Saturday, June 3, 2017

Why I Don't Rotate My Humira Shot


I have been taking Humira for roughly 5 years (I started back in June 2012) and Humira has been a miracle drug in terms of keeping me in remission for Crohn's. Actually I can still remember when a nurse came to the house to show how me how to use the drug. Also I remember Humira came in two different types (you could get the syringe pen). Luckily I was prescribed the pen. Usually the Humira pen seemed quite simple. When the nurse was demonstrating how to use it she mentioned that I should rotate where I inject it. Usually the typical places to inject Humira are on either the left or right thigh of abdomen area. However, I had issues whenever it came to injecting the abdomen (given when I initially started Humira I had lost a bunch of weight and didn't have much fat on me). What I found is when I tried to inject the abdomen there would be some leakage which would be less medicine getting into my body to fight by Crohn's. At first I was disappointed but even sometimes when I thought I got a good shot there would still be a little leakage. Injecting the thighs has always been much easier. When I stop injecting my abdomen I was worried that all the sudden I would flare (however this didn't happen). I have been injecting my thighs only for over a year and honestly haven't seen any change in my Crohn's. 

My routine for taking Humira is pretty simple. I take the Humira out of the refrigerator and put a timer on for roughly 20 minutes to let the Humira sit. Also I make sure I have an alcohol pad (Humira includes some in the Humira). Once the timer goes off I check the Humira to make sure it is clear. Then I rub the alcohol pad on my thigh and wait about 30 seconds. I then take the two caps off the Humira pen and then make sure I have a song I really enjoy playing right before I inject (honestly I have never had a leak when I play music while injecting Humira). 

I don't know if there have been any studies done of people who don't rotate their injection but my guess is it wouldn't really change a whole lot. To me I would rather get 100% of medicine rather than injecting into a place were I may only get 80%.