Diary of a wimp on Enbrel!

[em-121]

Good the hear that other people on Enbrel are having the same raised red itchy patches as I am! I was getting worried as I've had my 5th injection and this weeks reaction is the worst yet- it looks like I have been bitten by a very nasty bug. The area is all raised, hot and itchy but the derm nurse said this is very normal and to take some antihistmine.
I have the preloaded pens every week and they hurt like mad- I'm a complete wimp and have to get the BF to inject my leg each week. I sat there with the pen for 15 minutes last Friday trying to summon up the courage to inflict that amount of pain on myself- 10 seconds seems like a VERY long time when it hurts!
Upside is that after only five weeks I notice an inprovement so I'm willing to stick with it.

[devilsofdarkness]

Ellie hope u are doing well and the site reactions have calmed down now...im so glad uve started this thread as im just waiting for the call from the derm nurse to tell me when i can start enbrel and like u, worry almost to the point of paranoia about the side effects, thinking im gonna have a reaction and end up in hospital or something !! lol.....mind u my skin has got to the point AGAIN where ive GOT to try something or im going to go crazy so in a wierd way im exited about trying it too lol

keep us updated hun and hope it starts to make an improvement in your skin

debi
xxx

[ellieh]

Hi guys, nothing really new to report, I've done the 6th injection this morning, as usual no real problem, I am still getting pretty nasty site reactions coming up the day after injecting now but I'm just putting the cream the derm gave me on as soon as it starts to go red and being patient. No other side effects to report, no amazing results yet either except my p seems to feel a little less raised than it was a couple of weeks ago. 3 weeks down, 9 weeks to go til review. Please, please, please make it start working soon or they'll take me off it and put me back on MTX, I hadn't realised how cr@p it made me feel until I stopped   

[Luvvi]

Hi Ellie

That all sounds a lot more positive.  And keeping away the MTX is a huge achievement in itself!

Good luck and hopefully you will start to see some of the p going soon!

[ellieh]

Very unhappy bunny again today  :'( :'(
7th jab due tonight so starting 4th week, I've just been brave and looked in the mirror, the one part of my body that was p free which was the bit of my back that caught loads of sun last summer is covered in guttate  :'(. The sheets on my bed look like a child has been at them with a red pen  My entire scalp is covered, my face is flaking away and just to really made me look great my right knee has decided it can't take my weight which means I'm hobbling about and falling over. What is the use of filling my body with this drug if it's not working?  :'( :'( :'(

[Pieman]

hiya ellie
sorry to see you've had a rough ride sofar 

is it a case of get worse before it get's better..certainly hope so for you hun.

this could be possible taken from med guide:
Psoriasis. Some people using ENBRELŪ developed new psoriasis or worsening of
psoriasis they already had. Tell your doctor if you develop red scaly patches or raised
bumps which may be filled with pus . Your doctor may decide to stop your treatment
with ENBRELŪ.

fingers x'd for some relief and pronto!
pie

[ellieh]

hiya ellie
sorry to see you've had a rough ride sofar 

is it a case of get worse before it get's better..certainly hope so for you hun.

this could be possible taken from med guide:
Psoriasis. Some people using ENBRELŪ developed new psoriasis or worsening of
psoriasis they already had. Tell your doctor if you develop red scaly patches or raised
bumps which may be filled with pus . Your doctor may decide to stop your treatment
with ENBRELŪ.

fingers x'd for some relief and pronto!
pie

Thanks mate, I'm hoping it is just worse before better scenario also having just stopped the MTX without being weaned off that's probably not helping. Don't think it's a reaction to the Enbrel as such, just another plain old flare  Derm said give it 6 weeks so hopefully will start to do something soon, it's just so hard to be patient when it's getting worse and you're scared of starting off on that downward spiral  :'(

[babyblue]

Poor you Ellie, like everyone here have fingers crossed and really hope it works for you.  It may  as you said happen as you weren't weaned off MTX and that is causing it's own side effects.   Its a worry when side effects appear to outweigh any benefits at this point, hope this week all those painful/unpleasant side effects go away and you notice it start to work on P and PA.

Hugs
BB

[ellieh]

Well, 8 jabs down now. Running out of places to inject as my entire belly is swollen and purple from all the site reactions, had to do it almost in my side this morning which bloody hurt as there's less fat there to stick it in   Still no real results, the flare seems to be slowing down slightly but I reckon I'm up to about 70% coverage again, also on top of my knees being on strike this week I've now got my 1st real sausage finger to boot   :'(
I'm really not sure if I can bear these site reactions for another 2 months if I don't start to see some results soon  

[macs]

Hi

I am on embrel for PA, been on it 5 weeks now and not much improved.  I started having site reactions after my third injection and like you the reaction comes about 2 days after injecting. I have red patches on my thighs which after a couple of weeks fade, started injecting into my stomach and they are reacting now to, itch like mad, been to gp today and he had given me some cream. 
Hope you see some improvement soon, but if this fails you can try other anti tnf drugs rather than go back on mtx which is a drug I will never go back on..
Good luck

Macs XX