Simponi Log

Just had my first set of shots today. I picked it up from the pharmacy and it was two 100 ml syringes. I didn't get a choice between injector pens or syringes.

My step dad gave me the shots- one in my thigh and one in my arm. They honestly just felt like any old shot you get at the doctor's office. Still uncomfortable, but NOTHING AT ALL like the brutality of Humira. I would seriously take 10 of these shots as opposed to 1 Humira shot.

I've felt a little dizzy and lightheaded tonight and the injection sites are sore. Hoping it will give me some relief. My only symptom right now is lower right sided pain. I go to the bathroom once in the morning, usually formed (no blood or urgency). I have appendicitis so I'm hoping it gets rid of that along with the colon inflammation. I really need to get off of prednisone!

I will post on this thread if I notice anything funky happening!

thanks faith!! has humira lost its effectiveness for you?? hopefully your scope results will be good.

if i can get by on simponi until that new drug comes out, i will be happy. it's always a gamble to know what's gonna work.

Joanna, having some UC symptoms. Lots if urgency. Not as good as it was before . Was at the GI today. I think a colonoscopy would be a good thing. Haven't had one since starting Humira. Having to use mesalamine enemas for the last week, plus everything else. I'm not going on pred again. Hopefully never. Rather take a biologic. Take my chances.

My GI seemed very positive about Simponi. If it put me
close to remission I would be very happy! You never know!!!!

activeucer, i am the same!! i consider myself a beast when it comes to dealing with a pain. humira really made me cry a lot!

faith, my GI said i'm the first of his patients to take simponi. does your GI prescribe it to other UCers? yeah, if you're having symptoms, then i'd definitely try something else before it gets worse. especially since once a week is the max dose.

delta, yeah, it was one in my thigh and one in my arm. interesting you said that because after my step dad took the syringe out, a bubble of clear liquid kind of blew up out of the hole. it was mixed with blood but the thigh spot hurt a little compared to the arm shot. i MUCH prefer the arm so i will do that next time. the simponi website said it was normal for liquid to come out and to just press a cotton ball on it. the syringes are SOO tiny though and i like those better than the injector pens. both simponi and humira come in injector pens and syringes. i had the injector pens with humira and those were very painful for me. granted, i was also 90 lbs at the time so i had no fat to pinch. i am about 106 lbs right now so had a good amount of fat to chose from. ahh i had to look up triptan. gosh they need to make meds less painful. i can understand a little pain but not pain that is worse than what you are suffering from already.

Joanna, I think I would be the first. I don't think he has many people on biologics. He was surprised I knew so much about it. Should have told him about HW.

Joanna, I hope Simponi works for you. Are you still on Imuran/6mp?

Wishing you the best.

I wish you all the best Joanna, I have very good vibes about your new treatment and hope it will turn out perfect!

Hope it works out for you! I, like you, have the appendix pain thing going on and was told I had a dilated appendix. Remicade is taking care of just about all of my symptoms except the appendix pain.

I'm still take 1 mesalamine enema and suppository per day. I think it keeps the sigmoid/rectal area mostly in check. Besides that, just supplements (l glutamine, fish oil, vit. D, probiotics).

tuesday update:

first morning where i have woken up with zero appendix pain. i told my mom and we both cried. how corny are we??

i have seriously had non-stop appendix pain for months now. the only time it has gone away was when i was on antibiotics and high dose prednisone. i'm still gonna stay at 10 mg of prednisone during my loading doses to be on the safe side.

my main side effects right now are dizziness and my left foot neuropathy is back. it's not bad but noticeable. regardless, neither of them are bad enough for me to not be CRAZY EXCITED for my next shot. if you are thinking of trying a biologic, simponi has been my favorite out of remicade and humira. the shots are so easy and take less than 5 minutes to assemble all your needle equipment.

NSSG, yeah, they have been manageable for a while but only since i'm on prednisone. i don't have blood, urgency, diarrhea, hemmies, all over pain, or my usual hell. my main symptom is constipation and it's always where my appendix is (small intestine going into colon). i am going to take magnesium citrate every morning just to keep things moving. my goal is 2-3 bms a day but right now it's 1 bm every 1-2 days. i'd say my biggest "help" has been adding resistant starches. before that, my poops were loose and now they are formed. just need to get that "perfect" amount.

still going to stay positive!!! i see my doctor on thursday and will request a bunch of blood work. i will post those results when i get them.

Joanna

Glad to hear you are doing well with the simponi so far.  Do you still have to take the prednisone with it?  The constipation is worse than the D, in my opinion, at times. 

Did the doc say why you have the constipation.    My doc keeps impying that it is because I don't drink enough water or take enough miralax. 

On the latest scope report he states that the terminal ileum was intubated and examined and no inflammation or abnomalities noted.  But the pictures of the area between the appendiceal orifice and terminal ileum seem to show the granularity that showed up on previous scopes.  Did your doc intubate and examine the iliem? 

I should have switched docs, but it wasn't practical, so now, with insurance, I'm probably stuck for another year.  You are lucky you have the good doc that you do.

Happy new year