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Posted 8/22/2010 1:17 PM (GMT 0)
ok I have a couple questions about cizia. I tried to inject myself last night and failed miserably. Does anyone know if it is possible to get a replacement pack from the pharmacy without running into trouble with the insurence? I only got through half of one injection without hitting a blood vessel and then the other hit a blood vessel right away. Also no one really showed me how to do it because i was on humira before. So how do you do it? Is it possible to inject in the arms without have any complications? Also when I did my first injection it burned worse than the humira is that common for the first time?

Thank you to those who answer cuz im a dummy when it comes to this stuff

Posted 8/22/2010 9:46 PM (GMT 0)
Hi and welcome... I've never had to replace my Cimzia syringes, so not sure I can effectively answer that. How do you know you hit a blood vessel? (Just curious!) Did you pull the syringe back out and draw blood? I haven't done this with Cimzia though I did every time with mtx. I've only been self-injecting a couple of months now, before I had the kind that the home health nurse had to reconstitute.

What I can respond to is that my Cimzia injections have never really burned. I've been on it a year and a half and only one shot I can remember sort of stung as the nurse injected it.

The way I do it is sitting down... I swab my upper thigh (on the side where there is more fat to jab into) then pinch a large area of skin. I poke myself best I can and depress slowly. The Cimzia site has a really good how to video you can watch:
http://www.cimzia.com/crohns-disease/about-cimzia/cimzia-syringe.aspx#cTDUdNfbOQiK
Posted 8/23/2010 12:20 AM (GMT 0)
I have been on cimzia next month will be a year.  I have never hit a blood vessel so I'm not sure????  

I usually inject them in my upper tighs and yes I have problems with it burning.  My right leg is always

good but for some reason my left leg always burns some.  Sometimes I will inject right leg and left

stomach a good ways away from belly button and it doesn't hurt.  You should check out the cimzia

link and watch how and where to inject. 

Posted 8/23/2010 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
I'm not sure if you do your own injections, or if you have someone who can do them for you, but my GI told me to do them in my butt cheeks to avoid hitting blood vessles.  If you hit one the box says to throw the shot out and that it's no good anymore.

The injections didn't burn as much as humira for me, but towards the end of the shot it starts to get pretty uncomfortable.

Posted 8/23/2010 3:51 AM (GMT 0)
I don't know about getting new medication. I only hit a blood vessel one time and I did exactly what they say not to do - I did it with the same syringe in another spot. I didn't want to waste the medicine. I noticed it immediately because I have been taught to pull back on the syringe. I find the belly to be much easier to do. Also, I find that Cimzia is far less painful than Humira. Did you leave it out long enough before you injected? I leave it out at least an hour. Also, make sure you really wait for that alcohol wipe to dry completely.
Posted 8/23/2010 2:21 PM (GMT 0)
I always left my Cimzia out to warm up a bit but it still always stung going in and I was on it for about 2 years total (1 yr on clinical trial and 1 yr recently).  It doesn't hurt nearly as bad as Humira, but it did still always burn.  I never pulled the syringe back to see if I hit a blood vessel, even though they suggest that, because my clinical trial nurse never did. 

Posted 8/24/2010 2:37 AM (GMT 0)
hmm..i just noticed the blood in the vile and i called my pharmacy and they told me to call my doc to set up an injection training and so i called them and they were supposed to call me back but no answer....maybe i should try leaving it out longer and numbing the area with ice, like i did with humira.
Posted 8/24/2010 1:55 PM (GMT 0)
I'm about to start Cimzia. My Doc mentioned a home healthcare nurse coming out for my first several injections.... sure hope that's true! I'm sceered!
Posted 8/25/2010 4:31 AM (GMT 0)
They will send someone out to help at first. I tried to cancel the nurse because I had been doing Humira injections for 3 years already, but they insisted. She only came once because she saw that I could do it just fine. They will come out 3 times I believe. It's not as bad as you think it will be. Trust me, I am a big wimp when it comes to shots and I can do it. They are not the same as say a flu vaccine. My arm always hurts so long after that type of shot. With Cimzia and Humira, they only hurt when you do the shot and for about one minute after. Then there is no pain at all.
Posted 8/25/2010 8:22 PM (GMT 0)
Not all drs will make a nurse come out the first time, if you don't want them to.  Mine didn't since I'd done mtx injections myself (which they also didn't teach me to do since I was doing the Humira pen previously...not that they are at all alike) and because I'd taken the drug before on a clinical trial, so I guess they assumed I wouldn't have any reaction.  When the nurse came out before I started Humira, that was the biggest waste of time and $, so I think I would fight them sending a nurse out again.  That nurse had me read the instructions to her off of the box! 
Posted 8/25/2010 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
My home health nurse has been coming out for a couple of years now...she goes to training...and stays up to date on the info, and so she mixes it just right...not to mention, she can get a better angle to inject...it only takes about 20 minutes or so for her to mix up the medicine and inject...I don't know if this is available in all areas, but I am glad that she is here...Oh, and I usually get injected in the belly (it actually hurts less there than anywhere else...)
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