Missing Humira dose

[BayAreaChronie]

Hi helpful forum,

Last night right before injecting I noticed the fridge stopped working and Humira was ruined - brand new 2 pack injection pens.
Insurance providers are closed for the weekend on no one was on call so far with them.
Went to the ER to see if I can be administered there and get the shot - Nope.
Called a GI who said that I can wait from missing it Friday to being sent the pen on Tuesday.
I take Humira every other week.
I was under the impression that Humira wears off real fast and that waiting this long is like starting new (needing a heavy kickstart dose).
Is this not the case? Can Humira still work the exact same or nearly the same after missing all these days from the medication?
I understand 1-2 days but from Friday to tuesday?

Was also told that my schedule will be moved to tuesday injections now as opposed to still using on Fridays.

Thanks,

 

[afidz]

I ran into this situation once, Humira can be left unrefridgerated for a certain amount of time and still be safe to use. If you call the Humira hotline they can tell you if its still good or not.
Have you been on it for a while? It may be built up in your system for you to be ok for a few days.
Try avoiding triggers (stress, foods that don't agree with you etc)

 

[JustAYoungLad]

I was told that it's okay to miss a few days for example, if you come down with a bug and need time to get rid of the injection. Like afidz says, if you've been on it a while it should be still in your system making it okay to miss for a few days.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Your fridge generally stays cold if it was only an overnight power outage. Are you sure the Humira is ruined?

 

[MikeinBklyn]

I've postponed my injections by up to 5 days with no noticable effect. I say you can miss your dosage until you get the new pens.

Good Luck

 

[PsychoJane]

Humira has a long half-life. It remains functional in your system generally for longer than the 14 days. It's something like 15-20 days. Like it's been said, you will often get the advice of skipping your dose and do it later if you encounter a major flu with fever, bacterial infections, minor surgery and so on. Obviously, you should avoid that from happening but on exceptional occasion it is not suppose to compromise your treatment and in theory you don't need to change anything beside the injection day. Even regarding that day, if it was much better for you to inject on the friday due to tiredness or whatever, I was always advised that it was not a problem to slowly (I was told +3/-3 days) bring it back to the day you want.

 

[Traumanurse]

The lab that sends my Humira has a number you can call 24/7. You ought to call. Maybe it's not ruined. Do you have a good idea how long it was at room temperature?

 

[BayAreaChronie]

Thanks for the replies.
Why I love this place.

Yea I called the Humira hotline and they informed me to toss them. But said I could only be sent a replacement by tuesday.

As an update - i decided to play it safe and paid the full price with an on call approval by my GI to a pharmacy.

I will try and work it out with the insurance on tuesday. But didnt want to risk it when Abbot says it is 'probably safe' to wait till tuesday and to just 'eat lightly'.

Still unsure of the ER policy of not treating me with Humira on the spot though. Still made me pay for the check in. You would think with the records on file in the system they would be ok. Or even calling to GI to get approval.

Interesting to note from the replies about Humira being at room temperature for that long and still ok to use. Maybe the hotline contact I had decided differently than others. She didnt say much on when it goes bad just said in this case to toss them since i didnt know when the fridge stopped working. She also said if the other way occured where Humira freezes, toss it no matter how long it is frozen for.

Who knows.

 

[afidz]

Glad you got your pen, hopefully insurance will take care of it in the end.
If you don't know when your fridge went out, its best to toss them. Its such a shame, but who wants bad meds going into your body, who knows what could happen.

 

[Gladymar]

Hello, I have been taking humira for 3 years. Never missed a dose and now I might. I was receiving humira from this company and I thought I had one more refill but i don't. Now, I have to get help by getting a doctor's signature in order for me to reapply. That might take 2 or 3 weeks. My next shot is in 9 days. Will I be okay if I miss 5 days to 11 days?
I mean, do you any of you have a clue? I am really nervous. :sign0085:

 

[lookame]

My amvassado f called me recently...humira can be left out for 14 days and still be ok. Fda recently approved it

 

[Beezer1324]

I had a situation come up where my humira was left out for almost a week. After inspecting the medication and speaking with doctors, the medication was decided to be stable. Apparently a noticeable change would occur if the medication went bad, such as a cloudy appearance or layering appearing. If the medication is clear, and appears clean and hasn't been opened, odds are it's safe to use.

I did have a situation where I had an exposed injection become contaminated, due to my clumy fingers dropping it on the floor. After telling my pharmacy what happened, they called my insurance and got temporary approval to refill a new prescription. So if you DO need to replace any, it seems most providers are aware something could happen and try to accommodate you beat they can.

One final thing, you should be just fine missing a week of injection, with maybe mild to moderate occasional symptoms. In my case I have a strangely reactive arthritis and I need to take an injection every week. My pain returns after a couple days off the medication, but it's not until weeks off the medication that I experianced a full crippling relapse of pain. Obviously different diseases may react in different ways, and no two people are alike. I just hope my experianced help with managing this unique medication.

 

[stillstanding]

I recently was laid off from work while on disability for my health issues. I heard Abbvie has a program to help you get medication when you are unemployed and have no insurance. I filled out their paperwork and have been calling them weekly for the last month. There always seems to be a problem with processing the paperwork - even though they tell me they have everything they need. I am 3 days off my dose schedule and I feel like crap already. I was on weekly injections for debilitating arthritis (and Crohns). I was finally starting to feel better and thought I could see an end/new beginning in sight. Unfortunately that has been waylaid by lack of availability of medication. Seems like everyone has different outcomes when doses are missed. I just know for myself that it only took a few days for my symptoms to return.