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Becembrie 
Newbie
Joined: 26 January 2005
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1
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 Quote  Reply
 Posted: 25 October 2005 at 7:28pm |
The Enbrel instructions state to pull back on the plunger, but as an RN, we were only taught to pull back on intramuscular injections so that you don't inject directly into the bloodstream. I was never instructed to pull back during a sub Q injection, but I find myself doing it because that is what they instruct us to do. I always inject in my abdomen as well because it doesn't usually hurt. I too injected in my thigh once and it was very painful. I use the ice first numb and it works well. The Enbrel does sting sometimes. I don't know why. It isn't from the alcohol because I alway wait for it to dry. If I inject too quickly, it really stings.
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Lupus/RA MCTD. Prednisone, plaquenil, prevacid, mtx, iron, starting enbrel 2/05
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beejay
Newbie
Joined: 16 December 2005
Location: Canada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2
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Quote Reply
Posted: 16 December 2005 at 1:28pm |
 Early in my Enbrel "career" I had trouble with their
needles. I started using Insulin needles size 28 ga. x 1/2 in.
1.cc. cap. They are cheap and your dr. should prescribe them
with no problem. Any smaller than 28 ga. and the drug is
difficult to load into the syringe. A shorter length needle can be
used. The bruising is almost non-existent and pain is a thing of
the past. 
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BeeJay
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Kacey(Kc)
Newbie
Joined: 13 September 2006
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3
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Quote Reply
Posted: 13 September 2006 at 3:18pm |
Hi everyone!  This my first time EVER on a forum but I thought id give it a go.
Im 17 and was diagnosed with JRA at 12. I am thinking about starting Enbrel because nothing else seems to be working! of course, the idea of self injection is not so nice.  Any helpful words or advice? i feel like if it will take the pain away im willing to try it! i've done a lot of reading on it and it seems like a better choice than others i've looked at. So, yeah, any input would be nice! thank you everyone.
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Courage does not always come in the form of a roar. Sometimes courage is a quiet voice at the end of the day that says, "I'll try again tomorrow." :)
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vickilee
Senior Member
Joined: 15 August 2006
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 268
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Quote Reply
Posted: 14 September 2006 at 3:54pm |
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Hi KC... welcome!
I was on Enbrel last year and it didn't seem to work. I was on it
for about 3 months.... The needles are all prefilled, so that's
the good part! If you don't get too anxious, it can be pretty
easy... I injected in my stomach .. one side one week,
other side the next week. It wasn't too bad. But I still
hated the thought of 'today is my shot day'..
The pain and swelling were still there so the doctor had me quit that
and put me on injectable methotrexate... which I really
hated! I had to fill the syringes myself and the medication
really burned (Enbrel did not do that).. After a
while, I told the dr. that I was real bad at staying on the weekly
injections and missed several. So, he put me back on the pill
form of methotrexate, which I take with my other meds. The
prednisone helps alot with the swelling, and excedrin is my best friend
for the pain... of course when it's real bad, vicodin is there for me
too.. but I hardly use that.
Also, try posting on the Rheumatoid page... I think more readers are there and may help you more than I can.
Good luck!
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vickilee
10 mg. prednisone, 20 mg. methotrexate, remicade, folic acid, fosamax, 2000 mg. sulphasalazine, 80 mg. protonix
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Kacey(Kc)
Newbie
Joined: 13 September 2006
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3
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Quote Reply
Posted: 16 September 2006 at 11:38am |
thanks vickilee!
i start enbrel sometime this coming week. i wont lie, im pretty scared. not so much about the needles, but the fact that it may not work. im starting to run out of options. i will continue meth (doctors orders) even though i see no improvement from it.
on a better note, i've signed up with some friends to do the jingle bell walk. it raises money for research in all sorts of arthritis. im glad i have friends backing me up.
hope all is well.
Kc
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Courage does not always come in the form of a roar. Sometimes courage is a quiet voice at the end of the day that says, "I'll try again tomorrow." :)
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Meggie
Newbie
Joined: 22 August 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6
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Quote Reply
Posted: 27 September 2006 at 1:49pm |
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I have had AS for over 40 years now. Voltarol didn't ease it and caused other problems. I started Enbrel 5 weeks ago and feeling much, much better. When I get up in the morning I still have a slight pain in my lower back but after about 30 minutes moving about it has gone. I have dug my garden over, heavy clay, which I couldn't do before.
Regarding the injections, the needles seem sharp to me, maybe they're different in the UK. I get either little or no pain from the injection. I inject twice a week, always in my stomach (more fat there from middle-age spread). The nurse at the hospital advised me to insert the needle straight in, at a 90 degree angle. She said it was harder to pull out at exactly the same angle doing it at 45 degrees and so was more painful. I don't pull back the plunger to test for blood and I have only had one which bled and this was bruised for about a week.
I have 2 side effects. One is a dry throat, sometimes making it difficult to swallow dry foods. The other is itching with painful spots on my hands and feet. I have a hospital appointment tomorrow so will query if it is the Enbrel or coincidence.
The injections are nothing to worry about and are no big deal. The side effects I can put up with (if they are caused by the Enbrel) for the pain relief it has given me.
I would recommend Enbrel to anyone with severe back pain and not to get paranoid abou injecting yourself, diabetics have to inject 3 or 4 times a day.
Meggie
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Meggie
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Meggie
Newbie
Joined: 22 August 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6
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Quote Reply
Posted: 30 September 2006 at 4:18am |
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Apparently the dry throat isn't caused by the Enbrel so I may have a mild throat infection. If it gets any worse I'll go to the docs. The itching and spots could be caused by the Enbrel.
At the hospital I asked if I could stop taking the Voltarol and the doc said yes. Didn't take it on Thursday tea time so last pill was Wednesday tea time. Yesterday and today pain back to square 1 so maybe trying to push it too fast. I will take Voltarol tonight and see what happens then ring the hospital on Monday.
Love
Meggie
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Meggie
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coloradogal
Newbie
Joined: 25 October 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8
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Posted: 25 October 2006 at 4:51pm |
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I have been on Enbrel for more than 6 years and primarily inject in my legs.
When I was trained to do the injections, they instructed me to pull the plunger out a brief distance after inserting the needle to make sure you do not see blood (apparently a sign that you are injecting into a vein.) In all of these years, I have only seen blood appear when doing this two times.
I agree with the tips on injecting at an angle - that really seems to help minimize the bruising and makes the injection easier.
Another thing that I have found that eases the pain of the needle insertion is to pinch my skin around the area where I want to insert the needle - this causes the skin to rise up and become very taught. It seems that when I then insert the needle into the taught skin, it hurts less. Worth a try...
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trafman
Newbie
Joined: 25 October 2006
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 7
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Quote Reply
Posted: 25 October 2006 at 10:51pm |
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I've been on Embrel for over 10 years and take shots twice a
week. only have had minor skin irratation. I take the shots
in the thighs or arms with little problem. I tried it in the
stomach area a couple of times and had large red itchy areas develop
lasting a few days. If you have dark red blood come out after injection
you hit a blood vessel. Embrel has been a life saver. I take
Relafen to supplement the rest of my medication.
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beccy38
Groupie
Joined: 22 September 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 70
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Quote Reply
Posted: 26 October 2006 at 8:41am |
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I am starting Enbrel tomorrow and I am preety scared. The dr. gave me the SuireClick so I don't know if anyone here knows much about them vs. the regular needles. I am going to the office to do it in the am.. Does anyone have any tips? I am also on Avara 10 mg, every other day but I want to stop that because my hair is fallin gout alot. Does Enbrel do anything to the hair? I also was wondering if people on Enbrel drink red wine? My Dr. said it is more allowed than the DMARDS,
Hope the new medicine helps with little pain and brusing, etc...
I am also worried that what do I do when this stops working?? I felt better after the Avara but in a short two months, not any better. Overall I hope it works and I can stop the Avara.
Does anyone know about those sureclicks? I don't think you actually see the neede in those.
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