Enbrel

Congrats Theresa. I loved Enbrel, but had to stop beccause of a bad infection. Then I switched Docs and couldn't get anyone to script it again. Next wekk I'll be starting Humira and hope to have the same results.

There are 2 things that you need to keep in mind with Enbrel. First, it can take quite a while to begin seeing the results. Very few see an improvement reight away. Although I hope that is the case for you, the peak benefits may not arrive until 3 months after you start it.

Also, the med contains a synthetic human protein. Because this protein is foreign, it's likely that you may develop a reaction at your injection site. These are hot, red and swollen, like an allergic reaction, but they are commonplace for people using Enbrel or Humira. It took 2 weeks for me to start seeing them but when I had my first one, it also reacted at the 3 previous injection sites. I called Enliven to ask what, if anything I can do and they were useless. I called my Doc the next day and was instructed to use a steroid cream on the reactions. That help with the reactions quite a bit. So, since you are just starting, talk to your Doc and find out what you can/should do if you have an injection site reaction. Be prepared and then you'll know what to do before it happens.

I hope that you see the same benefits that I did from Enbrel.

Woo-hoo Theresa! Ok, disregard last post on previous thread.. I asked if you had injected yet.. Come on Monday! Are you going in to the doc so they can show you how/where to inject? Good luck to you, and hang in there.. I've got my fingers crossed!

Enbrel is a great drug. I must warn you, though, that it took me almost 5 months to feel any effects from it, and even now after I've been on it for almost a year, it does not carry through the entire week. When I combined it with mtx, though, that seemed to make all the difference in the world. Many people gain a benefit from it, though, in just a couple of weeks. Just wanted to point out that results are variable depending on the person.

Best of luck to you!
El

Theresa,
To add a little more optomism to the post, I had my first enbrel injection two weeks ago. The day after I was EXTREMELY tired and laid on the couch for the entire day. But the next day I had my normal energy back and was already feeling deceased symptoms. My morning stiffness was almost non-existant. My second shot yielded the same results, only not as tired the day after.. but 2 days after feeling GREAT! So far no reactions, no side-effects. Very excited about this drug!

 FANTASTIC!!!!!!! Way to go Bloo!

Hah, reminds me of my 1st shot...I was sooped up for a week out of excitement.  So the adrenaline works as a good pain killer.

 

Tip: If the shot stings too much, try injecting to the abdomen.  I found it the best place personally.

Initially, within the first few weeks to the 1st few months...the greatest improvement was in the chest wall pain (costo) & fatigue.  My joints were still unbearable for a while & needed Pred...month 6 things to turn around for the joints.

 

Best wishes!

PS. As Erin mentioned, I found that it was much better to inject into my stomach. I only did one or two into my thighs and decided that the stomach was preferable for me. I also never noticed any type of fatigue, but I never got any type of extra energy either. Perhaps that was because I was also in undiagnosed thryoid failure at the time.