Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

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Wish me luck

Caspiana
Caspiana
I will be starting enbrel on Friday. I am nervous. For many years I watched my father inject insulin into his stomach and remember the bruises and swelling that came with it. I never really thought much about it then but now that I am in a similar situation it's unnerving to say the least. Please wish me luck.
deleted_user
deleted_user
the secret is... grab a bit of flab (if you have some) then put the needle fast, like you are trowing a dart, easy. you will be just fine
deleted_user
deleted_user
oops, I mean't throwing.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I do self-inj. enbrel and there is nothing to it!!! Simple and effective so far. Less sting if you do it after it is out of refrig. for 20-30 min. good luck. erica
Caspiana
Caspiana
Thanks for the encouragement :-)
deleted_user
deleted_user
I'm afraid of needles and I have no problem with it. I'm on Humira now but it's a needle as well. Like the others said put the needle in fast and it will be no problem. Leting it sit out 20-30 minutes helps alot as well. It helped me to be in a quiet room alown at first. You will do fine.

It will get easyer the longer you use it. God bless!
thinksRAstinks
thinksRAstinks
Good Luck! I'll be asking you for the same when I encounter the same fears when I start at the end of this month....
JillyT
JillyT
I take the Humira pen once a week and when I first started I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it because I was always afraid of needles and even passed out a couple of times when I was a teenager. It's amazing what a little pain will help you do...lol. Anyway, like our friends I have found that the medicine doesn't burn going in if you warm it up first. I let it come to room temperature and them I put it somewhere against my skin to bring it to ME temperature (LOL) and that works best for me.

I know you'll be fine, take care...jilly
Bistro
Bistro
We're all behind you! I found what lorrigirl said to be true with mtx injections. Think about it like how those martial arts people do bricks they kick through. They don't even see the brick. They see their foot (or hand) already on the other side of the brick. So, SEE the needle ALREADY IN, and totally IGNORE the skin. I used to get weird about it, then I thought of this. After that it was easy. As I did it, I just said to myself "It's out, it's in". Boom, done. Once it's in, it's all easy. Good luck!
lycesq
lycesq
If you let the needle with the enbrel sit out for 20 to 30 min., that really does help eliminate burning. And yes, as Lorri said, you grab a little flab and slide that needle in. I seldom had any bruising whatsoever and no swelling. Unlike Jilly, I did with the pen, so I got pre-filled syringes and was fine with those. Of course, I'd been giving my dog insulin twice a day for years so it was really easy for me. Hope it works for you.

Lynne
Caspiana
Caspiana
Thank you thank you thank you. I don't know what else to say. You've all made me feel much more confident. I CAN DO THIS :-)