 

How badly did the injection itself hurt?  I've heard such terrible things about the pen and that's what I have.  I will definitely let it warm up first.  I haven't yet decided on the location to inject yet.  I have extra padding on my tummy too and even still some numb areas after my c-section 3 years ago that might work well, but it just sounds wrong.  :)   

 

I'm sorry to hear about your issues with both.  Hope you are aren't hurting too much off of them.  Have you found any other remedies that help you?

[carriede]

My mom started taking this during the summer. She feels so much better now. If she's had any side effects, she hasn't mentioned them to me.

 

She responded so well to it, that she's doing doses only half the time (under doc's supervision). Apparently you need to take it for some weeks/months/doses for it to fully integrate into your system. But my mom's psoriasis was gone in 1/2 that time. Not sure if she's still in the half schedule or not.

 

So, positive experience here!

[Jann in TX]

I HATE the pen-- but that is what they gave me...  injecting into my thigh hurt-- will NEVER do that again (and I have padding there too!).

 

I still have a few more months to heal from my hand injury and surgery before I can think about going on something again.  I just wish I would not have had such a bad reaction to Humira-- it had such wonderful results!  Good news is that they are either in or close to being in human studies for an oral (non-injection) version! There should also be more biologics coming into the market in the near future.

 

Psoriasis is a GENETIC disorder... so attacking the defect on a more cellular level makes sense.

 

 

[CupOCoffee]

How badly did the injection itself hurt?  I've heard such terrible things about the pen and that's what I have.  I will definitely let it warm up first.  I haven't yet decided on the location to inject yet.  I have extra padding on my tummy too and even still some numb areas after my c-section 3 years ago that might work well, but it just sounds wrong.   :)   

 

I'm sorry to hear about your issues with both.  Hope you are aren't hurting too much off of them.  Have you found any other remedies that help you?

 

I took Humira for about a year for RA.  I used the pen.  As for it hurting, for me it was more of a stinging/burning sensation as the med goes in; it doesn't hurt.  But it only lasted a few seconds.  I would watch the liquid draining and chant to myself "almost done, almost done, almost done".  LOL.  I used my stomach, lots of padding.  Make sure it's room temp., yes!  And I found that if I got a nice good size "pinch" of flesh, and did the injection there, it was much better.  I would stay away from the c-section scar.

 

Good luck to you!  The first one will be hardest. Oh and, even though I was on it for about a year, I still jumped a bit when that darn thing clicked!  That's why I always made sure I had that good "pinchfull" of flesh. Maybe by now they've gotten a quieter pen, but mine was sure loud! 

 

~coffee~

[Cynful]

Thanks Coffee and Jann.  I just took the pen out of the refrigerator to warm up so I'm guessing I'll take it in about 1-2 hours.  I give myself methotrexate injections just fine and I really don't mind shots at all but for some reason this one has me nervous.  Maybe because I'm so anxious for it to work. 

[GTJo1996]

I'm a Humira alumni. I also have moderate/severe psoriasis and some mild PA. Humira cleared my skin quickly but then stopped working over time. It took 6 weeks for my beloved ins co to approve the move to Stellara and in that time my psoriasis came back with a vengeance.

 

I had flu-like symptoms on the first week of dose #1 with Humira. Injection site burned for about 15 mins at first, but I never heard the trick of setting it out and letting it warm up. WOW! That might have been a smart thing to try! HA!! I found it hard to inject in my leg without causing a painful bruise. My tummy was much easier for me to do and left no lasting bruise or painful site.

 

And yes, if you google it, it will scare the beejeezus outta you. But keep your focus on quality of life!

[Cynful]

Well, I botched the one last night - that or the pen misfired.  All that anxiety for nothing.  The pen clicked and the needle went in but all the medicine just fizzed out and over my stomach.  So, someone suggested I take the next pen apart and use it as a syringe.  I did that and it's sitting out now "warming" up.  Hopefully this will work...  :)