I take Humira, but since I've never taken Enbrel I can't offer a comparison. The Humira has been a lifesaver and I feel pretty good (much of the time). I do take MTX, and no, I don't take them on the same day. I take the Humira on Wednesday night, every other week and then the MTX on Friday evenings. Good luck, whatever you decide!

Thank you, WVMel! Do you or did you have any side effects from the Humira?

I take my Enbrel on Thursday and my methotrexate on Monday. that combo seems to work best for me. I have not tried other biologics.

I have used both Embrel and Humira. Both were very effective with high doses of MTX. Enbrel worked for a short time, then it just stopped. Humira was well too, until the high MTX dose messed with my liver. I take Orencia, and I do prefer the once a week dose. I did not have any side effects for any of them.
Do you want the injection once a week or every other week? They all are remarkable drugs.
Good luck!
Lynne

Just started Enbrel in combo with Methotrexate. I do not take on se day. MTX Wednesday night. Enbrel on Friday morning. I take them on separate days because Wed has always been my night for MTX since diagnosis in Nov of 2013. I get extremely fatigued the day after and Thursday I am off from work so it works well fore to catch a nap. Friday was my Rheumy appt when I got my first Enbrel injection so I am just flowing course here. :)

i'm on enbrel and 20mg mtx weekly. (i'm probably going to stop the enbrel next week and switch to humira soon because enbrel ain't doing jack).

enbrel and humira seem to be similar first-line biologics, but many people have better luck with one over the other. enbrel has been out a bit longer and has a bit more testing, which is why i chose it. i would say you could flip a coin and choose ;)

i take enbrel on wednesday (oh, it's enbrel day again) and mtx on saturday because sunday is super sleepy day. i decided not to take them on the same day because i just think that seems a bit much. i don't know that you can't take them together, but it just seems like a lot.

i've used both the sure click auto inject pen and syringes. i highly prefer syringes. the sure click pen hurts and i think it just shoves all the medicine in your body fast and i think that's why it hurts. i can push the syringe in slower and it hurts me less. if you're icky about needles, have a family member inject you in the back of your upper arm.

my advice is to leave the med out for at least 30 minutes so it's not super cold. icing the injection site didn't make a difference for me. i get injection site reactions; my rheumy said that was common. i got a topical allergy cream (comparable to benadryl with an antihistamine) and it really helps with the next-day-itchy-injection-site. because it does get itchy for me for a day. ALSO sign up for the support thingy and talk to them on the phone - you can request a sharps container and travel kit from enbrel (i love free stuff). the sharps container from enbrel comes with a box to ship it back when it's full of needles. (my insurance co. offered one too but it didn't come with the option to ship it back and i like that.)

I was on Humira for 7 months and hopefully starting Enbrel next week. My doc didn't talk about any difference in either one when I first started. The only real end user difference is Humira is taken every other week while Enbrel is taken once a week.

The Humira worked well for me with 4 tabs of Methotrexate a week. I'm hoping the Enbrel does at least as well with me.

I take the Methotrexate on Sunday and the Humira on Thursday. As someone else said, I felt it better to take them as far apart from each other as possible - no real reason other than trying to avoid too much medication into the body all at once. Also in the case of some kind of reaction, I might be able to tell which one was the problem that way.

coaltrain, did the humira stop working for you, or did it never work well enough?

A long story about my Humira. I had no insurance for about a year and got it free from the Abvie Foundation. When I procured insurance this past November, I stopped that and had my doc write an Rx through my Insurance. The insurance denied the Humira but said Enbrel was OK. After repeated phone calls and letters to me doc to follow up to have them write the Rx for Enbrel, it never happened. Finally had my every-3-month visit 2 weeks ago when the doc finally wrote the Rx for Enbrel - he was PISSED!

Here I am 3 months with no biologic - have back peddled back to my original condition from last year - not good at all.

The Humira worked quite well for me.........

I just take Enbrel. I do the shot on Wednesday nights. Then I feel good by the weekend. I feel a little tired on Thursday. They both came out within a couple of years apart. Enbrel has been around longer. The only difference I heard was Enbrel is every week. Humira is every 2 weeks. I would think that Humira is a stonger dose because it is every 2 weeks. They both are TNF Blockers. I feel that the biologics work better than DMARDS with less side effects.

I'm on team Enbrel. Never tried Humira.
I was comfortable starting with Enbrel because the liver was not at risk compared to other options. Now not sure about Humira.
I has some relief first injection. That's just me. That's the ups, the downs well not comfortable to inject but think Humira's the same.
Side effects were a bugger but worth it.
Enbrel stopped working after Thanksgiving so just started Orencia yesterday.
Good to do home work before choosing.
Good luck!
Sammy

Before starting Enbrel a few months ago, I asked my rheumy about when to take it re: the methotrexate. She said it didn't matter at all, and to do what was convenient. I'm sure her answer comes from the science & research, not from the "I take this crap myself" perspective. I have always chosen to separate them, for the reasons others have stated.

As far as which one to start with, I don't think it makes any difference at all- just flip a coin. Or do what most of us did, and see which one your insurance company will pay for first. They are quite similar, both are well-studied, both target TNF cells. There is no way to tell whether one or the other will work better for you or cause you problems.

I'm on humira and mtx. Felt better within a week of my first injection. I could have tried either embrel or humira and chose humira because you only have to inject every other week (was a wimp). I'm still supposed to take 20 mg of mtx weekly, but I've been backing off. Never thought that it did much and would rather not be on more meds than needed. I've always taken the mtx on Friday night-only side effects are very mild nausea and tired. Do my injections on Monday, but may change to Sunday for work/travel reasons. Good luck-hope it works for you!

I started on Humira bi-weekly and then my rheumy moved me to Humira weekly. It worked fairly well for about 18 months. I started Enbrel in January. I feel great (with the exception of my right knee), but it worked pretty quickly on my other joints.

In my opinion, you can start with either - there is no way to tell which you will respond to beforehand. I will say Humira stung a bit more than Enbrel (and that was after leaving it out 30 min).

Thank you everyone for your replies! I still haven't heard back from my insurance but they said it may be Friday before I do. I have already decided that I want the pre-filled syringes no matter which drug I try. I am a nurse and injections don't bother me. I have used the autoinject pens with patients and I hate them! I also don't care if it is a weekly injection or not.

Sammyo1, you said the side effects were a bugger with Enbrel, would you be willing to share what they were? I know not everyone has them and the side effects can differ between people but I like to hear some first hand expirences. Same for Humira if anyone would like to share.

Thanks again for all the responses and support!~Lori