Any advise on Enbrel
Donna Mc
Member Posts: 30
Hi everyone!.My name is Donna, i am 34 years old and married with three beautiful little girls. I have had rheumatoid arthritis now since i was 20 but it really started to quickly get worse about 3 years ago. My knees are the worst affected with swelling and stiffness but i have it in every joint in my body and every joint has damage and is painful. I have tried anti inflammatories and was on Methotrexate and Plaquenil for about two years (high doses) with little or no relief and unpleasant side effects so have since stopped. I have past all assessments and am currently waiting on Enbrel (anti tnf) injectable drug and due to start in a couple of weeks time. I would love to hear of anyone elses experience of this drug as i am very concerned about starting it as it is a fairly new drug and not yet fully known about long term side effects.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Donna.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Donna.
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Comments
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Hi there Donna,
Sorry to hear your arthritis has been difficult over the past few years. I hope you have some success with controlling it with Enbrel.
I responded very well to Enbrel after 12 weeks of waiting for it to kick in. I was also very lucky in that I didn't suffer from any side effects other than intense itching at the site of the injection.
With Enbrel being an immunosuppressant, I was very cautious about catching an illness from someone else, used anti bacterial hand wash frequently and made sure I didn't touch anything while out and about. I didn't catch so much as a sniffle the whole time I was on it and I was working in a nursery school full time.
I am off Enbrel (and Mtx) now as I am trying to concieve and am relying on steroid injections to get me through. I miss the Enbrel and look forward to taking it again.
I hope you have as much success with it as I have had and that you are feeling better soon.
Arna x0 -
Hi Arna, thankyou so much for your reply. I am so glad to hear that Enbrel worked for you as so far all i have heard are negative comments.My husband and i always planned on having another baby but my rheumatologist has advised me very strongly against it due to the damage already done to my joints and how aggressive my arthritis is. They have told me that i would definately be in a wheelchair within the next ten years if my disease wasn't controlled. I am so happy for you and hope you have success in your baby plans and hope the steroids are working for you. I have had so many steroid injections that the rheumatologist has refused to give me any more at the moment.
I hope this drug works for me and i will keep in touch with you and let you know how i get on.It took 12 weeks to work for you so i'll just have to be patient and see how it goes.
Thankyou again and hope to chat soon,
Donna x0 -
Hi Donna , nice to meet you!
I just popped by to wish you well with starting Enbrel. The anti tnf's can be very effective at controlling arther so I hope you find that it gives you relief from the arther onslaught.!
I was on Enbrel unfortunately for only a short time as I reacted to it... but even for the weeks I was on it I felt that it was helping! I moved on to Humira after that and it was a good drug for me for about five years.
We are all so different and what works/ doesn't work for one doesn't necessarily mean it will be the same for the next person.. and vice versa! The monitoring is such that any 'blips' are quickly dealt with... so don't worry!
It's good that you are getting the opportunity to have anti tnf treatment. In my book we are the lucky ones, to have been given access to these very sophisticated treatments.
Here's hoping that you derive much benefit from it.
let us know how it goes?
Iris xxx0 -
Hi Iris, nice to meet you also:
This is all so new to me so i hope i am posting the replies properly and everyone receives them. I am glad you are getting relief from Humira now.It's all trial and error i suppose cause everyone is different so i'll give it a go. I was on Methotrexate and Plaquenil before and as i was immunosuppressed i took everything that was going from colds and flu to every infection possible and found no relief with the joints so hopefully this time round will be different. I will keep in touch as long as i can post properly lol.
Thanks so much again for your kind wishes,
Chat soon, Donna x0 -
Hi !
I ahve been on enbrel times. once when i was 18 ( one of the first to trial it) and no word of a lie i thought i had been cured! i was taking it with mtx at the time and it was great- however after 2 years i felt it was wearing off and my boddy was becoming immun- i tried various drugs in the mean time, which where unsuccessful.
i was then put back on to the enbrel- out of all the drugs i tried, i felt mroe benefit from enbrel. so i just hoped it worked again this time. I hated injecting twice a week, but luckily a new pen came out which meant i could inject once a week
i feel no side effects from the enbrel and as long as i remember to take it i am great. i take it with Leflunomide too.
Fingers crossed my body is taking to it, and my bloods are great atm, just hope it stays that way.
good luck with using the enbrel, hoep it is as good fro u as it is for me x x0 -
These things do work, and work well, for some: you won't know if you are in that number until you try. You will still be immuno-suppressed so you should have your flu jab etc. I wish you well. DDHave you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben0
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Hi Donna
Just want to wish you good luck on embrel, I've been on it for 6 months now and I am due to go for my assessment this week to see if I can carry on taking it. It has done wonders for me and I have never felt so well, I too was worried with it being a new drug but I'm glad I got over the fear. Sensible advise about anti-bac hand washes. I also had a problem as I always seemed to bleed when I injected by my RA said not to use the swabs but to numb the area with an ice cube and this has worked brill for me. You are really well monitored as well so I thought its got to be worth trying and I am so glad I did.
Good luck, keep us posted
debs0 -
Thanks everyone for your kind words of reassurance. Hi Debs its good to know i'm not the only coward with meds lol. It's great to hear that you have had success with Enbrel, that is very reassuring to me at this time and i'd like to thankyou very much for replying. I will be starting Enbrel in about two weeks time or less. As soon as all the x-ray and blood results come back and i have to say from speaking to all on here i am definitley a lot less anxious about it so thanks to all.
Will keep in touch,
Donna xx0
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