Re: Enbrel Cat

June 14, 2006

Hi Cat:

Welcome to the group! You will find this to be a wonderful place to

come for support and understanding, as well as great information. I

also am taking Methotrexate, Enbrel, Mobic and Ultram for my RA. I

have not had any problems with the Enbrel which I have been on now

for about six months.

I think that you need to go with your gut here and discontinue the

Enbrel because of the chest pains. If it is coronary, have your

doctor do some studies on it before you restart the Enbrel, as that

seems to be aggravating what ever coronary condition there might be.

I have never heard of any heart problems caused by Enbrel - the only

side effects I have ever had are simply site injection bruising. I

do stop and start my Enbrel when I feel that I am ill, have a cold

coming on that sort of thing, because I have asthma and am prone to

bronchitis. I do not find that I have become more prone to such

infections since starting the Enbrel.

I hope that you find out what is causing the problem. As far as the

Enbrel you have in the fridge, you can keep it and try again, based

on your discussion with your doctor. Or you can take it to his

office and give it as a donation to a patient who possibly needs the

drug but cannot afford it. I don't know if this can be done or not,

but I am sure that one of our moderators, or a, will know

the legalities of that.

I wish I could be of more help to you. Hang in there - Kathe in CA

started Enbrel weekly injections about 8

> months ago. Which I stopped after a viral infection and chest

pains

> about 4 months ago. My problem is the high risks of Enbrel. I do

> feel better for the first couple of days after self injecting the

> drug. But the flares start up again long before I am due for my

> next injection. Also, I have found that my chest pains seem to

> increase with Enbrel. I have informed my Rheumatologist, but he

> thinks it may be something coranary and not the Enbrel. I do take

> meds for cholosterol and Mitro valve prolapse. I really do not

feel

> like it is a seperate issue. I have read all the research on

> Enbrel, the insert that comes with the drug, and my RA doctor told

> me up front that it is a high risk drug. He is a good doctor. I

am

> not unhappy at all with his therapy. But I am a little afraid to

> take the Enbrel without knowing a little more about it. The

> research and the insert are all straight forward and informative,

> but I need to hear some comments from people with direct experience

> with the drug. Not from companies trying to increase sales.

June 15, 2006

Hi Kathe

Thanks for your response. There are a lot of risks with Enbrel. I am not one

who freaks out about the risks though. I am happy just to find something that

helps me get out of this miserable, tired, run down, achy, depressed feeling

that goes with RA. But I am glad to hear that I am not being paranoid by

holding off on the Enbrel until I know more about the cause of my chest pains.

I mean they were so bad at one time that I was literally lying in bed with my

fists in the middle of my chest, applying as much pressure as I could. I felt

like hell and the pain ran all the way to my back. I did mention it to my RA

doc, he is very concerned. He advised me to see my primary doc about it. I did.

He did not do a thing. He just wrote it down in my file. That is twice now.

No, I do not want a different primary, he has been with me for years. But I do

think I will be finding a cardiologist and checking things out before I go back

to the Enbrel. I know RA alone can cause

hardening of the arteries and other heart ailments. But thanks for all your

info. Good luck to you.

Cat

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