No on that yet , was suppose to be but ding dong dr ..changed his mind at the last minute , i was gearing mysefl up for self injection..but i can understand you being leary ..can your wife help you n the days you feel like you just cant give yourself the shot ?..Hope it gets easier for you ..is it eh sound it makes you dont like ? or that you cant actually see the needle since it sthe pen ? and on how to hold it next to your skin? wishing you a ton of luck ...
Tami

I HATED those stupid things! They hurt like heck, the noise was weird, I couldn't see what I was doing or tell when it was finished. The Enbrel pre-filled syringes are much easier to use all around. I think Humira now comes in syringes instead of the auto-injector. Ask your pharmacy or doctor.

I prefer regular self-injections to the pen and the BANG, but i have done both. If you prefer the other method, ask you doctor to prescribe it that way. Is it no loner available in vials? I use vial and hypodermic needle now for MTX. Have used pens for kineret, Humira, enbrel. Been on them all. Now I get my Orencia via IV infusion. They bill medicare $6600 a month!!!

WOWWWWW RASS holy bleeping cow !!! thats pricery ..i read that these meds are one of the most exspensive neds for a illness..crappppppp !

you aint crazy

the medicine goes in SOOOOOOOOOOOO fast that is why it hurts.

when you self inject you control the speed.

when I was in my humira season switched to a regular ole pre filled syringe from that injector thing. i could control the speed of the injection. pre-iced and went real slow with pulled taut skin.

no pain at all.

i disliked the self injector completely. difference was night and day.

no burn no pain on the pre-filled self injectable humira syringe that I controlled angle and speed on.

when I switched to orencia, same thing a syringe that I stick myself with at my own speed, and I am a slow type.

no pain with that also.

just ask your doc to call the pharmacy in a different type of methodology of injection. the syringes have to be cheaper prescription wise than those self injection things.

infusions carry huge copays for me on my work insurance and I do not have time nor can I get it to leave work for infusions. I hope I will always be a self injector. i'm good at it now.

it is one of many reasons i am fighting a change to actemra.

Ros

I am like that with any injection. Even the MTX once a week, I would keep putting it off and sweat about the process every week. But it didn't hurt, I just hate giving myself the shots.
I will sit there with the needle and just not want to do it. Even after 6 years, that never goes away for me. I have anxiety all that day.
I did like the click pens the best though, I hate seeing the process, I want to just aim and click.

Lin

I like the pens because I don't have to see the needle go in. I can just aim, look away, and shoot! lol The noise is loud, but I ice down the site for about 20 minutes and the pain is minimal. Sorry to hear you're having such a rough time. Maybe the pre-filled syringes would be a better option for you. : )

I can relate -- I still feel anxiety before my Humira injections. I've been using the pens for more than 5 years, but I always have to take a couple of deep relaxation breaths before I "pull the trigger."

If you think it's the noise, you can request a practice kit from the Humira website. The click of the practice pen isn't quite the same as the real thing, but you can practice clicking it over and over again, which might help desensitize you a bit (so maybe you'll wait only 30 minutes instead of an hour). Best of luck.

I've been on Humira for about 8 months now, I used to pass out after my injection because I psyched myself up so much, but now that I'm used to it I'm fine. I can't tell that I'm better or worse though from using it.

I am a needle phobe. It took me over a year to finally get up the guts to try Humira. I was not crippled up with pain anymore but I thought it would make me feel pre-RA and I wanted it so badly. I had read so may peoples posts on these forums about how it felt like a bee sting and worse. Last time I was stung by a bee it hurt like hell- why would I want to inject myself? To this day I don't know why you can't go into a doctors office every other week and have them administer it! Then when I see these commercials on tv about people who have to buy catheters to catheterize themselves WTF? Can you imagine that?
Anyway- first shot the doctor gave me to instruct on how its done. I was scared to death but it was a big nothing! I was like REALLY? This is what I had myself all worked up over?
So for a few months I gave myself shots- no big deal. Except one time I must have hit a nerve ending or something and it hurt like hell! Forget it- after that I was like you-dreading the shot, pen in hand, sweating and not wanting to push the button. Then I got sick of it and I'd tell myself it's nothing you can't take. What are you going to do-sit here all day putting it off? So I'd say 1 2 3 push! I then found I really didn't feel much better on it then off. Plus I got 2 sinus infections and I never get sick. So I kicked it to the curb.

Yes it's very expensive to use, especially if you do not have insurance. I pay $14 a month for Humira but I am blessed with fantastic medical benefits! Definitely talk to your rheumatologist because there are ways that the company will offer discounts, and ship it directly to your door! There are ways!!!

I started out with giving myself the Humira injections in the thigh. It was terribly painful for about 20-30 seconds, so I had a difficult time making myself actually push the button. Then, I decided to try the injection in my stomach. The information that came with the Humira said that was an option and gave directions. What a difference that made. I must admit, I have some "belly fat", so maybe that is the difference. But it is not nearly as painful as it had been in the thigh. I still put it off, but more resigned to doing it, rather than dreading it.

I like to think of the BAM as "TAKE THAT RA!" I will stop you, and by "I" I mean medications. I used to dread it because the needle was so sharp and it hurt. But they changed the needle and it is more comfortable now.

It can still hurt, during and after the shot, but compared to not being able to walk without severe ankle pain I will take the shot. Sometimes I call it my "crack" because I feel kinda addicted to Humira. I hope it continues to work for me and for many others.

Good point, Debbie. When I was still injecting it in my thigh, I would tell myself that it was 30 seconds of pain vs the horrible, long lasting pain of the RA. I'm grateful for the option. From now on, I'll think , "Take that RA!".

I use the Humira pen as well....and it does burn!!! The rheumy told me not to leave it out for more than 45 mins before injecting though. So I roll it in my hands to warm it up faster...then I just grit my teeth and go for it!