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...
Hi everyone,
I haven't visited much and I really should because I'm sure I can benefit from the collective knowledge here. I can really use the advice of this group as I renewed my commitment to do all I can to battle my RA and improve my quality of life. RA has robbed me of too much already so I'm fighting back. More on that in another post.
I wanted to share my experience this morning with my Humira pen injection. The last couple times I took the Humira the pain was so intense that I had trouble keeping the injector up against my skin. I certainly can't risk not obtaining a full dose so after reading some suggestions online I tried a couple and I didn't even feel the injection. What worked for me this time was to 1) warm the injector with my heating pad for about a minute. I'll need to check on this to see if it is okay to do this. 2) use extra of the ethyl chloride numbing spray I obtained from my doctor. I really let it soak into my skin and numb the area real good. 3) I always inject on top of my thigh but this time I moved further away from my knee up where there is more skin and fat to grab and pinch. 4) finally, I let my 16 year old daughter give me the shot. She has been my coach since Day 1 but never actually gave me the injection. I pinched a nice fold of skin while she administered the injection. The goal was for her to leave it in place regardless of my pain level. The pain, however, never came. I literally felt nothing though I knew it went in and I know all the dose was received. Maybe I got lucky this time but I will be trying this new approach again in a couple weeks. I hope some or all of my strategy will help someone else so I'm passing it on. I'm not a doctor and I will check to see whether warming up the pen in my heating pad is safe for the medication. I'll update this post when I find out.
Greg
I haven't visited much and I really should because I'm sure I can benefit from the collective knowledge here. I can really use the advice of this group as I renewed my commitment to do all I can to battle my RA and improve my quality of life. RA has robbed me of too much already so I'm fighting back. More on that in another post.
I wanted to share my experience this morning with my Humira pen injection. The last couple times I took the Humira the pain was so intense that I had trouble keeping the injector up against my skin. I certainly can't risk not obtaining a full dose so after reading some suggestions online I tried a couple and I didn't even feel the injection. What worked for me this time was to 1) warm the injector with my heating pad for about a minute. I'll need to check on this to see if it is okay to do this. 2) use extra of the ethyl chloride numbing spray I obtained from my doctor. I really let it soak into my skin and numb the area real good. 3) I always inject on top of my thigh but this time I moved further away from my knee up where there is more skin and fat to grab and pinch. 4) finally, I let my 16 year old daughter give me the shot. She has been my coach since Day 1 but never actually gave me the injection. I pinched a nice fold of skin while she administered the injection. The goal was for her to leave it in place regardless of my pain level. The pain, however, never came. I literally felt nothing though I knew it went in and I know all the dose was received. Maybe I got lucky this time but I will be trying this new approach again in a couple weeks. I hope some or all of my strategy will help someone else so I'm passing it on. I'm not a doctor and I will check to see whether warming up the pen in my heating pad is safe for the medication. I'll update this post when I find out.
Greg
and no other running around, other than leaving it out for 30 minutes.
it's the silly hydraulics and the whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh of the dumb auto injector that hurt me. I can inject as slow as I want with the pre filled syringe.
as an fyi, should you also be interested, you have to have the rheum specifically script for the pre filled syringe you can't call up and change it yourself with the specialty pharmacy.
depot
Glad you have found something that works for you. How is the Humira itself working?
depot
oooooowwwwwww !@#$%^&*!!!!! ooooooowwwww!!!!
good for you!
you see, there is hope. I hope it continues and I hope it works for you.
that's wicked funny.
the hurt from the auto injector is worse than looking down at a , gasp, needle in my humble opinion. to those who love their auto injector, for you guys in particular, i am happy for you :)
I had the chance to participate in a RA study with all kind of auto injector's (a research study on the things) behind a blind mirror. that was fun.
depot
1. Remove ice pack and pen and alcohol wipe from frig
2. Place Kleenex on injection site; place ice pack on top. Keep in place for about 15 minutes.
3. Remove ice and Kleenex.
4. Swab site with alcohol wipe.
5. Pat dry with fresh Kleenex
6. Grab a "roll" of abdomen skin.
7. Inject. Hold all in place for 12 seconds.
8. Wipe any residue or drop of blood.
The trick is in numbing the skin. My rheumatologist's PA, who formerly was an RN, showed me how to do it.
Humira users: let me know how this works.
I was told to use lidocaine for 30 minutes before infusing (taping plastic wrap and being generous with the lotion).
Finally, I find that making sure I am super hydrated also helps with the pain. I am not really sure why though... I even noticed it with the methotrexate injection.
I am glad you are finding ways to make it less painful!
If you are experiencing pain or getting even a spot of blood after the injection you are getting into muscle instead of the layer of fat below the skin.
I have plenty of fat on my gut but I use that every day for insulin so I use my thigh for the Humira.
One thing I have found is that I would be tensing my thigh muscle without realizing it. I now sit with my butt just barely on the edge of a hard chair - basically so even my hip is off the chair. Then have my leg perfectly straight with my foot resting on my heel. Now feel your thigh muscle and move your foot slightly off the floor and you will feel your thigh muscle tense. Concentrate on your thigh muscle being totally relaxed.
Now I don't have much fat at all on my legs. I found that the higher I go toward the hip the better. I will actually have the heel of my left hand close to my hip bone to grab the skin below then squeeze.
Then for squeezing the skin in a pinch - start with your thumb and forefinger as far spread open as possible and grab as much skin as you can and squeeze. Now you should have a big clump of squeezed skin to put the shot in the center. And remeber to keep that thigh muscle limp. Don't push the end of the pen into your squeezed lump - keep it just at the surface.
Once I learned to do this routine I don't feel a thing and get no blood whatsoever.
I just take the pen out of the frige for 20 minutes before the shot.