My Humira "The Fight Against "It"

It's Monday, the 27th of July 2009! This morning I woke bright and early ready and excited to take my 4th Humira injection. There is nothing like limping out of bed, plopping on the toilet and then hobbling down the stairs at 0515 in the morning to take your Humira shot out of the fridge so it can sit out for 20 minutes to warm up before you take it. Who ever thought I would be so happy to self - inflict myself with pain to help ease pain...hahaha. I don't know why, but I was scared to death to take my first auto-injection on the 15th of June 2009. I think it was because of all the horror stories I was reading online about the injection. Things like...it burns so bad, is so uncomfortable, horrible itching, rashes, extremely painful, infections, etc. The injection itself looks pretty intimidating. The nurse I had was wonderful, she went through everything over and over to ensure I understood what I was getting. First I had to figure out how to pinch my belly roll in the middle to keep it from rolling. (LOL!) The last thing I remember thinking as I put that needle to my skin to push the button, was...."I'm worried about a little shot and I gave birth to babies with no pain meds...silly me." and I pushed the button...in went the medication and I heard a little sucking sound as the last of the medicine was injected out and it was all over. It took less than 10 seconds. Wow...I said to the nurse, Was that it? Your kidding....either I have a high tolerance for pain or others are just not so tolerate. "Wimps" I thought to myself. There was very little burning, it felt like a little pin prick, like the way you use to do your friend with a safety pin when they were not paying attention and made them jump. I guess I can say I am fortunate, so far I have only had a little itching at the injection site on my belly, which doesn't last very long, maybe an hour. I just ignore it and don't give it any attention. No rashes or anything else. However I have noticed the effects of the shot begin to wear off about 3 to 4 days before my next scheduled injection. I don't know if this is a common thing or not, I would love to meet someone else that is beginning this same journey to compare notes. I'm sure the shot effects everyone different. I feel blessed I haven't had to go on a medication roller coaster (yet) and I will blog about that on another day. My psoriasis plaques have not cleared up, but they don't itch or scale as bad. I still have pain, my hands really make me angry when I'm trying to put my little girls hair in a pony tail and "It" just doesn't want to allow it. Those things a Mom is suppose to be able to do. My feet and ankle's still hurt and my knees, well, if I could replace them, I would. I also wonder what is really going on in my lower neck and back area. I have high hopes for my Humira injections, I will be patient and see if the small differences I feel can be contributed to the Humira or the tramadol. The Doc wants me to stop taking the tramadol unless I absolutely need it, right now, I still do. Twice a day, sometimes three. I guess I will try to wean myself off....tommarrow..I'll start. "It" may or may not let me.