Bananagirl how you doing today?

hey girl. haven't had my shots yet. i'm so nervous. i don't even wanna eat because i think i'll barf.

my nurse is coming in 20 minutes. should i take my pens out of the fridge? i heard icing the parts of your body helps but i don't know what part she will do my shots in.

do the shots hurt? like if i have them in my legs, will i be able to walk afterward?

How'd it go???

Good luck, bananagirl!

No need to ice, imo; but do take the pens out of the fridge 15-20 minutes beforehand. Getting them closer to room temperature will reduce the pain a bit. The shots will still sting like billy-o, but the really painful part only lasts about 5 seconds, literally.

First time is the worst, because you get four shots instead of the usual one. I felt rough for a few days afterwards, tbh. Keep an eye out for adverse reactions, including blood cell suppression and anaemia - not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything... @_@

that was terrible. i think today was my first and last day on humira. i can't imagine putting myself through that pain again.

the pens had been sitting out for about 45 minutes before we did the shots and i had been icing my legs and abs for like 30 minutes. we ended up doing the first shot in my thigh and some of the humira ran down my leg. this hurt a little but not too bad. the next two shots in my thigh were TERRIBLE. i screamed bloody murder and started shaking, heart racing, feet/hands/lips/teeth went numb, i was hyperventilating/having problems breathing, went cold all over. i thought i was having a heart attack. the nurse had mentioned it would sting but nothing like this. it reminded me of when i got a ct scan and the nurse got dye in my hand. the burning pain went up my arm and felt like it was being sawed off.

anyway, i refused the 4th shot. i just couldn't do it. the nurse called my doctor's office and the nurse there yelled at me. she was really annoyed. i'm just wondering if maybe since my shots had to be straight into the muscle it hurt more.

sorry i couldn't report happier news. i'm sure my mom will force the shots on me again in 2 weeks so i'm gonna get really wasted beforehand and hopefully blackout.

The shots don't go into the muscle. They are subcutaneous . Do you have any extra flesh???? You do get used to them.

Don't fret it does get better when you do it yourself. I do it every week. It burns a little. Have to pinch a little flesh. When you do it yourself you'll see. I wouldn't lie to you;)

faith, i will never be able to take humira on my own. i know this. haha

gary, you take 4 shots of 40 mg each. you are supposed to spread them out on thighs and belly but i did my thighs.

Oh no! So sorry didn't go well. Humira stung but that was about it for me pain wise. I liked doing them in my thigh as opposed to my tummy.

Gary...it is 4 shots for the loading dose only.

Bananagirl you can do it yourself! It will only be one shot after you do The loading doses. Look we both do it on Thursday. I gave myself a shot today . Think of the people that have diabetes and have to give a shot twice a day. Yours will be only every two weeks. You'll be just fine :) you can do it!!!!!!

bananagirl said...
ncop-the pain lasted about a minute in each thigh. by then, i thought i was gonna faint. i just have a high tolerance for pain and never scream, so i couldn't believe how much this hurt me. i don't know how you guys give these shots to yourself! i literally couldn't inflict that much pain on body on purpose. i'm still pretty shakey and dizzy from the whole experience.

the nurse at my gi's office said missing the 4th shot messes up everything. she said it probably won't work now. i told her that's fine and i didn't care. all the humira company sent me are pens. i don't have any syringes.

Yeah, a minute of agonising pain does sound like too much... Easy to say just endure it, but when you have to hold the pen down and not let go of the red top, easier said than done.

Nurse sounds like she's talking bollocks tbh; the purpose of the 4 shots is to get the Humira into your system faster so it hopefully works sooner, but I see no reason why missing 1 out of 4 shots would make it fail.

Humira comes in syringes as well as pens, so it's worth getting in touch with whoever supplies your Humira to see if they can give you syringes from now on. I would use syringes over pens, given a choice. More control and just a lot less painful.

bananagirl, I have been on both Cimzia and Humira and the Humira is a bit more painful but if you get the prefilled syringe where you can give yourself the shot and not use those pens, it will be much easier on you!! I think the needle on the syringe is smaller because it doesn't hurt at all like the pens do. You can control the amount of medicine going in and the slower you inject, the less pain and stinging. I ALWAYS ice before each shot. It helps. Also leave your syringe out for 15-20 minutes to get to room temp helps also but the biggest help is getting the prefilled syringe, not the pens!

Post Edited (pmedic) : 1/17/2013 8:24:08 PM (GMT-7)