Wish you success indeed. Have been on it for 7 years now.

Any tips on the injection pen? Do you also take mtx or another dmard?

Hoping it works quickly.

Me too...vacation is a month away and I NEED to not be in pain!

Hi Susie - I hope the Humira works for you. Re the injection pen: it's like ripping off a bandaid. You can get yourself all worked up about it, or you can just do it. I made a conscious decision to not let it turn into a high drama moment. It could be very easy to slide into that mindset if you're not careful. Just follow the directions, be matter-of-fact about it, remind yourself that yeah, there's a little sting, but it's not like a broken bone or something, it just lasts a few seconds, if even that. I told myself that it was my secret weapon and it would give me superpowers, because I'm basically a ten year old in a old lady's body, and that's what worked for me. You can do this.

Thanks Katie - I give one of my dogs two shots a day. I'm just going to do mine right after one of his and carry that matter-of-factness right from me giving his to me giving mine. {hopefully}

Oh, Susie, that's perfect, just tell yourself you're surely more mature than the dog.

Well, it hurt like a MOTHER, but I did it. I waited until dinner on the stove needed my attention in 3 minutes so I wouldn't be able to dwell on what I was about to do or stall in the process. I would just DO IT - and I did. Feeling proud of myself. Now, the waiting to see if it will work for me or not is going to be harder than those couple of minutes for sure.

I was on Humira but am now on Actmera. I do better with a syringe instead of the pen thingie. With the pen, since I couldn't see the needle I was always worried that I wouldn't get the thing in well enough so I'd push to hard and leave a big bruise. It shouldn't have been a big deal but I made it into one.

^ I would second what NoNightshades said. I give myself methotrexate injections without a problem. I have switched from Humira to Stelara, but if I go back to Humira I'm going to ask about syringes instead of the pen - just a personal choice, mind you, there's not a right or wrong here, just your own comfort level.

And I do, sometimes, have a bit of 'dribble' with the mtx injections. I'd hate to waste even a droplet of the Humira, and the pens pretty much ensure that you'll get it right. So there's different things to consider.

I think I'm better off NOT seeing the needle. And with a syringe, don't you have to worry about NOT injecting into a blood vessel?

And, like you, any waste is not an option as we are all so desperate for everything we can get, right?

So proud of you SusieG. YOU DID IT!!! I was very scared but so sick of the pain. And once I started biologics I started feeling much much better. Now I do the injectpens and put on an icepack for about ten minutes after. It keeps me from bruising and it helps the pain.
I've done them for years now. Humira helped me a lot!!! I wish you the best. Let us know how you are doing!

Full-on flare and during the first nice warm weekend here in PA. I felt so bad for my newest pup who usually gets a good 3-4 mile walk on the weekend days. I just couldn't do it - my feet are killing me! He got a little over a mile and when I got home, I pulled my sneakers off and collapsed. My hands are so swollen I can't grip anything and just the thought of cleaning out my gardens remained just that - a thought. So I got nothing done. I hate that. I am praying so hard that this decline reverses to improvement by vacation in a month...