Humira = NON prefilled syringes? Anyone get them that way?

I haven't done that yet (have 3 months of syringes on hand) but thought about it. He swears it's not much work to do it yourself.

Have you ever heard of the non prefilled syringes? Or used them yourself? I thought the medication itself hurt and he said no, it's the preservatives they put into it.

Hi,

I prefer the syringes over the pens also.  I find sometimes when I use the pen the medicine runs down my belly if I am not holding it at the right angle yet it looks perfect.  My syringes are prefilled, I didn't know until reading your post that you can get the medication separately.  I would check to ensure that if there is more than one dose of Humira in the vial that you can keep it in the fridge and use it next time.  I know with my MTX you can only use the vial once then throw the rest away.  All the best to you on Humira.

Julia

broomhilda said...
Aimmee- I get the prefilled syringes. According to my packaging it's SUPPOSE to be preservative free! Could you double check with your source to see if Benzene is on that list of preservatives? I am hyper sensitive to all forms of that perservative and if that has been what has caused some mini-flares for me...it would be nice to know! I assume most doctors prefer the prefilled dosage to insure the patient is not drawing the vials incorrectly or possibly not following proper hygiene procedures when giving themselves an injection. Julia has a good point too. If her senerio is correct then it seems it would be more costly an Rx and then there's always the possibiltiy that the insurance company dictates what form the doctor can request.

I get the prefilled syringes, too. Have used them for 2 years now (tried the pen once, never again!) but they still hurt.

I will ask him about Benzene. It's truly all greek to me, but since he 1) is a scientist for a med company and works with these things from that end and 2) his wife actually used the non prefilled syringe of Humira while she was using it for RA, I thought he may know what he is talking about. But he may not, too ;)

Good point on the doctor and ins. My GI may not want the possibility of it being screwed up but it never hurts to ask! I'll ask my friend for some more info (pref from a credible source that I can pass on) and update the post.

I think some of the posters misread my post and thought I was comparing syringe to pen - I'm comparing prefilled syringe to NON prefilled syringe. I assume no one here has them prescribed that way?

jan2003 said...

Aimee, perhaps your friend's wife used Enbrel for her RA, which is also an anti-TNF drug, similar to Humira. You can get Enbrel in a form that you mix up yourself, without preservatives. The prefilled syringes and auto-inject forms of Enbrel also sting like the dickens; maybe that's where your scientist friend got confused.

Unfortunately, the one and only study of Enbrel for Crohn's showed questionable benefit, so Enbrel isn't prescribed for Crohn's. But I do know of some IBD folks who use Enbrel for their arthritis, and they say it helps their IBD as well.

Good luck,

Jan

I will do some more research. If Enbrel is available to be mixed on your own, I don't see why Humira wouldn't as well?