Guest guest Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Hi Hayley: I have been on Humira since April 2003. I do notice that sometimes as the end of the second week approaches that I have more symptoms. The other biological your doctor is referring to is Enbrel which you normally inject twice a week. I initially started on Enbrel, but after 3 months we decided that it wasn't as effective as we hoped. Do you take your Humira in combination with Methotrexate? I take 15 mg a week. I've had varying success with the biologicals and over the past months we have upped my dosage of the methotrexate with better results. I still do have symptoms - just not as severe. Good luck. gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 I am on Humira and had the same problem. My doc switched me to once a week after I had been on it for about 8 weeks with no problems. It was recently approved at that dose after an initial trial period. JocelynFred & Hayley <smiledr@...> wrote: My Dr. has prescribed Humira, an injectible biological. After I got over the huge sticker shock of the price, I gave it a try. I have had four doses, each two weeks apart. It seems to help but I only get relief for about a week and a half then I have four excruciating days until I can take another injection. The medication seems to be effective 24 hours after injection. My DH thinks I am dreaming. He says the medication should be in my system and not "wear off" after 10 days. Is this a normal progression. Is anybody else out there on a biological? I would love to hear some anecdotal stories from people trying these biologicals. I know the Dr. said there was another med. that you injected twice a week, has anyone tried that. Thanks Hayley Porterville CA Psalm 118:8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 I'm on Remicade that is similar to Humira but given intravenously about every eight weeks. Some people need it as often as every 4 weeks depending on how it acts with them. Others I have heard of on Humira take it about every ten days because it won't last for the full two weeks. The other one you mentioned in Enbrel that is injected about twice a week but some people do it once a week or three times a week. Everyone reacts differently to the medicines, with some being helped greatly and some getting no benefit at all. Most people are in between and they need to work with their docor to find out what amount and timing of medicines are good for them. Some people have increasing amounts of benefit for several months after starting a biologic, and others have the beneficial effects wear off after several months. Finding the right medicine is trial and error until you finally get trial and success. Good luck and God bless. ----- Original Message ----- From: Fred & Hayley Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 1:00 PM Subject: Humira - injectables My Dr. has prescribed Humira, an injectible biological. After I got over the huge sticker shock of the price, I gave it a try. I have had four doses, each two weeks apart. It seems to help but I only get relief for about a week and a half then I have four excruciating days until I can take another injection. The medication seems to be effective 24 hours after injection. My DH thinks I am dreaming. He says the medication should be in my system and not "wear off" after 10 days. Is this a normal progression. Is anybody else out there on a biological? I would love to hear some anecdotal stories from people trying these biologicals. I know the Dr. said there was another med. that you injected twice a week, has anyone tried that. Thanks Hayley Porterville CA Psalm 118:8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 I've been on Humira for about 7 weeks. I also noticed getting more stiffness and pain 1 1/2 weeks after injetion. From http://www.rxabbott.com/pdf/humira.pdf it states: " The mean terminal half-life was approximately 2 weeks, ranging from 10 to 20 days across studies. " Enbrel was recently approved for once-weekly dosing. http://enbrel.com/news/pdf/pressRelease031020.pdf For me, Humira eliminated the fatigue feeling the morning after I took the first injection. After a few days, I started noticing my joint swellings coming down and I could have a greater range of motion. My ESR went from mid-40's to 10 after starting Humira and my RD recently reduced my MTX to 7.5mg/week and I'm trying to do without Indocin, an NSAID - I'm not on prednisone. I'm not without pain and swelling however. I feel pain and swelling in my shoulders, left wrist, and right middle finger. I recently got an x-ray and discovered bone erosions in my right middle finger. My RD says Humira should pretty much halt the erosions and some studies have seen some patients heal from these erosions with Humira. Good luck to you, Mike > My Dr. has prescribed Humira, an injectible biological. After I got > over the huge sticker shock of the price, I gave it a try. > > I have had four doses, each two weeks apart. It seems to help but I > only get relief for about a week and a half then I have four > excruciating days until I can take another injection. The medication > seems to be effective 24 hours after injection. > > My DH thinks I am dreaming. He says the medication should be in my > system and not " wear off " after 10 days. > > Is this a normal progression. Is anybody else out there on a > biological? I would love to hear some anecdotal stories from people > trying these biologicals. I know the Dr. said there was another med. > that you injected twice a week, has anyone tried that. > > Thanks > > > Hayley > Porterville CA > Psalm 118:8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Hello Haley, This is in VA. I was diagnosed with arthritis 4 years ago this month. I have been on Remicade since April 2000 and it has been a "miracle drug" for me. For a while, it would stop working after 6 weeks (I get it every 8 weeks) so my rheumy increased the dosage. I'm really lucky because I've been on Remicade for 3.5 years and I'm still at every 8 weeks and only 300 mg (I started at 200mg & it is in increments of 100 mg.) Good luck, Steph in VA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Dr. has prescribed Humira, an injectible biological. After I got over the huge sticker shock of the price, I gave it a try. > I have had four doses, each two weeks apart. It seems to help but I only get relief for about a week and a half then I have four excruciating days until I can take another injection. The medication seems to be effective 24 hours after injection. > My DH thinks I am dreaming. He says the medication should be in my system and not "wear off" after 10 days. Is this a normal progression. Is anybody else out there on a biological? I would love to hear some anecdotal stories from people trying these biologicals. I know the Dr. said there was another med. that you injected twice a week, has anyone tried that. Thanks Hayley Porterville CA Psalm 118:8 Customize MSN Messenger with backgrounds, emoticons and more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 I am lucky to have great insurance through my job. My co-pay for Humira is $10 for a month. gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 Thanks for the great info on the Humira. See, I knew it wasn't all in my head. I could not tolerate methotrexate. I do do take my Humira with ARava and plaquinil. Just for curiosities sake would anybody mine sharing what they pay for an injection? My insurance co-pay is $100. an injection. Hayley Porterville CA Psalm 118:8 -----Original Message-----From: gloriarex@... [mailto:gloriarex@...] Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 8:04 AMRheumatoid Arthritis Subject: Re: Humira - injectables Hi Hayley: I have been on Humira since April 2003. I do notice that sometimes as the end of the second week approaches that I have more symptoms. The other biological your doctor is referring to is Enbrel which you normally inject twice a week. I initially started on Enbrel, but after 3 months we decided that it wasn't as effective as we hoped. Do you take your Humira in combination with Methotrexate? I take 15 mg a week. I've had varying success with the biologicals and over the past months we have upped my dosage of the methotrexate with better results. I still do have symptoms - just not as severe. Good luck. gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 9, 2003 Report Share Posted November 9, 2003 I guess I'm lucky as well - insurance through my job. $20/month. > Thanks for the great info on the Humira. See, I knew it wasn't all in > my head. I could not tolerate methotrexate. I do do take my Humira > with ARava and plaquinil. > > Just for curiosities sake would anybody mine sharing what they pay for > an injection? My insurance co-pay is $100. an injection. > > > Hayley > Porterville CA > Psalm 118:8 > > -----Original Message----- > From: gloriarex@a... [mailto:gloriarex@a...] > Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 8:04 AM > Rheumatoid Arthritis > Subject: Re: Humira - injectables > > > Hi Hayley: > > I have been on Humira since April 2003. I do notice that sometimes as > the end of the second week approaches that I have more symptoms. The > other biological your doctor is referring to is Enbrel which you > normally inject twice a week. I initially started on Enbrel, but after 3 > months we decided that it wasn't as effective as we hoped. Do you take > your Humira in combination with Methotrexate? I take 15 mg a week. I've > had varying success with the biologicals and over the past months we > have upped my dosage of the methotrexate with better results. I still do > have symptoms - just not as severe. > > Good luck. > gloria > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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