ORENCIA

Yes, I'm on Orencia! I get the infusion at the hospital once a month, and been on it for a little over a year. I do remember though, it takes a LONG time for it to build up in your system and start working. The doctor said 5-6 mos, but it was more like 8 months before I was feeling really good. I still get bad days due to heat, humidity, over working myself, etc., but I remember that from Enbrel too. The reason I like Orencia is that I am a professional pianist/pipe organist and the orencia took the swelling and pain out of my hands. I was on enbrel for quite awhile, and still struggled with it in my hands. Orencia works differently with the T-cells than the other biologics, so I've been told, which for me is why I believe it is working better! I am also on 20mg of injectable methotrexate, and tapering down on prednisolone for the RA.

One other thought, bristol-meyers-squibb has a co-pay assistance program that works with your insurance. It is definitely worth the extra time to put that into place...it's a $5 out of pocket cost for the patient. It covers both drug and infusion costs. You need to sign up for it before your first dose, either infusion or self-injection. I asked for the enrollment form at my doctors.