Re: ? about Humira shots & little update

[Guest guest]

i think the humira needles are a little thicker than the enbrel. Have you tried

icing your leg down? I did that and it seemed to help. I have had bruising and

bleeding once in awhile for shots though.

Joy

dreamer_plus <dreamer_plus@...> wrote:

Hi. I know I am here so seldom. I am still making near weekly treks to

the univ hosp with my son for his eye and staying at Mc Houses 2

nites of the week.

I have been doing GREAT still! Rheumy has been very slowly backing down my

prednisone. So far all is OK.

But, something " happened " with my Humira shot this week.

I do them in my thigh.

Usually I do OK, I find it harder to give myself a shot than it ever was to give

someone else a shot. I also never even flinched when others gave me shots, but,

I sure am slow doing myself!

ANyway, I went thru my whole little routine and had gotten the needle in and

before I even pulled back plunger (to check I was not in a vein) , it began to

bleed, yikes. SO I had to move elsewhere. ACK! the 2nd spot did the same thing!

I was careful in chooseing the site tomake sure there were no veins noticeable

thru the skin, but.....OK by now I was frustrated, cuz so far I had not ever had

this happen at all and now it happened twice in one day.

So I go to a 3rd site. and I cannot believe it, but it happened yet again. By

then my leg was so bruised and bleeding, and the needle must have been dulled. I

went to try a 4th time, but, I could not peirce thru the skin and gave up. By

then I was crying.

I kept hoping if I gave it an hour or 2 I could try again, but- nope, I was

unable to try again. And then I decided the needle would be dull and prolly and

germy by then -not so wise to use it again anyway. So, I gave up.

Has anyone else ever had similar happen? if so what did you do?

Joy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit Joy's Homepage and Reading Room!

http://jhoormann-ivil.tripod.com

Come see My Dog Salsa!

http://www.geocities.com/jhoorm01/Salsa.html

[Guest guest]

DO you mean ice it down before I do the shot? I did not inject becuz I thought

if there was blood, then you were not supposed to inject? The blood came up

around the needle and was bubbling up and around the syringe while the needle

was in me? I feel so .......incompetant? Silly? - I have been taking the

humira now well this was maybe my 18th- 25th? shot? I do not feel anymore

proficient at it than I did when I did my first one.

- In , Joy <jhoorm01@...> wrote:

>

> i think the humira needles are a little thicker than the enbrel. Have you

tried

> icing your leg down? I did that and it seemed to help. I have had bruising

and

> bleeding once in awhile for shots though.

> Joy

>

> dreamer_plus <dreamer_plus@...> wrote:

> Hi. I know I am here so seldom. I am still making near weekly treks

to the univ hosp with my son for his eye and staying at Mc Houses 2

nites of the week.

>

> I have been doing GREAT still! Rheumy has been very slowly backing down my

prednisone. So far all is OK.

>

> But, something " happened " with my Humira shot this week.

>

> I do them in my thigh.

> Usually I do OK, I find it harder to give myself a shot than it ever was to

give someone else a shot. I also never even flinched when others gave me shots,

but, I sure am slow doing myself!

> ANyway, I went thru my whole little routine and had gotten the needle in and

before I even pulled back plunger (to check I was not in a vein) , it began to

bleed, yikes. SO I had to move elsewhere. ACK! the 2nd spot did the same thing!

I was careful in chooseing the site tomake sure there were no veins noticeable

thru the skin, but.....OK by now I was frustrated, cuz so far I had not ever had

this happen at all and now it happened twice in one day.

> So I go to a 3rd site. and I cannot believe it, but it happened yet again. By

then my leg was so bruised and bleeding, and the needle must have been dulled. I

went to try a 4th time, but, I could not peirce thru the skin and gave up. By

then I was crying.

>

> I kept hoping if I gave it an hour or 2 I could try again, but- nope, I was

unable to try again. And then I decided the needle would be dull and prolly and

germy by then -not so wise to use it again anyway. So, I gave up.

>

> Has anyone else ever had similar happen? if so what did you do?

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Joy

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> Visit Joy's Homepage and Reading Room!

> http://jhoormann-ivil.tripod.com

> Come see My Dog Salsa!

> http://www.geocities.com/jhoorm01/Salsa.html

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

hey thats a thought! I know these are 27 guage- and 1/2 inch long. They are

preloaded. I use military meds by mail......I do not know if there is even a

phone number I can call. Yes, they are sub q.

I saw rheumy earlier in week, and he asked if I got syringes or pens..I said

syringes, - he asked if I had problems, well, at that time, no, I had not yet

had problems---he asked if I wanted pens.I said sure I could try those- but then

he decided not to write a RX after all? I wonder if I might do better with a

pen.

Even when things go well - I know I am SO SO slow depressing the plunger- I make

it take SO long, and I TRY to make it go in a little faster.....I am not sure if

it is fear of pain for me or if I have difficulty manipulating the syringe and

depressing the plunger.

I am going to admit, altho I HATE to admit------I wound up throwing that syringe

away......

I did not trust that the contents could still be um...safe enough to be worth

the risk-----after all my horseing around. And then I kept crying all day and

into the nite for tossing such an extremely expensive med. YIKES----that one

dose coulda made my monthly house payment!

- In , Pou <jenncrew@...> wrote:

>

> I don't know anything about Humira, but is it supposed to be a subcutaneous

injection? I use a very short needle for my MTX injections and don't generally

have a problem with any bleeding because the med goes in right under the skin

into soft tissue. If it's subcu, then maybe you should ask the pharmacist to

give you the shortest needle. My husband's an insulin dependent diabetic and

sometimes, the pharmacy does not pay attention to the length of the needle they

give him. The longer the needle, the deeper it goes and the more it hurts - AND

the more chance you have of hitting a vein. Just a thought.

>

> in Texas

>

> dreamer_plus <dreamer_plus@...> wrote:

>

>

> DO you mean ice it down before I do the shot? I did not inject becuz I thought

if there was blood, then you were not supposed to inject? The blood came up

around the needle and was bubbling up and around the syringe while the needle

was in me? I feel so .......incompetant? Silly? - I have been taking the humira

now well this was maybe my 18th- 25th? shot? I do not feel anymore proficient at

it than I did when I did my first one.

>

> - In , Joy <jhoorm01@> wrote:

> >

> > i think the humira needles are a little thicker than the enbrel. Have you

tried

> > icing your leg down? I did that and it seemed to help. I have had bruising

and

> > bleeding once in awhile for shots though.

> > Joy

> >

> > dreamer_plus <dreamer_plus@> wrote:

> > Hi. I know I am here so seldom. I am still making near weekly treks to the

univ hosp with my son for his eye and staying at Mc Houses 2 nites

of the week.

> >

> > I have been doing GREAT still! Rheumy has been very slowly backing down my

prednisone. So far all is OK.

> >

> > But, something " happened " with my Humira shot this week.

> >

> > I do them in my thigh.

> > Usually I do OK, I find it harder to give myself a shot than it ever was to

give someone else a shot. I also never even flinched when others gave me shots,

but, I sure am slow doing myself!

> > ANyway, I went thru my whole little routine and had gotten the needle in and

before I even pulled back plunger (to check I was not in a vein) , it began to

bleed, yikes. SO I had to move elsewhere. ACK! the 2nd spot did the same thing!

I was careful in chooseing the site tomake sure there were no veins noticeable

thru the skin, but.....OK by now I was frustrated, cuz so far I had not ever had

this happen at all and now it happened twice in one day.

> > So I go to a 3rd site. and I cannot believe it, but it happened yet again.

By then my leg was so bruised and bleeding, and the needle must have been

dulled. I went to try a 4th time, but, I could not peirce thru the skin and gave

up. By then I was crying.

> >

> > I kept hoping if I gave it an hour or 2 I could try again, but- nope, I was

unable to try again. And then I decided the needle would be dull and prolly and

germy by then -not so wise to use it again anyway. So, I gave up.

> >

> > Has anyone else ever had similar happen? if so what did you do?

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Joy

> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> > Visit Joy's Homepage and Reading Room!

> > http://jhoormann-ivil.tripod.com

> > Come see My Dog Salsa!

> > http://www.geocities.com/jhoorm01/Salsa.html

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

HEY! thats a good idea! I sure have plenty of area there to work with!

LOL.......

Yeah, I never had the blood come up like that before- and only one time was

there a tiny drop after I was done.....and then to have it happen so many times

at one session....it was so weird, and kinda creepy.

Gosh you guys gave good ideas! THANKS!

- In , " J " <xtend2000@...> wrote:

>

> I've always used my stomach either to the left or right of the belly button.

> Pinch an inch and inject. I never got blood, just a bit of bruising (and

> burning on the way in). Check with your doc to see if that is advisable

> for you.

>

> Joanne

>

> [ ] Re: ? about Humira shots & little update

>

>

> >

> >

> > DO you mean ice it down before I do the shot? I did not inject becuz I

> > thought if there was blood, then you were not supposed to inject? The

> > blood came up around the needle and was bubbling up and around the syringe

> > while the needle was in me? I feel so .......incompetant? Silly? - I

> > have been taking the humira now well this was maybe my 18th- 25th? shot?

> > I do not feel anymore proficient at it than I did when I did my first one.

> >

> >

> > - In , Joy <jhoorm01@> wrote:

> >>

> >> i think the humira needles are a little thicker than the enbrel. Have you

> >> tried

> >> icing your leg down? I did that and it seemed to help. I have had

> >> bruising and

> >> bleeding once in awhile for shots though.

> >> Joy

> >>

> >> dreamer_plus <dreamer_plus@> wrote:

> >> Hi. I know I am here so seldom. I am still making near weekly

> >> treks to the univ hosp with my son for his eye and staying at

> >> Mc Houses 2 nites of the week.

> >>

> >> I have been doing GREAT still! Rheumy has been very slowly backing down

> >> my prednisone. So far all is OK.

> >>

> >> But, something " happened " with my Humira shot this week.

> >>

> >> I do them in my thigh.

> >> Usually I do OK, I find it harder to give myself a shot than it ever was

> >> to give someone else a shot. I also never even flinched when others gave

> >> me shots, but, I sure am slow doing myself!

> >> ANyway, I went thru my whole little routine and had gotten the needle in

> >> and before I even pulled back plunger (to check I was not in a vein) , it

> >> began to bleed, yikes. SO I had to move elsewhere. ACK! the 2nd spot did

> >> the same thing! I was careful in chooseing the site tomake sure there

> >> were no veins noticeable thru the skin, but.....OK by now I was

> >> frustrated, cuz so far I had not ever had this happen at all and now it

> >> happened twice in one day.

> >> So I go to a 3rd site. and I cannot believe it, but it happened yet

> >> again. By then my leg was so bruised and bleeding, and the needle must

> >> have been dulled. I went to try a 4th time, but, I could not peirce thru

> >> the skin and gave up. By then I was crying.

> >>

> >> I kept hoping if I gave it an hour or 2 I could try again, but- nope, I

> >> was unable to try again. And then I decided the needle would be dull and

> >> prolly and germy by then -not so wise to use it again anyway. So, I gave

> >> up.

> >>

> >> Has anyone else ever had similar happen? if so what did you do?

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Joy

> >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> >> Visit Joy's Homepage and Reading Room!

> >> http://jhoormann-ivil.tripod.com

> >> Come see My Dog Salsa!

> >> http://www.geocities.com/jhoorm01/Salsa.html

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

[Guest guest]

Dreamer, have you ever tried your stomach for your injections? That's

where I inject my Enbrel. I believe that I have read that there are

fewer blood vessels there. Just stay away from the navel area. I just

touch an area with the needle; if it hurts, I choose another area. I

hardly ever get a bruise now.

Sue

On Friday, January 19, 2007, at 09:19 AM, dreamer_plus wrote:

>

> But, something " happened " with my Humira shot this week.

>

> I do them in my thigh.

[Guest guest]

I wouldn't feel bad about tossing it. The directions say that you

should. (in fact, they say not to use the needle a second time if

the first injection site doesn't work) Who do you get it from? The

specialty pharmacy mine comes from has nurses on duty all the time to

answer questions like that. I haven't done it, but my guess is that

Humira will replace the shot.

My new rheumatologist recently switched me to the pens, and

personally I don't care for them. I'm going to ask him to switch me

back. I _like_ being able to inject at the speed I want... it seems

to sting a little less if I can go slower. I also find that holding

the pen against my leg hard enough to keep it injecting is hard on my

wrist. I also hate how big the thing is. It's a pain to keep a

sharps container big enough for the pens, and I don't like the idea

of all that un-needed plastic going into landfills. (or whatever they

do with full sharps containers)

That said, I was already used to giving myself shots from my Mtx and

from being on Enbrel first. In you case, you might like it... it's a

very individual decision. You certainly don't have to even think

about " how " you're going to do it... the pen does it for you. I

really don't think it's a big deal worrying about hitting a blood

vessel with a sub-cu shot... the pen sure doesn't check, it just

injects. And as far as the blood at the site, I'd check with my doc

about it if I were you, just to be safe. But if you'd been using a

pen, the injection would have been done with before you even saw any

blood, because the edge of the pen surrounds the whole injection

site. You never even see the needle.

> > > Hi. I know I am here so seldom. I am still making near weekly

treks to the univ hosp with my son for his eye and staying at

Mc Houses 2 nites of the week.

> > >

> > > I have been doing GREAT still! Rheumy has been very slowly

backing down my prednisone. So far all is OK.

> > >

> > > But, something " happened " with my Humira shot this week.

> > >

> > > I do them in my thigh.

> > > Usually I do OK, I find it harder to give myself a shot than it

ever was to give someone else a shot. I also never even flinched when

others gave me shots, but, I sure am slow doing myself!

> > > ANyway, I went thru my whole little routine and had gotten the

needle in and before I even pulled back plunger (to check I was not

in a vein) , it began to bleed, yikes. SO I had to move elsewhere.

ACK! the 2nd spot did the same thing! I was careful in chooseing the

site tomake sure there were no veins noticeable thru the skin,

but.....OK by now I was frustrated, cuz so far I had not ever had

this happen at all and now it happened twice in one day.

> > > So I go to a 3rd site. and I cannot believe it, but it happened

yet again. By then my leg was so bruised and bleeding, and the needle

must have been dulled. I went to try a 4th time, but, I could not

peirce thru the skin and gave up. By then I was crying.

> > >

> > > I kept hoping if I gave it an hour or 2 I could try again, but-

nope, I was unable to try again. And then I decided the needle would

be dull and prolly and germy by then -not so wise to use it again

anyway. So, I gave up.

> > >

> > > Has anyone else ever had similar happen? if so what did you do?

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > Joy

> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> > > Visit Joy's Homepage and Reading Room!

> > > http://jhoormann-ivil.tripod.com

> > > Come see My Dog Salsa!

> > > http://www.geocities.com/jhoorm01/Salsa.html

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

The trouble with your belly is you have to avoid stretch marks.

After having had two 9 lb babies, I've got a lot of those.<g>

> > >> Hi. I know I am here so seldom. I am still making

near weekly

> > >> treks to the univ hosp with my son for his eye and staying at

> > >> Mc Houses 2 nites of the week.

> > >>

> > >> I have been doing GREAT still! Rheumy has been very slowly

backing down

> > >> my prednisone. So far all is OK.

> > >>

> > >> But, something " happened " with my Humira shot this week.

> > >>

> > >> I do them in my thigh.

> > >> Usually I do OK, I find it harder to give myself a shot than

it ever was

> > >> to give someone else a shot. I also never even flinched when

others gave

> > >> me shots, but, I sure am slow doing myself!

> > >> ANyway, I went thru my whole little routine and had gotten the

needle in

> > >> and before I even pulled back plunger (to check I was not in a

vein) , it

> > >> began to bleed, yikes. SO I had to move elsewhere. ACK! the

2nd spot did

> > >> the same thing! I was careful in chooseing the site tomake

sure there

> > >> were no veins noticeable thru the skin, but.....OK by now I

was

> > >> frustrated, cuz so far I had not ever had this happen at all

and now it

> > >> happened twice in one day.

> > >> So I go to a 3rd site. and I cannot believe it, but it

happened yet

> > >> again. By then my leg was so bruised and bleeding, and the

needle must

> > >> have been dulled. I went to try a 4th time, but, I could not

peirce thru

> > >> the skin and gave up. By then I was crying.

> > >>

> > >> I kept hoping if I gave it an hour or 2 I could try again, but-

nope, I

> > >> was unable to try again. And then I decided the needle would

be dull and

> > >> prolly and germy by then -not so wise to use it again anyway.

So, I gave

> > >> up.

> > >>

> > >> Has anyone else ever had similar happen? if so what did you do?

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >> Joy

> > >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> > >> Visit Joy's Homepage and Reading Room!

> > >> http://jhoormann-ivil.tripod.com

> > >> Come see My Dog Salsa!

> > >> http://www.geocities.com/jhoorm01/Salsa.html

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

[Guest guest]

Hi, I took Humria from the time it came out until this summer when it

stopped working for me. I found that the stomach was much less painful, and

I hardly ever bled there. I did occasionally hit something in my leg that

bled as well. Mine burned a lot when I did them, but over time that seemed

to diminish (or I got used to it). The ice trick is one that I did use. I

iced it until numb then stuck myself. It seemed to help with the burning

and the bruising all at once. Once I started using the stomach (either side

of the naval and a little higher) I found that I only got little dime sized

light colored bruises if anything, even if I didn't ice it. I also used

Enbrel and had long since started using the stomach because of how badly I

bruised my legs, especially since you were sticking each leg every week. I

took Humira weekly over the last year, but that meant that I was sticking

one side every other week. I hope this helps a little and wish you luck.

Jeanine

Florida

[Guest guest]

Dreamer, I've been using the Humira once a week and haven't had any

problems at all. My PCP's nurse had me bring the Humira in the first

time and taught me how to inject myself. I always use my stomach,

there are fewer blood vessels and fewer nerves than the thigh. It's

much easier. I swab the area first, pinch, and hold the needle flat

against my stomach. I then rotate it up to about a 45 degree angle,

and it goes in without any effort at all. No jabbing, flinching, etc.

I inject verrrrry slowly, and have almost no burning at all. I

usually have a red, itchy area for a day or so, but no bruising or

tender areas. I move around, I have four areas I usually use - either

side of my navel, and either side of my stomach about 2-3 inches above

the navel.

It's good to hear the the Humira is helping you, and that you're

getting the prednisone down. Hope your son's eye treatment is

sucessful!

On 1/19/07, dreamer_plus <dreamer_plus@...> wrote:

> Hi. I know I am here so seldom. I am still making near weekly treks to the

univ hosp with my son for his eye and staying at Mc Houses 2 nites

of the week.

>

> I have been doing GREAT still! Rheumy has been very slowly backing down my

prednisone. So far all is OK.

>

> But, something " happened " with my Humira shot this week.

>

> I do them in my thigh.

> Usually I do OK, I find it harder to give myself a shot than it ever was to

give someone else a shot. I also never even flinched when others gave me shots,

but, I sure am slow doing myself!

> ANyway, I went thru my whole little routine and had gotten the needle in and

before I even pulled back plunger (to check I was not in a vein) , it began to

bleed, yikes. SO I had to move elsewhere. ACK! the 2nd spot did the same

thing! I was careful in chooseing the site tomake sure there were no veins

noticeable thru the skin, but.....OK by now I was frustrated, cuz so far I had

not ever had this happen at all and now it happened twice in one day.

> So I go to a 3rd site. and I cannot believe it, but it happened yet again.

By then my leg was so bruised and bleeding, and the needle must have been

dulled. I went to try a 4th time, but, I could not peirce thru the skin and

gave up. By then I was crying.

>

> I kept hoping if I gave it an hour or 2 I could try again, but- nope, I was

unable to try again. And then I decided the needle would be dull and prolly and

germy by then -not so wise to use it again anyway. So, I gave up.

>

> Has anyone else ever had similar happen? if so what did you do?

>

--

Shoreview, MN, until April! brrrr!

South Pasadena, CA

You can see my galleries at http://www.pbase.com/arenared986

[Guest guest]

>

> Dreamer, I've been using the Humira once a week and haven't had any

> problems at all. My PCP's nurse had me bring the Humira in the first

> time and taught me how to inject myself. I always use my stomach,

>