my first major complaint about Humira... STREP THROAT AHHHHHHHHHHH

hi gang

oh my oh my oh my

what a horrible turn of events for the last month

I developed strept throat (anyone else ever have it?? if u did u know it is not fun!!) right b4 my birthday early March. Had to cancel Gall Bladder surgery due to risk of infection. Went on penicillin for 10 days. within 2-3 days was feelin fine and back to work.

finished antibiotics. 2 exact days later- back comes the strep throat AGAIN. Back to emergency, begged for better drugs, re-explained that I am on 2 major immunosuppressants and I need guidance about my humira injections. Only direction? go back on penicillin, same dose, another 10 days, Humira can go ahead, all is A-OK!!

ok, so i will try it again I guess? took the antibiotics again, within 2 days was ok and back to work. Maybe it will be ok???

Finished the penicillin the second time. Exactly two days later i AGAIN got the strep symptoms (if u ever had it u know what i mean- horrible and very distinctive).

Now I have a choice- go back to emergency and get this dealt with OR wait for one extra day and see my family dr (appt I have been waiting for for 2 months to dicuss other issues needless to say)......

I wait the extra day. I want better care, more thorough planning for Humira, and want to ensure that pencillin is right for me. However with my low immune system and the horrible strep that still has not been cleared outta my system, and the pain, oh the pain, I got worse than ever!!! Could not speak! Couldn't even drink water and get pain killers down, no eating, no using bathroom (ut oh!!) so worried!!! Fevers, sweats, exhaustion, sleeping oh my I think i am dying!!!

so finally see family dr on tuesday. she is worried. like she can hardly see an opening for my throat. she is sure it is strep from the first episode which hid out in my tonsils and due to the pencillin being so short (10 days) and my continuing with Humira the strep didnt clear up.

So guess what i been doing since Tuesday? IV antibitics every few hours in emergency, steroid treatments to my throat, no work, no play (can't kiss hubbie!!!), UGH!!

Finally I can speak again, I can eat again! But now I can't take my Humira this weekend, I have to wait and ensure I take two weeks of pills and get rid of this once and for all.

now my worry? what if my crohns flares again??? How much stress can my poor body take after the year of torture i have had anyway?

For those of u who have read my rant- I sincerely thank you. If u have read it, my questions is: is delaying humira a week a big deal?? I havent missed a dose since October... also, how can I avoid getting strep again???

Thanks

B ;)

I think Kaz may have hit a good point. I know of a lot of families where one member keeps getting infected and it turns out that someone else in the family is a carrier. You might want hubby to get checked, just to be safe. I had strep a lot as a kid. It was always orange flavored penicillin. To this day I can't smell that stuff without gagging!

Hope it clears up for you soon!

thx for the comments everyone! my hubbie also had strep twice during this month but with the way it was timed we think he got it from me... where i got it? no idea. no one we know has it but maybe i picked it up at the grocery store, etc... hard to know. there could be a carrier around but truely this is a rare thing in our household so i doubt it is one of us...

i never had strep in my life until 3 years ago i got it back to back, a month apart, three times in a row. This time though, no real break and it got really bad....

so worried about delaying humira.... so worried.

and worried that humira, the continued use of it, will just make these things happen even more often despite my families avid use of hand washing, and general cleanliness etc

just writing out that vent today (see post above lol) was helpful. i just hope humira will keep working if i have to stay off it a week or maybe more...

thx again

B

oh no!!! the best thing about strep, is that antibiotics usually work well for it and quickly. My issue ofcourse was it never went away. Make sure you take those antibiotics (if prescribed) on the schedule given and that you check with your dr(s) about whether or not taking your needle could prolong the battle

I am still on the antibiotics for the third episode. I now have D due to the antibiotics.... but the little voice in the back of my head keeps asking if the D is because I missed my humira shot and what if I am on the road to another flare.....

ugh

so sorry for you and hope u feel better soon!! :)

B