Whats your Humira Routine?

[Nica]

I know over the last 4 months I have developed a routine for my injections. I just wanted to know if anyone else has done this and what it is... maybe one of us has some miracle that makes the shots not sting!!

For me its

1. Make sure who ever is doing my shot is available to do it

2. Take Med out of the fridge

3. Take tylenol and benedryl

4. ice the area for the shot

5. get the swabs, extra gauze and bandaid ready

6. Put my dogs outside (my Rhodisian mix is afraid of the click of the pen and freaks out, tries to get in laps, or in general spazzes out I am AFRAID he will knock the pen over in my leg one day)

7. get whoever is going to do the shot, hold on to a small pillow and dont look lol. (yes I know I am a wimp)

8. cuss like a sailor till its done.

 

[beth]

Take pen out fridge. Open it and put it in my study.

Do something else for 20 - 30 mins.

Wash hands. Swab belly.

Uncap pen, Click! Only occasionally does it hurt at all.

Wait a minute for everything to settle and pack away.

 

[My Butt Hurts]

I think you're the only one who I have read gets someone else to do their injections besides me. I never did one of mine myself.

1. Made sure my husband was home.
2. Shots on the counter for 20 minutes.
3. Ice on legs for 15 minutes.
4. Wipe area with alcohol.
5. Husband injects while I pinched the area up.
I held my breath for the length of time it took to unload the pen, then I laughed and swore "Hoooolllly CRAP that was a bad one!!!"
6. I pressed on the injection site to minimize bruising, then iced some more.

 

[Zoodles]

1. Put emla on son's leg under barrier patch- while he's sleeping- a.m. works out best.
2. Wait hour
3. Take med out of fridge and wait 20 minutes
4. take patch off of leg (wakes son up)
5. get him ready but not too long and swap leg with alcohol
6. do shot
7. realize that we've forgotten the bandaids again

this beats our old routine of 40 minutes of crying begging (both me and him) between steps 4 and 5. I hate doing parts while he's asleep but he gets so nervous

 

[tummygirl]

Put cat in a different room (she is way too curious!!).
Grab a band-aid.
Take out my humira log-book and the syringe out of the fridge.
Write in my log book.
Expose the poking area
Open the syringe pacakge
Alcohol swab the area
Prime the syringe
Cringe and try to inject for 20 minutes....
POKE!
Band aid
Clean up all the associated garbage....

 

[katiesue1506]

Pull the syringe out of the fridge and grab the ice.

Inspect liquid for clarity and fullness, make sure nothing is weird about it

Let medicine sit for 20 minutes.

Ice area for 5 or more minutes and take cap #1 off Humira pen. Rip open alcohol swab.

Take off cap #2 on pen and inspect the needle.

Pinch leg, swab with alcohol, wave it dry, and kamikazee my leg with the pen so I can't think about what I'm doing.

Exhale REALLY loud and fast and then inhale and cuss.

If it hurts REALLY bad I re ice it.

 

[Scifimom]

1) Take syringe out of frindge
2) Wash hands
3)Rub alcohol (given with syringe in the box)
4)Pinch and poke

Discard the remains.

I am not afraid of needles and I have a quite high tolerance in pain, cold Humira does not bother me.

ETA: Why the band aids? I inject at my belly and never had any bleeding so far

 

[Nica]

Has anyone tried the EMLA patch ? does anyone know if it helps with the sting or not? I used to use a lidocaine patch it didn't help at all...

 

[Zoodles]

We use the emla patch and it works well for the sting. We leave it on for an hour to 2 hours for his right leg. You can get it to work faster by putting a heat pad on top of the emla.

What do you use the next day? My son still says he feels a pain bubble ( his words) on his leg.

 

[Nica]

I don't really hurt the next day, I take tylenol before and apply pressure right after then rest for a bit.

I understand the "pain bubble" though, before the meds soak in I can feel something like that.

 

[ChefShazzy]

-Take 30 mg of pred when I get home from work, about 2hrs before injection time.
-Take syringe out of fridge about 30 mins before injection time.
-Set up the area with disposal container, paper towels, syringe.
-Call my favorite person for support.
-Wash my hands.
-Ice the area.
-Swab area on thigh with alcohol.
-Try to inject for 15 minutes.
-Finally jab, and start pushing, while breathing deep, swearing and/or crying.
-Throw out the syringe, and reward myself.

Last night, I tried re-icing the injection site afterwards and it did help with the stinging!

 

[Zoodles]

So does applying ice afterwards take care of the sting? Nica what do you use for pressure?

We're still trying to work through to a fool proof system

 

[Nica]

I don't know that it takes care of the sting, but it helps with any swelling or bruising. For pressure I use a gauze pad and hold it on there for a bit. Honestly the thing hurts like **** for me anyway.

I usually wind up laying in bed for a good 45 minutes after the shot with my leg slightly elevated to. I get a weird cramp right after the shot. Anyone else get that?

 

[outlier]

Mine simple
after dinner take shoot out of fridge.
Go about my business. remember
I need to take it get annoyed.
About an hour later. Find the fun circular band aids i got for it.
Try and remember where I hid the whips that came with it.
Try and remember where i didn't it last.
whip the area.
Get really nervous
Take it.

I can never find where i took it so I don't always put a band aid on till later.

This week I forgot so I couldn't play and procrastinate about it and it was actually much better.

 

[Crohnadian]

I'm curious as to why people let it sit for 20 minutes and upwards before injecting it? Is it required to cool down to work properly?
My routine is basically..
1. Remove from fridge
2. Swab injection site
3. Inject
4. Walk it off.. lol

I know it's easier said than done, but to be honest to those of you who have a tendency to cringe or stall or get nervous, the less you think about it, the less it hurts, and the less of a deal it all is. I've learned to accept, embrace and filter the pain when it arises, so when I take my injection, I do feel it, but not in the sense of pain. I used to delay and delay and those were my worst days with Humira. My whole week practically revolved around taking it. Just relax

 

[Nica]

The humira nurse told me to leave it out for 20 minutes to help with the stinging. I used to do the delay delay thing, and my week would revolve around the shots as well. Even with someone else doing it. Now its just that time out of the fridge its really on my mind.

 

[LittleCellist]

Take shot out of fridge
Run it under hot water for a couple of minutes
Lay on bed/couch, grab one of my dogs and hold on to them. They are very patient and sweet and stay still through this.
My dad gives me the shot in my leg
Yell into the dog's side while they sniff my face
Lay in pain for a few minutes (sometimes it'll hit a nerve and end up being like 10-15 minutes), holding and petting the dog
Go to bed.

I used to get it in my stomach until I developed huge welts. Tried my arms, hurt even more than my gut and made my whole upper arm double in size. Tried the thigh and voila! Far less pain, far less swelling. Who woulda thunk?

 

[CDDad]

I did a shot last night after being off it for a few months. It was maybe the 2nd time that I would rate it not very painful. Both times I left it out for at least 30 min. So I guess there is something to letting it warm up.

 

[tiloah]

I take the stuff out of the fridge, go to the bathroom (shut the door and sit on the toilet), warm the syringe between my hands until it's body temp, inject.

 

[sf925415]

Take pen from fridge, cool for 5 min; lift shirt; squeeze belly, self inject pen, curse the world, toss pen. once a week.

 

[Boltmannz]

I was dreading the thought of getting the shots after reading all the painfull stories on here. I think that people read this site and go into a mind set that it is going to be painfull.

I take it out of the fridge and leave it for 20min.

Swab with alcohol and allow it to dry.

Give the pen shot.

Put the pen in the sharpies container.

I think the pain is in the mind set.

 

[outlier]

1) Why the band aids? I inject at my belly and never had any bleeding so far

Band aids make everything hurt a little less.

 

[Nica]

I always bleed just a little with each shot, one of them we hit a capilary and I bleed more than a little bit. So I have my bandaids and a gauze pad ready, just in case!

 

[aliciars]

Hmmmm very intersting.....
1. Get my calendar so I can see where I'm due to poke myself.
2. Sit on the couch
3. Swab area - I leave the swab on (don't know why, I guess I want to know where I cleaned??)
4. Open and do the "checks"
5. Shot
6. DONE

It stings for a minute and I'm done. I don't even think about it. I would PREFER shots over all the stupid pills.

 

[Brian'sMom]

Did you all do it once a week. I thought it was every other week.
Nica, why do you do the benedryl?

 

[Boltmannz]

injecting

I do it fortnightly as the government pays so in New Zealand they dont allow weekly. And its working for me. Best of luck.

 

[ameslouise]

I also keep track of where I shot last on the calendar. Other than that - not much to my routine....

Monday nights, after work, shoot that sucker in and then follow with my metho shot on the other side of my body.

 

[MikeinBklyn]

I remove the H pen from the fridge a ½ hour before injection.
Take a shower.

Shave the area to be injected, yes I am hairy, and it helps keep track of the last injection site.

Alcohol wipe, get mentally prepared, take a deep breath pinch some fat, inject and recline for 20 min or so.

Done.

Go on with my life.

 

[Hungry]

I have developed an irrational fear or pressing the button. This is the 3rd time now I have been unable to go through with it. Can't remember how many I have done (maybe 12?), and only 1 of them (in my thigh) really hurt. Since then I just cant bring myself to do it.
I took the pen out the fridge last night at about 10pm.
I've put on some weight over the last few months (mostly on my stomach) and pinching a flabby bit is difficult. My stomach is fairly solid. My leg is where it hurt most the one time it did hurt.
Since my nurse told me to miss my veins it's made me paranoid as I can't see my veins.
If someone else does it for me it's not a problem. Guess I need to get myself a girlfriend asap.
In the meantime this Humira has been out the fridge with the cap off for 14 hours now. Is it still safe to use if I build up the bottle to do it or get a friend to do it tonight?

 

[Dunbar]

Pinch leg, swab with alcohol, wave it dry, and kamikazee my leg with the pen so I can't think about what I'm doing.

Exhale REALLY loud and fast and then inhale and cuss.

I just about peed myself reading this, it is a carbon copy of my routine. And I gotta say I get kinda creeped out with the bubbling sound it makes going under the skin. Ugh. That's where the loud exhale comes in, so I don't hear it.

 

[new2crohnsinVA]

I find that if I do the injection myself it hurts less. I had my starter dose 2 weeks ago and my next two pens tomorrow night. Last time the nurse did the first one and it hurt a lot more than the 3 I did myself. Someone else pushing a needle can't always tell how hard they are pushing.

 

[ArmyWife]

1. Take the pen out of the fridge for 30 min
2. Put the dogs out of the room
3. Wipe stomach with alcohol
4. Tell my mom "Ok go" (she usually gives me the shots)
5. Look away and take deep breaths while it's injecting
6. Go on with my life

I've tried to give it to myself but ended up getting scared and pulling the pen out before it was done and wasting most of it. :/

I give myself my B12 injections in my leg so I have no problem with it.. The Humira just burns so it's easier to have someone else do it.

Other than that I've pretty much gotten used to it. I just like to get it over with as fast as possible so I can go on doing other things.

Does anyone else get headaches/fatigue a few days after their injection?

 

[Jasonmh]

1. Pen out of fridge (I thought meds were supposed to stay cold the entire time?!?!)
2. Swab tummy
3. Inject
4. Clean up
And it burns for me too when it goes in but blah, doesnt hurt as bad as an IV

 

[Momof2EW]

I take my pen out and let it sit about 2 hours... yes along time, but mine burn to bad if I just wait about an hour or less. So, I figured out letting it sit longer helps.... and then my mom does my shot as well. I take mine in the middle area of my, "fatty thigh" and it's not bad at all. After about 8 months of it, you get used to it.
Good luck!

 

[Momof2EW]

1. Pen out of fridge (I thought meds were supposed to stay cold the entire time?!?!)
2. Swab tummy
3. Inject
4. Clean up
And it burns for me too when it goes in but blah, doesnt hurt as bad as an IV

I find it doesnt burn as bad, if you let it sit longer. Maybe, you could try that way. Good luck.

 

[Jasonmh]

I find it doesnt burn as bad, if you let it sit longer. Maybe, you could try that way. Good luck.

Tyvm for the info!

 

[MissMandy]

you guys are scaring me. I am getting my 2nd dose on Tues and that is when they are teaching me how to inject myself. I was in tears from the burning and stinging with the initial 4 shots when I was in the hospital. I'm scared shitless. Pun intended:ytongue:

 

[Momof2EW]

you guys are scaring me. I am getting my 2nd dose on Tues and that is when they are teaching me how to inject myself. I was in tears from the burning and stinging with the initial 4 shots when I was in the hospital. I'm scared shitless. Pun intended:ytongue:

I dont do my shots myself, now the first time when I did the 4 at the doctors office... the nurse that was teaching me, made me do 2 myself. It burns when I do mine if they dont sit out for over an hour to cool down from being the fridge. Its more the nervousness that really gets to some people. I used to be very scared when doing mine, I just have to take a few deep breathes and get it over with. Im here if you ever wanna talk Good luck!

 

[beth]

MissMandy, the shots really are not too bad... well I don't think so and I'm usually a wimp. I inject into my belly cos there is a lot of nice fat to pinch and it doesn't hurt much (I've never tried my thigh). For the next shots, leave the pen out for 20 to 30 mins, check it, swab, click, and go get a treat like some cake or biscuits/etc.

 

[aliciars]

Hmmmm very intersting.....
1. Get my calendar so I can see where I'm due to poke myself.
2. Sit on the couch
3. Swab area - I leave the swab on (don't know why, I guess I want to know where I cleaned??)
4. Open and do the "checks"
5. Shot
6. DONE

It stings for a minute and I'm done. I don't even think about it. I would PREFER shots over all the stupid pills.

I stand corrected. When I first read this post a few months back, I didn't understand what all the whining about the pain was about. I had no problems....uhhm yea, that has changed. I now dread the day of my shots and curse like a sailor while giving them to myself. My husband pointed out that I had been on prednisone the whole time I'd been on Humira and wasn't having issues with painful shots. Now I've been off prednisone for a bit, and holy moly do these mothers hurt.

So I will be using some of your methods to help them be more tolerable. Thanks, and I apologize for thinking the pain wasn't that bad. It is. OUCH.

 

[Kazters]

take it out of the fridge 30 min before and inject dont need to take anything before it it stings for a few moments but thats it, although regardless of legs or tummy i get a huge bruise!

from the ifirst time at hospital they made me do it myself