Humira injections

dolittle

Hi everyone,

Is anybody else having trouble keeping their Humira syringes at the right temperature? I'm finding with the hot weather and then the rain and cooler weather my fridge temperature is up and down like a yo yo ..... It's driving me mad. It's a responsibility and a stress I don't honestly need.

It would help to hear that someone else is having the same problem. Could do without it. It's insane when I've got an air-conditioner whirring away in the kitchen .... keeping the air cool so that the fridge works properly.

Do

lindalegs

Hi Do,

I can't help but I'm bumping this up for you so that hopefully someone else will come along who can. I think the forums are quieter than usual due to the nice weather.

As an afterthought, could it be your fridge which is faulty, my fridge seems to keep a constant temperature and the weather doesn't affect how it works?

Luv Legs

tillytop

Hi Dolittle - I'm with legs on this one. When I was on Humira I bought a fridge thermometer to check on temp cos I was worried I would either freeze it or cook it(!) but my fridge temp stayed pretty stable - only noticed a definite increase in temp when we'd been shopping and it was very full! I know it's been really hot lately but don't think that should really affect the fridge temp that much....
Might be worth checking it out. Sorry, this might prove an expensive answer for you if you do need a new fridge....
Hope not!
Love Tilly x

ichabod6

Dont worry. Keep it in the coolest part of
your fridge and you should be ok. I have
used humira for over a year now and have
never worried over temperature. Humira has
certainly worked for me.

dorcas

Hi dolittle,

I agree with the others. I used Humira for four years without any storage issues but have to admit I never ever thought to check the fridge temp. :roll: just took it for granted that if it was in the centre it would be ok.

if in doubt you could phone the 'Healthcare at Home' pharmacy help line (or whoever delivers your injections) for advice and reassurance.

hope you get a really good result from this anti tnf. :!:

love,

Irisx

dolittle

Thanks Leg, Tilly, Icha and Iris for your replies.

My last fridge went ‘pop’ suddenly, so now I’m a bit edgey about my Humy. I wrapped them and OH whipped them down to the docs and they stored them for me for a week, bless them, until we got the other. The local chemist said he’d be glad to house them if there is an emergency, which is useful.

My problem is that I live in a bungalow, which tends to get warmer than the ground floor of the house I had. The kitchen is next to the conservatory, which is like a greenhouse when the sun is out and I can’t re-site the fridge/freezer. It’s playing up at the moment, so I can only think that the thermostat is playing up, and won’t come on as it should. Will get a man in who can get it top behave.

Anyway, I thought that being I’m anxious about them going out of temperature (which they can do only once), I’d do something about it. Today I bought a Data Logger, which you put in the fridge, it has an audible alarm and an LED which warns if the temperature is out of range. It has a USB connection which you can plug into the computer and it will print out a data sheet of all the temperature readings, so that you can see that the temperature has been maintained, because it checks the temperature of the fridge at intervals which you have requested. Perhaps now I can just forget it, once the fridge is seen to. I can also prove to the insultants that I have did as I was told.

I did ring Healthcare and they told me about the ‘once only’ rule. If it happens a second time then the injection will more than likely lose its effectiveness … then my brave gesture of puncturing myself and putting up with the sting and then filling in my little sheet will all be to no avail, and I wouldn’t want that – my arm might just fall off in the night and then where would I be? My OH just read this and piped up “It would all be quite ‘armless” …. Really, you’d think he could do better than that, if he’s going to stick his nose in!
Thanks for replying and your support … sorry for the epistle!

Dorcas: Haven’t been around for a while – problems – but I’m glad you’re back and will soon be over it all.
Thanks for he bump up, Legs
Dolittle

dorcas

dolittle wrote:

… then my brave gesture of puncturing myself and putting up with the sting and then filling in my little sheet will all be to no avail, and I wouldn’t want that – my arm might just fall off in the night and then where would I be? My OH just read this and piped up “It would all be quite ‘armless” …. Really, you’d think he could do better than that, if he’s going to stick his nose in!
Dolittle

at least you've not lost your sense of humour dolittle! you did make me laugh.

rest easy now... with all that hi tech around you!.

Irisxx

kerrycc

Hello

I can't help with any of this because I've not started my teatment yet, go the go ahead so am waiting for a date - could do with some comments on what its like being on Humira though? xx

tillytop

Hi Dolittle - very impressed by your high tech fridge monitoring! Hope all is well now and you don't have to ferry your Humira to the GP or chemist for emergency storage!

Hi Kerry cc - hope you don;'t have to wait too long for your Humira start date. When you are "ready to go" please do post if you'd like some injection tips - lots of us have picked up little things along the way to help the process along. In terms of being on Humira everyone has different experiences. I have just stopped taking it after almost 3 years because it didn't agree with me but it did work well for my RA duriing that time. I never liked doing the injections and used to get myself a bit worked up about it beforehand but, other than that I didn't really have to think about it all! Good luck and really hope it works for you. Love Tilly x

dolittle

Hi everyone,
I’ve now got to know my Data Logger. I thought some folk who are storing jabs in their fridge might be interested in some of the results it’s given me.

When the fridge is opened to retrieve milk, food, etc. it seems to increase the temperature about 1.5 degrees. Putting the weekly shopping (not a large amount) increased the temperature by 3.5 degrees, even though it was done very quickly.

I think we’ve learned a big lesson, and it’s something I wouldn’t have even thought of before. We have a ridgid clear plastic container for storing bacon, and one for storing, say, sausages. Putting those straight into the fridge from the drawer in the cupboard caused the temperature to rise to the very upper end of the allowed scale and took a long time to fall to a lower level. We’ve agreed that it will now be best to put the empty boxes in the freezer compartment to chill before storing them in the fridge, and to keep it running at a lower temperature than previously, so that the increases can be easily coped with. Being that my fridge says it's designed to work well in ambient temperatures of up to 32 degrees, the hot weather seems to be putting a strain on it.

It may seem that I am being a fusspot. However, having been ‘in the business’ I am aware that there are hundreds of thousands of sick people who rely on the NHS and I will defend it with my life! What a strange phrase to use! I have been through all the meds and have ‘nowhere else to go’, so I’m particularly keen for this Humira to work well. I’m glad to have the opportunity to have this drug, know how expensive it is, and have no wish to waste NHS resources by careless handling. Having had my fridge go ‘pop’ and the associated panic, I take the storage a little more seriously than I did or, perhaps, I need. I feel that ‘overkill’ is better than pumping a liquid into me that has lost it’s usefulness, so that I am, in effect, without treatment to stop my RA getting any worse. It's really a responsibility I feel I could do without.
Dolittle

dorcas

Hi dolittle!

that was very interesting...thanks. :!: you are right not to want to waste resources and reduce the efficacy of the jabs.....I was obviously a bit 'laissez faire' about the whole storage thing when I was on Humira (now stopped) but what you have done will be useful for others on this anti tnf to consider. chilling the plastic storage boxes first is a good simple useful tip.

Iris x

kerryc...I was on Humira for 4 yrs without any difficulty. I had to stop it for the sole reason that my immune system produced antibodies that stopped it working...otherwise I'd have been happy to continue. good luck when you start and hope it controls your arther. Iris xxx