Two Questions Meds and Hands

[Guest guest]

Ok I have a few questions newly diagnosed within the last 6 mos

1. Enbrel- I am on one a week treatments with that. I am noticing a

difference but it is only for a few days after the treatment. Does

this make sense? Does anyone else give themselves more than one

injection? I am using it with a combination of mtx ...

I give the mtx on Tuesday nights

I give myself the Enbrel on Monday mornings.

Should I be spacing these further apart?

I originally started the mtx first before starting the Enbrel. So it

was my schedule set before. And wondering if I should be spacing

this further apart?

2. My hands, I am having problems with my writing (hands shaking,

hands REALLY hurting), my hand is real shakey as well. Does this

make sense does anyone else experience this as well? I use to have

wonderful handwriting and it is hard for me to even read it, that

isnt a good sign lol

Sorry so many questions, I dont post alot but I have had some issues.

Please helpppppppppppppppppppp

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I had problems with Enbrel that way too... It worked GREAT for a few

days, then would wear off long before I was due for my next shot. (I

was and still am on Mtx too, but it has never been particularly

effective by itself) If you've only had a few doses so far, it may

be that you ahven't reached full effeciveness yet. My understanding

is that it takes at least 6 weeks, and sometimes as much as 3 months

to know for sure if it will really work.

Several people hear suggested trying the twice a week 25mg type of

Enbrel instead, to see if that kept things on a more even keel. I

know it works for other people, but it didn't work for me. I didn't

feel as good as I did for the first few days after the 50mg dose, so

instead of having a few good days, I was just mildly crummy all the

time.<g>

After 4 months, I switched to Humira, which is working much better.

But I've heard just as many people say that Humira didn't work for

them and Enbrel does. It's such an individual thing.

As far as when you dose the Mtx and Enbrel is concerned, my doc

didn't seem to think it made much of a difference, though she did

want me to take them on different days, just so that if I had a

reaction, we'd know which was the likely culprit.

As frustrating as it is, all you can do is be patient and keep

trying. Good luck!

>

> Ok I have a few questions newly diagnosed within the last 6 mos

>

>

> 1. Enbrel- I am on one a week treatments with that. I am noticing

a

> difference but it is only for a few days after the treatment. Does

> this make sense? Does anyone else give themselves more than one

> injection? I am using it with a combination of mtx ...

>

> I give the mtx on Tuesday nights

>

> I give myself the Enbrel on Monday mornings.

>

> Should I be spacing these further apart?

>

> I originally started the mtx first before starting the Enbrel. So

it

> was my schedule set before. And wondering if I should be spacing

> this further apart?

>

> 2. My hands, I am having problems with my writing (hands shaking,

> hands REALLY hurting), my hand is real shakey as well. Does this

> make sense does anyone else experience this as well? I use to have

> wonderful handwriting and it is hard for me to even read it, that

> isnt a good sign lol

>

> Sorry so many questions, I dont post alot but I have had some

issues.

>

> Please helpppppppppppppppppppp

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Oh, as far as your hands are concerned, I haven't had a problem with

my hands shaking, but depending on how well the meds are working,

I've definitely had a lot of pain in my hands. And even when they

aren't painful, they are much stiffer than they used to be. My

writing looks kind of " scratchy " now... not free flowing. I have

trouble with really small fine motor tasks like using tweezers to

remove a splinter. My hands also tire and get crampy if I do too

much fine motor stuff.

I think it's all part of the RA though, not from the meds. One of

my hands curled up in a ball and froze like that just around the

time I was dx'd. The doc had to inject cortisone into the tendon

sheaths to get my hand to open up again. And that certainly didn't

have anything to do with meds, because I wasn't on any yet.

>

> Ok I have a few questions newly diagnosed within the last 6 mos

>

>

> 1. Enbrel- I am on one a week treatments with that. I am noticing

a

> difference but it is only for a few days after the treatment. Does

> this make sense? Does anyone else give themselves more than one

> injection? I am using it with a combination of mtx ...

>

> I give the mtx on Tuesday nights

>

> I give myself the Enbrel on Monday mornings.

>

> Should I be spacing these further apart?

>

> I originally started the mtx first before starting the Enbrel. So

it

> was my schedule set before. And wondering if I should be spacing

> this further apart?

>

> 2. My hands, I am having problems with my writing (hands shaking,

> hands REALLY hurting), my hand is real shakey as well. Does this

> make sense does anyone else experience this as well? I use to have

> wonderful handwriting and it is hard for me to even read it, that

> isnt a good sign lol

>

> Sorry so many questions, I dont post alot but I have had some

issues.

>

> Please helpppppppppppppppppppp

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

>

> Ok I have a few questions newly diagnosed within the last 6 mos

>

>

> 1. Enbrel- I am on one a week treatments with that. I am noticing a

> difference but it is only for a few days after the treatment. Does

> this make sense? Does anyone else give themselves more than one

> injection? I am using it with a combination of mtx ...

>

> I give the mtx on Tuesday nights

>

> I give myself the Enbrel on Monday mornings.

>

> Should I be spacing these further apart?

>

> I originally started the mtx first before starting the Enbrel. So

it

> was my schedule set before. And wondering if I should be spacing

> this further apart?

>

> 2. My hands, I am having problems with my writing (hands shaking,

> hands REALLY hurting), my hand is real shakey as well. Does this

> make sense does anyone else experience this as well? I use to have

> wonderful handwriting and it is hard for me to even read it, that

> isnt a good sign lol

>

> Sorry so many questions, I dont post alot but I have had some

issues.

>

> Please helpppppppppppppppppppp

>

>

< I wish I could help you with that one but I am on Enbrel, my sister

is using it but the last time I talked to her she told me that it is

not helping. She is also taking other RA medication along with it.

Good Luck, Bonnie