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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pre-filled syringe enbrel

stephgas
stephgas
so i just injected with my first pre-filled syringe (my rheumy had given me a handful of auto inject pens to start with). the pre-filled syringe hurt way less - like not at all. i liked that i was able to control how fast/slow the medicine was injected.

but i feel really weird having visibly stuck a needle in my abdomen. i'm not sure why, considering i was a body piercer and have stuck needles in MUCH stranger places. still, i feel kind of strange about it. i'm guessing that goes away...
nerot
nerot
I am going to self inject Enbrel for the first time tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes. I am not worried about giving myself the injection, I just worry about possible allergic reactions.
Indycarr
Indycarr
I am on MTX injections, been doing it for 3 months now, and every single week it takes me several minutes to plunge that needle into me. A couple of times it took me several hours because I just couldn't do it. It's not an easy thing to do, even tho it barely hurts, my brain stops me from just getting it done.

Part of it for me is knowing I'm pushing this nasty poison into me, and knowing that in about 30 minutes I'm not going to feel very well, but it is an odd sensation to inject yourself.

Good luck...!
stephgas
stephgas
i'm not sure what it was. i think it was actually seeing the needle plunge into my tummy. like i said, i've plunged many, much larger needles into other people's bodies (as large at 10 gauge) without issue. i wasn't even thinking of the poison part of it.

nerot, i never do my injections alone just in case something happens. i always do it with my husband sitting next to me and we've talked about what to look for. i've had some injection site reactions, but i have very sensitive skin and my rheumy told me that would likely happen to me. some topical benadryl cream helps.
nerot
nerot
stephgas, Yes. I waited until my husband was available in case of a sudden reaction. I just injected about 20 minutes ago. I feel kind of odd but it may simply be nerves.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I did my first injection last week at the Dr's office. Felt like an idiot for making it out to be such a big deal-it was easy and barely hurt. Of course, I didn't look-just got it set up and pushed the pen! Do my next on Tues-hope it goes as well.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I've been self-injecting Enbrel for 14 yrs, well actually I had my husband give it in the top of my arm for a while but found it actually didn't hurt as bad when I self-injected. When I first started, Enbrel came in a powder form and you had to mix the diluent with the powder then inject, and it was 2 shots a week (25mg) each, the shots didn't hurt a bit as there was no preservative in the powder. Then they came out with the 50mg pre-filled syringes, which do contain a preservative & that's where the discomfort comes from. There was a mis-communication with my doc office and pharmacy recently and I was sent the sure-click pens--those HURT. Thankfully I'm back on the pre-filled syringes now & can control the speed of injection---much less discomfort. Also, I always ice the site for a few minutes before injecting which seems to help.
stephgas
stephgas
i think the pre-filled syringes don't hurt at all compared to those auto inject pens. i didn't think those hurt too bad, but it was stingy and uncomfortable.