Hello Humira, I saw my Rheumatologist the other day, and she felt that my RA and my Costochondritis are not being managed well (I’m taking Enbrel for the RA). She wanted me to consider Humira, which I have already done my personal research on, so I was more than willing to pull the trigger. She gave me a sample to take that evening since it was my night for Enbrel.

Adalimumab, sold under the brand name Humira, among others, is a monoclonal antibody used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, uveitis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It is administered by injection under the skin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adalimumab

That evening, I busted it out of the box, and read the instructions they are nearly identical to Enbrel which I have been taking for a little over a year. I prepared everything for my injection and I was pleasantly surprised that not only the needle was much smaller, but it seemed that Humira is missing the same preservative that Enbrel has, which causes a stinging sensation when injected. In fact, after a year of injecting Enbrel, I didn’t even feel the Humira injection.

Now, it was a wait-and-see what type of side effects I develop. It wasn’t an hour later that I felt a slight itching in the back of my neck and the back of my arms. I’m not sure if it is actually Humira or if is it something else. Regardless I will put it in my diary. The next morning I felt fine, just like I did on Enbrel, so no change as of yet.

That afternoon, I had a coughing fit, which I hadn’t had in about 3-4 months, so could that be Humira or just something random? Regardless, another note to add to the diary.

I’m only four days into Humira and all is well at this point.

The biggest issue that I had noticed with Enbrel, is that about 2-3 days before it was time for the next injection, I started to feel blah and run down. Hopefully, Humira will help there, but I know it will take a few more injections before I see any real changes.