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Time for a new biologic in the battle to conquer/tame my RA.
Thank goodness biologics are not a college course with a grade because I have failed 5 of them so far. Each one lasted about about a year before they weren't really helping. I was actually on Enbrel for 2.5 years, but the last year I was in a drug study that added Rituxan to the mix with the Enbrel....not that it did anything besides totally deplete my immune system and made me use up all my sick time because caught every bug around.
The drug study ended in February, and I am no longer eligible for another drug study until late fall. So, I quit taking my Enbrel the beginning of May and now I am on Simponi. Took my first dose today...have to admit the sample dose from the rheumey's office came in handy since my insurance wants to play games approving it. Pulled the autoinjector out of the box 30 minutes before the dose and took one look at the injector device and just about quit before I started...that thing was huge, and it delivered the same .50mL dose as the enbrel in a pen six time the size! Thankfully it was easy to use after watching the video on the web page, and it hurt a lot less than the Enbrel pens did.
I suppose it takes a few weeks to feel any effect. I didn't do too bad off the enbrel, had a couple of bad days, but nothing major that wasn't solved by lidoderm patches or pain meds or and extra prednisone.
Never had any injection reactions before, but tonight my thigh hurts like i got a tetanus shot..no redness or swelling, just achey. Anybody else on Simponi and want to trade stories? Going to get my cold pack out of the fridge and use it on my leg for a while before bed.
On the bright side, I have a new "grandchild" that arrived Sunday. My son and his fiance adopted a kitten from the shelter and i got to go play with him yesterday. Nothing like some good old fashioned kitten love to brighten your day!
