Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives Anti TNF and other biological medications 2 small questions about enbrel!

So I've been on it for almost 3 months, and 2 weeks after starting, I was great. Like someone flipped a switch (to OFF!) and have hardly looked back. Still on celebrex, have only had a little peek of occasional symptoms, mostly if I spend an evening on the laptop with both legs stretched out in front of me, propped up on the coffee table (a no-no for me).

Questions:
1. how long in general to get less injection site reaction? I get an itchy red blotch the size of my palm that is worst the day after, and then fades over the next couple of days.

2. (related!) - does anyone find it less effective to give the injection in the abdomen? I'm quite slim, am sure I am doing it properly, but I stopped the legs because of the visibility of #1 above, but I'm wondering if my twinges might be from doing the shot in my belly, since I had no twinges in the 4 weeks I used my legs.

Any suggestions/thoughts?? Summer's coming and I want it to work, but also don't want a big red thigh like I used to have!

Thanks, and happy Easter to all.

this is dependent on your body and how well your body deals with it. It may subside over time or it may do that every time. You can talk to your doctor about another TNF blocker that you take once a month instead (such a symponi) to decrease the amount of injections you are getting. Enbrel is usually taken more often in the month. As to whether it would be better on your abdomen try it one time where you know your not going to wear a bathing suit for example and see if it makes a difference. You can also get the TNF blocker in your arm if a nurse does it for you... why dont you try talking to your doctor about getting the injections in your arm instead and see if you can try that? The arm is not so bad.

It does not make any difference in how the Enbrel works if you use different sites for your shots. Many people like using their stomach area because it hurts less. I think it depends on where you have enough tissue/fat to inject into.

I have been taking Humira since June 2010 and I rarely get any reaction.

Hi there, I do know that when I inject my Enbrel into the abs I get more pain and irritation. But I also tend to miss the fat in my abs and inject into muscle, which hurts like a son of a .... as well as the waistband of my jeans always seems to hit where I inject.

My thighs hurt much more because there's no fat there that I can find. Sometimes I go through the ceiling when I inject there!

Have you called Enliven for advice from their on call nurses? They're very good. It may be that you just need to take an anti-histamine prior to your shot. I had a slight allergic reaction to my Remicade infusions. They put 25mg of Benadryl into my IV 15 minutes prior to the infusion and that dealt with that. As I said, call Enliven. That's what they're there for.

Hugs,