Humira

[_asherah_]

After a lengthy discussion with my new Derma, I'm being switch from topical stuff that has become useless to me over the years to Humira. Pending insurance approval (~3 weeks they say). So...experiences with Humira? Side effects? Advice? Most importantly, are you happy with it

Comments

[thethinwhtduke]

i used it for about a year. it worked very, very well. the injections weren't too bad, just make sure it's at room temp, otherwise i found it burned. (leave it out about 30 minutes)

i was happy with it, but eventually it stopped working for me, so i'm not on remicade infusions every 6 weeks. in fact, i go in tomorrow for it. i recently had (about 7 weeks ago) a port installed in my chest just under the skin so that i don't have to have IVs anymore, as the medicine had wrecked my veins :(

good luck with it! it's not too bad :p

[shadoefyre]

Humira is a miracle drug for my husband. He has about 80% body coverage plaque and p.arthritis, and other than where his hatband rubs the back of his head and one spot on his ankle, he was completely clear in about 4 months. The arthritis is by no means gone, but is significantly improved. The injections themselves really aren't too bad - it's a pen, and you don't even see the needle.

He has had some side effects, but he's on a weekly shot so that may be why he's having the trouble. The day after his injection is a day where he feels fairly poor - nauseous, irritable, tired - but it's not miserable or insurmountable. We find that the best thing is that on the night he shoots, he eats chicken for dinner. We're not sure if it's psychological or there's actually something in the chicken that soothes the side effects, but it works for him!

Good luck - I hope you have the same results we've had. Humira really gave us our life back.

[naughty_fairy]

I take it for psoriac arthritis and find it's the best of what I have tried. I was on methotrexate (more so for the arthritis part) and was so so ill. I lost half my hair and couldn't eat anything but fruit and a few other random things for weeks. I've had no side effects with the Humira pen at all and I'm up to number 6 shot

[maegwynn]

I found the injections burned a lot so I switched from the injector pen to a regular syringe. Also, I inject slowly, that seems to help minimize the burning. You will get use to self injecting in no time. Good luck.

[arianhodskins]

I used Humira for both psoriasis and arthritis. I had already been using injectables for a few years, it's something you'll get used to. I remember the first one took me a few tries before I actually followed through, but each time got easier and now I don't even think about it really

[arianhodskins]

I have used both the injector pen and the regular syringe and I agree with maegwynn that the syringe is more comfortable, I thought that the pen hurt quite a bit. Also the advice of letting the medication sit out for about a half hour does help minimize any burning sensation. I found if you don't have the needle straight up and down, if you get any sort of angle on it, causes more burning than anything. Pinching the skin around the injection site while you inject helps, too.