Hi Glea, hang in there! First off I was pretty scared when I started Enbrel as well. Most people are when they read the list of side effects. I started it many years ago and it had not been approved by the FDA but for a couple years back then. To be frank about
it; for me it came down to a decision of quality of life.
I had been on all the usual RA medications and none except for sulfasalazine (which eventually stopped working) had any noticeable affect. I was quite literally unable to walk or be employed or really do much of anything I was so sick and flared up. I was 28, I had lost my carreer due to this disease, suicidal, felt hopeless and nothing seemed to work to get my flares under control.
I was taken off of Enbrel at the end of 2012 due to side effects. I developed pustular psoriasis as well as bad sinus pain 24x7. Enbrel itself was still working but the side effects were a major concern and painful enough that we decided to move to Humira and see how I did on it. I had the same issue with Humira except it didn't work nearly as well for controlling my disease so we stopped that as well.
I was then on Methotrexate, Prednisone, and Meloxicam. I was on these for all of last year and again my disease crippled up me to the point that I could not walk unaided. I couldn't use a walker. I couldn't make it to work without being so exhausted from getting ready and the drive in that I was essentially just filling a chair. I lived in my recliner for weeks and sometimes months at a time. I again became severely depressed and had thoughts of suicide. The only thing that got me through the day that was that I have faith and I also have a family that loves me.
I guess what I am trying to get at with all of this is that if your disease is severe enough the side effects for me seemed small in comparison to the way I was living. As well, people with RA are already at an increased risk for most of the diseases that are listed in the pamphlet that comes with Enbrel injections. Do some research online for RA and lymphoma for instance;
www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/features/the-link-between-rheumatoid-arthritis-and-lymphomaAlso here is a link for some info on the Enbrel support online;
www.enbrel.com/ENBREL-support-card-program.jspx?WT.z_co=A&WT.z_in=OTH&WT.z_ch=PDS&WT.z_se=G&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=A_OTH_PDS_GI would like to suggest to you that you also consider other treatments in addition to medications. Many people are able to make dietary changes that have a considerable impact on their disease. Also excercise can have a considerable impact as well. When I was on Sulfasalazine in the beginning I also underwent an elimination diet to look for foods that were possibly triggering my disease. I found that dairy, sugars and animal fats seemed to have an affect so I cut them from my diet and after a year on sulfa I went into a complete remission and was able to stop ALL medications for 2 years. Not everyone has that kind of response but many people do. There are ways that we can take some control over the course of this and have an impact.
I hope that you feel better soon. Trust me all of us have had these same fears. It is important however to balance that with some research as well as making sure that we are taking an active part in beating this darn disease up and getting back to living. I am now back on Enbrel. I too have fears about
taking it but having my wife and the nurse at my last Doctors appointment help me walk into her office where I promptly collapsed into a chair are not the way I will live if I have any say in it.
Take care and God bless! -Don
Post Edited (Don_D) : 1/22/2014 12:26:38 AM (GMT-7)