I am goling to repost a reply i gave to someone else re: humira.  It may be
redundant info for you.  I am now on enbrel as i had a hard time getting my
insurance to pay for humira once a week.  Humira is a piece of cake from my
personal experience in comparison to enbrel.  I had no side effects (I'm
chasing them all over the board with enbrel), the shot is so easy and
absolutely fool-proof.  let's pray the drug works well for you because the
proces is a piece of cake.

The humira injections are really very easy.  You will get a humira kit with
excellent instructions on the injection process itself.  There are some prep
things though that will help you with the injections.  First take one of your
humira kits from the package and leave it on a counter top to come to room
temp.  This takes about half an hour on a temperate day-if it is very hot,
adjust accordingly.

Then ice your injection site choice for about five minutes (will either be the
belly at least two inches from the navel or the thigh).  Now you are going to
follow instuctions in the booklet or video to the letter.  I actually use
waterless antibacterial soap to wash my hand right before the injection and
then alcohol the area to be injected.  Clean is very important here.

There are several issues which may or may not be applicable to you.  If your
hands are limited in range of motion or very painful, you may have a difficult
time either pinching the area or drawing back to check for blood.  If that is
the case, you need to train your partner or kid or best friend.  If you are
very thin or very fat, it is harder to get the little pinch so practice
pinching the area numerous time before injecting.

Keep a syringe after you first injection and play with it for a while so that
you get proficient on pulling back the plunger.  You become experienced and it
is a piece of cake.  Do not forget to let go of your little pinch after
inserting the needle and before checking for vessel contact (blood in the
syringe).

These needles are very small and will probably not be painful at all if you
bring up the temp of your refrigerated syringe and ice the area.

Know how you are going to dispose of your needles.  You can get a sharps
container at your pharmacy.  There are different laws governing the disposal of
needles.  In California, I can use a container (coffee can, protein powder
plastic container, etc.) and when it is full, duct tape it closed and stick it
in my trash.  I cannot by law, throw a syringe in my trash for trash collection
even if I recap the syringe or it is one of those retractable ones.

If you have any problems you can contact humira helpline for customer
support-they are among the best in the business.

Since I am on Kineret, I would like to know why you came off it?

Connie,

I've been using Humira since September without any issues (except for an
increase in colds over the winter, but everyone tells me that must have been
coincidental). I had been using Enbrel for 3 years before that, but this is
so much more convenient. Especially if you do any traveling.

I haven't had to do the plunger pull back. The one thing I have noticed is
that there is more "sting" while injecting the contents than there was with
Enbrel. I thought Enbrel was painless, even with the bigger needle, but this
one burns for a few seconds. Not enough to stop, but it is certainly
noticeable.

This may be a personal reaction that isn't common. I had been on gold shots
for years and my doctor had to use one with a different solution, Solganol,
than he used for everyone else. Solganol was very thick and required a large
gauge needle. When he used the usual thin, watery product, I had a similar
burning to the Humira and also felt faint. I don't have any sense of feeling
faint with the Humira, but do have the similar burning.

Good luck,
Stan
I will start it soon..I have been on Kineret..then on to Arava..Is there
anything special I need to know or would like to tell me? I have always
found this group so informed! Thank you and hope there are many painfree
days ahead for us all..

~ Connie~