Humira approved and on the way

[Guest guest]

Well, I finally reached the speciality pharmacy. Anyone have anyexperiences with Tel-drugs? That is the mail order pharmacy that myinsurance uses.First off wanted to send it via overnite UPS with delivery by 7pmtomorrow nite. I reminded the lady that I am in Texas and it hasbeen 80 plus degrees here the past few days. I also let her knowthat my UPS man does not get to my neighborhood until after 4pm...soit would be sitting on a hot truck all day. First she said she wouldrequest they put another ice pack in the box. I asked her, doesn'tthis med require refrigeration? She said yes. I told her I havesomething to do...I can't sit home all day. Well then she said theycan send it to work or school. I told her what would I do with itthere. I have no access to refrigeration. I sub at local school.Subs don;t have access to the teachers lounge...we only have the siblounge with one tiny frig!!!So then she said well if the meds are hot when you get them call usand we will reship them. Now I think I am really talking to an idiot.So I finally talked her into doing a one time Fedex shipment withguarenteed deliver by noon.I did find out that I do not have pharmacy coverage for anyinjectible drugs. But they will cover it through my major medicalcoverage. So the lady claims its covered 100% no co-pay. Now Ireally don't trust CIGNA. They are so clueless. I questioned thelady for a long time and called the medical side...got the samething...I made it clear that I did not have money to pay for this sothey better be write or I was going to be really pissed with them.At first I didn't want more than one month of meds...but I figuredthat I better get three months..cause if they do send me a bill atleast I have three months of meds and hopefully can figure outsomething for the future.I let my doc know I will try one shot and see how it goes...if itburns as much as they say. when I see him on friday he will get themeds and he can do whatever he wants with it. I am suppose to gettrigger point steriod injections and maybe a regular steriod shot. Iam in what I guess is a flare the worst I have ever had.My fingers, wrists ankles and toes are so painful. My fingers arelocking up and cramping. My feet are cramping up as well. I feellike my hands are on fire.Back to this pharmacy. I had them price predisone...now we all knowits cheap...well they are going to charge me full co=pay even thoughthe med cost less than a co-pay. I was not happy. I told them nevermind....I will get my meds from local pharmacy that does not try torip me off.I don't know how everyone else feels...but I am tired of drugs, docs,tests and I am tired of the financial burden that goes along withRA, I want to just tell them all where to go...dump the meds downthe toilet and move on with my lift. I am sick of this disease andall that is going on.Toni

[Guest guest]

Hi, I live in Florida and it gets pretty hot here. . My humira is delivered by UPS every month. The cold packs have stayed frozen for a long time and so far the medication has always been cold and it has been delivered when in the 90's. I was worried about it at first, but since seeing it packed well everytime, it has put me more at ease.

As far as the burning goes, it has burned me towards the end of the shot...maybe about 2/3 thru it. Some say it's the preservatives, some say because it's a 40mg shot whereas some shots are smaller. It's not that bad tho considering the pain I've not had since using it. So I put up with a little burn every 2 weeks compared to my old RA pain...no brainer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maggie

http://www.4HockeyFans.com

http://www.4FloridaHockey.com

MSN: Maggies1429

AOL: Maggies85

-----Original Message-----From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ]On Behalf Of aclavern33@...Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 9:23 PMundisclosed-recipients:Subject: Humira approved and on the way

Well, I finally reached the speciality pharmacy. Anyone have anyexperiences with Tel-drugs? That is the mail order pharmacy that myinsurance uses.First off wanted to send it via overnite UPS with delivery by 7pmtomorrow nite. I reminded the lady that I am in Texas and it hasbeen 80 plus degrees here the past few days. I also let her knowthat my UPS man does not get to my neighborhood until after 4pm...soit would be sitting on a hot truck all day. First she said she wouldrequest they put another ice pack in the box. I asked her, doesn'tthis med require refrigeration? She said yes. I told her I havesomething to do...I can't sit home all day. Well then she said theycan send it to work or school. I told her what would I do with itthere. I have no access to refrigeration. I sub at local school.Subs don;t have access to the teachers lounge...we only have the siblounge with one tiny frig!!!I let my doc know I will try one shot and see how it goes...if itburns as much as they say. when I see him on friday he will get themeds and he can do whatever he wants with it.

[Guest guest]

How much is in the syringe? I heard on another group that the

needles are dull?

I need the low down on this med.

Toni

--- In Rheumatoid Arthritis , " Maggie " <meshouse@e...>

wrote:

>

> Hi, I live in Florida and it gets pretty hot here. . My humira is

delivered

> by UPS every month. The cold packs have stayed frozen for a long

time and so

> far the medication has always been cold and it has been delivered

when in

> the 90's. I was worried about it at first, but since seeing it

packed well

> everytime, it has put me more at ease.

>

> As far as the burning goes, it has burned me towards the end of the

> shot...maybe about 2/3 thru it. Some say it's the preservatives,

some say

> because it's a 40mg shot whereas some shots are smaller. It's not

that bad

> tho considering the pain I've not had since using it. So I put up

with a

> little burn every 2 weeks compared to my old RA pain...no brainer

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> Maggie

> http://www.4HockeyFans.com

> http://www.4FloridaHockey.com

> MSN: Maggies1429

> AOL: Maggies85

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Rheumatoid Arthritis

> [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ]On Behalf Of

aclavern33@a...

> Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 9:23 PM

> undisclosed-recipients:

> Subject: Humira approved and on the way

>

>

> Well, I finally reached the speciality pharmacy. Anyone have any

> experiences with Tel-drugs? That is the mail order pharmacy that

my

> insurance uses.

>

> First off wanted to send it via overnite UPS with delivery by 7pm

> tomorrow nite. I reminded the lady that I am in Texas and it has

> been 80 plus degrees here the past few days. I also let her know

> that my UPS man does not get to my neighborhood until after

4pm...so

> it would be sitting on a hot truck all day. First she said she

would

> request they put another ice pack in the box. I asked her, doesn't

> this med require refrigeration? She said yes. I told her I have

> something to do...I can't sit home all day. Well then she said

they

> can send it to work or school. I told her what would I do with it

> there. I have no access to refrigeration. I sub at local school.

> Subs don;t have access to the teachers lounge...we only have the

sib

> lounge with one tiny frig!!!

>

> I let my doc know I will try one shot and see how it goes...if it

> burns as much as they say. when I see him on friday he will get

the

> meds and he can do whatever he wants with it.

>

[Guest guest]

I haven't run across any dull needles...the needle goes in smoothly and I hardly notice it.

40mgs 0.8 ML

My low down.......I've had RA and have been on meds since 1992....went thru many steroid shots, have been on pred for as long as I can remember..in fact I don't remember ever being off of it...was on plaquenil for a year, it did nothing for me..went onto MTX in mid 90's. Still had much RA pain. A year ago I saw a new RD in FL. He was surprised at my pred dose and how long I've been on it. He kept upping my MTX from 10mgs, then lowering my pred. Finally I was on 20mgs of MTX, and down to 10 mgs of pred. Still had much RA pain...then he talked me into going on a study for humira where I would get free humira for 3 months, and do survey's for Abbott Labs. Had a humira shot 3pm in the afternoon, the next day MOST of the stiffness in my fingers was gone, over the next two weeks I had been able to move around like I hadn't in a very long time...I'd get comments from friends on how much I changed and one even made fun of me for using a yard blower LOL. SO for me Humira has given me a lot of my life back...I still get pain at times..but compared to before it's like night and day for me. No side effects, my tests are all good. I'm down to 5mgs of pred one day, then 2.5 the next (I rotate).

I hope you have a good experience with humira, if not there are other meds out there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maggie

http://www.4HockeyFans.com

http://www.4FloridaHockey.com

-----Original Message-----From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ]On Behalf Of Ms radarSent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 10:00 PMRheumatoid Arthritis Subject: Re: Humira approved and on the wayHow much is in the syringe? I heard on another group that the needles are dull?I need the low down on this med. Toni

[Guest guest]

Wow I don't take any prednisone. I have taken it in the past but my

new rheummy does not use pred unless its absolutely necessary which

is fine for me. I can not take high doses of pred nor can I take it

for a long time. I am very sensitive to hormones and steriods. They

create a drug induced psychosis. Not to mention they also tear up my

stomach and it does not matter if its oral or injections..I get the

same side effect. I am probably one of the few people that loose

weight on pred.

I was on MTX pills first then injections. I had all the side

effects, drug induced pneumonitis, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness,

headache, mouth sores, eye sores, throat sores, genetilia sores. I

spent nine months of my life laying on the bathroom floor. So I

finally decided no more of that poision. It was just not worth all

the side effects....I was too sick to really tell if it was doing me

any good.

I have also taken Arava. It was fine but after a year it stopped

working. PLus I changed rheummy's and the new one did not like the

drug due to problems with liver failure. Enbrel really did nothing

and after a while I started getting rashes from it...I had GI

problems and vomiting on Doxycylcine(anti-biotic therapy) I am

allergic to all sulfa drugs so there azulphazine is totally out.

I am on plaquinil...when I remember to take it. I guess it

works...no real clue. I did however take it early in the day

yesterday and spent the whole day with a headache, nausea and

dizziness. So I won't do that ever again. I will go back to taking

it late at nite before bed.

I am running out of options. I ahve not tried Kineret and that is

the last one of the self injectables. I am not a canidate for the IV

meds due to poor venous access. I would have to ahve some sort of IV

port, PICC line or something implanted to they could give it too me.

I am pretty impossible to draw blood from and I had surgery and it

took to anethesilogist to start a small tiny neonate IV to they could

put me to sleep. When I woke up I had an IV in each arm. The doc

said they even had a really hard time and called for NICU team member

to help.

So I hope this helps. If not this is pretty much it for me and the

drugs. I will continue to use the plaquinil. Maybe there will be

something else new.

Toni

--- In Rheumatoid Arthritis , " Maggie " <meshouse@e...>

wrote:

>

> I haven't run across any dull needles...the needle goes in smoothly

and I

> hardly notice it.

>

> 40mgs 0.8 ML

>

> My low down.......I've had RA and have been on meds since

1992....went thru

> many steroid shots, have been on pred for as long as I can

remember..in fact

> I don't remember ever being off of it...was on plaquenil for a

year, it did

> nothing for me..went onto MTX in mid 90's. Still had much RA pain.

A year

> ago I saw a new RD in FL. He was surprised at my pred dose and how

long I've

> been on it. He kept upping my MTX from 10mgs, then lowering my

pred. Finally

> I was on 20mgs of MTX, and down to 10 mgs of pred. Still had much RA

> pain...then he talked me into going on a study for humira where I

would get

> free humira for 3 months, and do survey's for Abbott Labs. Had a

humira shot

> 3pm in the afternoon, the next day MOST of the stiffness in my

fingers was

> gone, over the next two weeks I had been able to move around like I

hadn't

> in a very long time...I'd get comments from friends on how much I

changed

> and one even made fun of me for using a yard blower LOL. SO for me

Humira

> has given me a lot of my life back...I still get pain at times..but

compared

> to before it's like night and day for me. No side effects, my tests

are all

> good. I'm down to 5mgs of pred one day, then 2.5 the next (I

rotate).

>

> I hope you have a good experience with humira, if not there are

other meds

> out there!

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> Maggie

> http://www.4HockeyFans.com

> http://www.4FloridaHockey.com

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Rheumatoid Arthritis

> [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ]On Behalf Of Ms radar

> Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 10:00 PM

> Rheumatoid Arthritis

> Subject: Re: Humira approved and on the way

>

>

> How much is in the syringe? I heard on another group that the

> needles are dull?

>

> I need the low down on this med.

>

> Toni

>

[Guest guest]

AMAN !!!aclavern33@... wrote: Well, I finally reached the speciality pharmacy. Anyone have anyexperiences with Tel-drugs? That is the mail order pharmacy that myinsurance uses.First off wanted to send it via overnite UPS with delivery by 7pmtomorrow nite. I reminded the lady that I am in Texas and it hasbeen 80 plus degrees here the past few days. I also let her knowthat my UPS man does not get to my neighborhood until after 4pm...soit would be sitting on a hot truck all day. First she

said she wouldrequest they put another ice pack in the box. I asked her, doesn'tthis med require refrigeration? She said yes. I told her I havesomething to do...I can't sit home all day. Well then she said theycan send it to work or school. I told her what would I do with itthere. I have no access to refrigeration. I sub at local school.Subs don;t have access to the teachers lounge...we only have the siblounge with one tiny frig!!!So then she said well if the meds are hot when you get them call usand we will reship them. Now I think I am really talking to an idiot.So I finally talked her into doing a one time Fedex shipment withguarenteed deliver by noon.I did find out that I do not have pharmacy coverage for anyinjectible drugs. But they will cover it through my major medicalcoverage. So the lady claims its covered 100% no co-pay. Now Ireally don't trust CIGNA. They are so clueless. I

questioned thelady for a long time and called the medical side...got the samething...I made it clear that I did not have money to pay for this sothey better be write or I was going to be really pissed with them.At first I didn't want more than one month of meds...but I figuredthat I better get three months..cause if they do send me a bill atleast I have three months of meds and hopefully can figure outsomething for the future.I let my doc know I will try one shot and see how it goes...if itburns as much as they say. when I see him on friday he will get themeds and he can do whatever he wants with it. I am suppose to gettrigger point steriod injections and maybe a regular steriod shot. Iam in what I guess is a flare the worst I have ever had.My fingers, wrists ankles and toes are so painful. My fingers arelocking up and cramping. My feet are cramping up as well. I feellike my hands are on fire.Back to this pharmacy. I had them price predisone...now we all knowits cheap...well they are going to charge me full co=pay even thoughthe med cost less than a co-pay. I was not happy. I told them nevermind....I will get my meds from local pharmacy that does not try torip me off.I don't know how everyone else feels...but I am tired of drugs, docs,tests and I am tired of the financial burden that goes along withRA, I want to just tell them all where to go...dump the meds downthe toilet and move on with my lift. I am sick of this disease andall that is going on.Toni

DSL Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less

[Guest guest]

BTW, Toni, I am only taking Humira for my RA, nothing else, and it is fairly

well

controlled.

> >

> > I haven't run across any dull needles...the needle goes in smoothly

> and I

> > hardly notice it.

> >

> > 40mgs 0.8 ML

> >

> > My low down.......I've had RA and have been on meds since

> 1992....went thru

> > many steroid shots, have been on pred for as long as I can

> remember..in fact

> > I don't remember ever being off of it...was on plaquenil for a

> year, it did

> > nothing for me..went onto MTX in mid 90's. Still had much RA pain.

> A year

> > ago I saw a new RD in FL. He was surprised at my pred dose and how

> long I've

> > been on it. He kept upping my MTX from 10mgs, then lowering my

> pred. Finally

> > I was on 20mgs of MTX, and down to 10 mgs of pred. Still had much RA

> > pain...then he talked me into going on a study for humira where I

> would get

> > free humira for 3 months, and do survey's for Abbott Labs. Had a

> humira shot

> > 3pm in the afternoon, the next day MOST of the stiffness in my

> fingers was

> > gone, over the next two weeks I had been able to move around like I

> hadn't

> > in a very long time...I'd get comments from friends on how much I

> changed

> > and one even made fun of me for using a yard blower LOL. SO for me

> Humira

> > has given me a lot of my life back...I still get pain at times..but

> compared

> > to before it's like night and day for me. No side effects, my tests

> are all

> > good. I'm down to 5mgs of pred one day, then 2.5 the next (I

> rotate).

> >

> > I hope you have a good experience with humira, if not there are

> other meds

> > out there!

> >

> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> > Maggie

> > http://www.4HockeyFans.com

> > http://www.4FloridaHockey.com

> > -----Original Message-----

> > From: Rheumatoid Arthritis

> > [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ]On Behalf Of Ms radar

> > Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 10:00 PM

> > Rheumatoid Arthritis

> > Subject: Re: Humira approved and on the way

> >

> >

> > How much is in the syringe? I heard on another group that the

> > needles are dull?

> >

> > I need the low down on this med.

> >

> > Toni

> >

>

[Guest guest]

For most people Humira works even better when taken along with Methotrexate or some other DMARD. God bless.

----- Original Message -----

From:

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 5:52 PM

Subject: Re: Humira approved and on the way

BTW, Toni, I am only taking Humira for my RA, nothing else, and it is fairly well controlled.