The One Month Marker: Third Time’s the Charm?
Today marks one month (er, 4 weeks, anyways) since I started Humira as a new treatment for my rheumatoid arthritis. Since it’s an every other week injection for right now, that means today I take my third shot. I am really hoping that the “third time’s the charm” idiom holds true here. I hadn’t noticed much of a difference the first couple of weeks on Humira. I had been experiencing an increase in disease activity on Enbrel, but the severity of the symptoms and number of joints involved had calmed down somewhat by the time I saw my doctor and made the switch. However, over the past couple weeks, symptoms have been creeping back. My wrists have been particularly sore, and I’m getting pain and stiffness in my elbows again. Also, I hate to admit this because it’s a new one, but I think that RA is affecting my neck. Then of course, there are the usual suspects: hands and feet. My knees have not gotten too bad again – mostly just stiffness – so I’ll count that as a blessing.
My best guess is that the Enbrel has worked its way completely out of my system and now I’m waiting for Humira to really “kick in”. I know it can take several weeks or even a few months, and I know that I can also up my dosage to weekly injections, so I’m trying not to worry about my increase in symptoms. However, I’m due for labs next week, and I’m really curious what my sed rate will show this time. I want to give today’s shot a few days to take effect before getting my blood drawn. But, if I go in feeling like I do today, I wouldn’t be surprised if my sed rate was even a little higher than last time. This will be another good test to see how well my symptoms and my sed rate correlate. Until I get the labs done and potentially hear from my doctor, there’s not much to do but sit back and wait.
In the meantime, I am trying to become a better patient by becoming more informed, particularly of my own history. I received my health records from my current rheumatologist and have requested them from my previous doctor. I’m hoping to keep good records for myself on both clinical assessment and personal assessment to aid good management of my RA. Hopefully I can put together some graphs soon based on my blood results and make note of my flares along the same timeline. Sounds kind of nerdy. Could be fun! :)
Well, I suppose it’s time to stop procrastinating and get this injection over with.
For the full story, read my other posts about my experience with Humira
ABOUTME
Hi there! My name is Dana and I live in West Michigan with my husband, Tom and our dog Copernicus. I created this space as a place to share the things I learn along this journey I call life. I work in marketing and I'm a sort of Jane of All Trades, interested in all things nature, gardening, cooking, exploring and learning new things. This blog is a conglomeration of my interests, hobbies, life and life lessons. Thanks for stopping by!