Headaches

Last night I had my fifth Humira injection. They've been going pretty well so far. I find it fairly easy to inject in my leg and I only had a problem once - I think I moved after the needle went in. It hurt. A lot.

The Humira is definitely helping some. I'm on week eight so I'm assuming the medicine is at full power by now. I only have diarrhea four or five times a week now (as opposed to four or five times a day) and, although I still am having pain, it's not as often. My stomach still swells to six-months-pregnant after I eat and I'm still not feeling confident enough to eat while I'm at work, but I'm getting there.

The only thing I've noticed is that I seem to get a headache a day or two after my injection. The headache lasts a few days but it's manageable. My doctor doesn't seem to think it's a problem so I guess I'll wait it out for a while.

This weekend, however, I had an awful migraine. It was the day before my injection so I don't think it was Humira related. I felt really nauseous the night before but went to bed without thinking much of it - I'm always nauseous. The next morning I woke up to ringing ears and a slight headache. I decided the best thing to do was to go back to sleep. The next time I woke up the light was bothering me and my ears were still ringing but the headache wasn't any worse. A few hours later though I had to get back in bed. I was shaky and nauseous and my head was really killing me. Soon I was in so much pain I couldn't bear it. I have literally not been in that much pain in my life. I had the blind spots and everything. By the time it was over I was completely wiped out and felt exhausted the entire next day.

I've had lots of really bad headaches since I've been sick but nothing to this degree. I have been traveling and entertaining guests and not eating right lately. I've also been a little more stressed out than usual and I'm hoping that was the cause of the migraine. I'm going to try to relax and eat better (at least until Thanksgiving) and see how it goes.

I'm having some trouble finding information connecting headaches/migraines to Crohn's. Does anyone else have headache issues?

Humira

Well I did it. I injected myself at home with Humira. It went well, I think. I have a tiny little red dot at the spot where I stuck myself and that's about it.

I had the first two injections at the doctor's office last week and had no problem then either. I gave myself two injections with the supervision of my doctor and it was easy enough - a tiny little sting for ten seconds then you're finished. I am using the pens which are great. I like that I can't actually see the needle entering my skin. In fact, it's a bit difficult to see the needle at all. Fine with me.

There's a great instructional video on the Humira site. It's not as difficult or scary as I had myself believing.

The first week I got a headache a few days after the injections. The headache lasted about three days straight. I can't be sure that it was Humira related. I guess I will find out. It was a double dose the first time so maybe this time it will be better? Please?

There was a little bit of a problem at the doctor's office with one of the pens. But, once again, Humira came through and sent two replacements. So far, the experience with Humira/Abbott has been pretty good. Now, if only something could be done about my insurance company...

The End Is Nigh (I Hope!)

The past two months have been a challenge to my sanity. Working out a way to begin biologic treatments has become a part-time job. After wrestling with the insurance company for weeks then spending a few days on the phone with the Humira people, I have finally FINALLY picked up my starter kit.

I have tried pretty much every pill in the book in an attempt to gain control over my symptoms with minimal success. I have wasted an incredible amount of time and money because my doctor prefers the "bottom up" approach, which also makes sense to me. If a cheaper drug with fewer or less serious side effects works - it's better to find that out than to jump straight to the hardcore stuff. If I had to choose again, and I probably will someday, I would likely make the same decision. I'm lucky in that my symptoms, although present on a daily basis for over a year, were never so serious that emergency action was needed.

Much of my energy has been focused on getting access to Humira without going into debt for quite a while. I am relieved to finally have the medicine in my possession, but the relief has been overshadowed by my fear.

I am terrified. Over the past year, as each drug failed then each combination of drugs failed, I knew that there was always another option. I knew I always had biologics to fall back on and now here I am, two days away from two shots of Humira.

My fears range from the trite (I have to stick a needle into my body???!!!) to the completely absurd (someone will probably cough on me on the subway and I will be the next Swine Flu casualty). Then there are the reasonable fears:

Is my insurance company really going to reimburse me 80% of the fortune I spent at the pharmacy yesterday?

Am I going to tolerate this stuff?

Should I really be injecting something into my body that has only been on the market for seven years?

What if biologics don't work for me?

I have read through just about everything ever written about Humira. There is so much information out there and it's hard to know what's true. I guess it's out of my hands now. I'm going to stop reading now and hope for the best.