Oh, The Loading Doses

2 days ago I started the loading doses on Humira.  For Crohn's it is 4 injections the first time, 2 injections 2 weeks later, and then 1 injection every 2 weeks for maintenance.  I decided to use the Humira Pen. 

I am what I thought was a "former" needle phobe. I have now found out the phobia is alive and well, in regards to giving myself shots. I can give shots to others and have no problems. But not the same when injecting myself. 

Because I had been trained on how to give shots my Dr. decided I could do this on my own. Well, the instructions say you can inject in the thighs and/or the abdomen. 

The first injection was in my left thigh. I was nervous, I was shaking, but I managed to give myself the injection. They said there would be a click, but to me it sounded more like a canon going off. The medicine came, and it hurt like hell! But I managed to be OK with this injection.  After this one went OK my wife and daughter left to go shopping. We thought that after the first time, I would be fine. 

Then I tried injection #2, in the right thigh. I prepped the site, got everything ready, and when I pressed the button on the pen I jerked when the cannon sound went off! Medicine flying everywhere.  I got very upset and decided to wait until my wife got home. Then I did something you are not suppose to do. I tried to put the caps back on pen #3. This caused that pen to inject while it was laying on the table. The instructions say not to put the caps back on the pen after they are taken off. 

I called the Humira Nurse support line and found I had to leave a message because it was after hours. To their credit, they tried to call back within a 1/2 hour as promised but I did not recognize the number on the caller id and we have been received a rash of calls from 800 numbers which we are ignoring. If it has said Humira or Abbot Labs  I would have answered.  The next day they called again an were more than helpful in arranging for 2 replacement pens - no additional charge, and in convincing my wife that she should administer my shots. She is a lot better at it than I am. 

We used the two pens from the starter pack for shots 3 and 4 of the initial dose on Thursday night. The second dose is in 2 weeks, so we will have the shots from Abbot Labs by then. On Thursday night my wife injected me in the abdomen, which was a lot less painful. 

As far as side effects,   I have had no site injection reactions, and  no other reactions as of yet. Despite the problems I had Wednesday night, it is nice to be on the med. Humira may actually work.   

HUMIRA IS APPROVED!

The insurance company finally agreed to pay for Humira!  I get to start it next week. Asacol worked for a while, but I went back to my old self and started having problems again, after about 2.5 months. Anyway,  I am excited to actually get on a med that has a chance of working. YEAH!!!!

A Crohn's Update and another New Diagnosis

Last Wednesday I had an appointment with Dr. Poole. He is my G.I. now that Dr. Eyring has retired. We are going to again attempt to get approval on Humira.  I think this time the insurance company will go for it. I have failed on Sulfasalazine and Asacol HD - while having some effect, is still not getting me into complete remission. I have "D" on occaissions, Abdominal pain, and abnormal bowel movements. I have met the criteria the insurance company stated, so this time I would think they would approve it.

Today I got an email from my neurologist concerning the results of a sleep study that was conducted a few weeks ago. I have been experiencing sleep problems that have been getting worse. Anyway, I have been diagnosed with central sleep apnea. The interesting thing about this development is that my minimal study of this disorder has revealed one thing. "Conditions that can cause or lead to central sleep apnea include:  Neurodegenerative illnesses such as Parkinson's Disease".  I have Essential Tremor. I wonder how many ET sufferers have this development.  I also found out from the Mayo Clinic website that Central Sleep Apnea is caused by the brain simply not telling the muscles that control breathing to take a breath. Less than 5% of  sleep apnea patients fall under this category.

Anyway, I have to schedule a CPAP titration, and then we will determine what to do next.

I am so sick of having more medical problems.  Lets hope this is it for a while.