Day 20 on Enbrel - Rheumatoid Arthritis Flair Up Continued

Things have gotten better since my last posting. I just got back from a little walk with one of my dogs. My knee is feeling a little swollen but when I just took the below picture it almost looks like there is no swelling at all! And I'm sitting by my fourth shot of Enbrel. I'm just waiting for it to warm up. So I've had three shots so far. Time to order a new round of 4. I hear Enbrel is very expensive but my insurance covers it besides $30. Not bad.

The swelling has gone down in my left knee since 4 days ago.

Day 16 on Enbrel - Rheumatoid Arthritis Flair Up

Left Knee Rheumatoid Arthritis Flair Up.

Just when I thought things were on the up and up, I had a setback which started Thursday afternoon. After my 3 shot of Enbrel Wednesday night I thought things were going very well. The third shot was easier than the second, which hurt, and the first. I think leaving it out for 20min was the trick. Instead of 15min. I hope that isn't the reason for my flair up.

This week was another stressful week at work with a colleague I hired leaving the company. This put an extreme amount of work and stress on my plate and I'm thinking this is the cause. Plus the Boston Marathon Bombing which was on Monday could have also contributed since I live in Massachusetts.

So Thursday afternoon I started to feel my left knee reverting back. I came home, iced and elevated to try and stop it, but by Friday I was walking awkwardly again. Ugh. I was very surprised and thought I was in the right frame of mind since things were going so well with my knee. Now it's Saturday and it hasn't got any better which you can see in the picture.

Has anyone had a flair up while on Enbrel and did it ever settle down?

Day 13 on Enbrel

Left Knee on April 17, 2013 (13 days on Enbrel)

Tonight I take my third shot of Enbrel. The second shot did sting a lot more than the first shot. I think I will let it warm up longer than 15min this time. It's suppose to sting when it's cold. I do have to say that my knee is still getting better! Last weekend I did have a minor setback when I decided to go fishing on foot in a woodsy/hilly area. My knee has given me trouble for so long now (three months+), that I've lost major muscle mass in my leg. So that fact didn't help me in the woods. When I got home my knee had inflamed more. So I was bummed and have shut down my activities for now.

The good news, is that I got the additional swelling to go away after a few days of ice and elevation. If you take a look at the photo in my Day 1 on Enbrel I'm sure you'll agree that the swelling has gone down. And even more so from my first posting on this.

So I am happy. I just need to start using my leg more to begin building my muscles back up.

Day 1 on Enbrel

Enbrel Injection Site. First Time.

The shot in terms of physical pain was very minimal during the 15 seconds I had to hold it against the top of my thigh. A dash of blood which I expected and it swelled last night. This morning I rubbed the spot on the way to work and it did sting and still does sting/hurt when I touch it now. The hardest part was realizing I actually have to do this. I'm now calling it, "I'm dancing with the devil". My knee isn't getting any better so I needed to do something. It just stinks that it had to be this. So now I'm on max methotrexate and shots of Enbrel. Ugh. :(

Now onto the good stuff! When I woke up this morning, the swelling in knee had gone down since my first posting and overall my knee does feel better. I didn't expect to see any results overnight. But I do feel better today. And I'm walking better. We'll see what happens over the weekend. I should still be cautious, ice/elevate, but who knows. I'm optimistic that "dancing with the devil" could help my knee. Stay tuned.

Left Knee on April 04 2013

Starting Enbrel Today

Since mid december my left knee has been getting worse. Prior to december I was already having problems with me. I've stopped walking my dogs as a proactive measure to keep the swelling down in my knee. Since December the swelling has gotten worse. During this time my stress levels have been pretty high with stress at work and the passing of my father.

This picture was taken on March 12th at the peak of my swelling.

Fluid taken from my left knee. Yuck!

Due to the major swelling and that I was set to travel for work, I booked an apt with my Doctor at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA for March 14th. When she saw my knee she immediately knew it needed to be drained. I never have had a joint drained before. Besides some stinging it wasn't that bad. Prior to removing the needle she injected a shot of cortisone to help the inflammation. One day later my knee's swelling had dropped by 80% or more. I was able to walk very normal if not completely normal. Unfortunately that lasted for only one week. The second I got off my plane from Florida I started to notice it tightening up. This continued over the next few days. On March 29th I had another apt with my doctor. We all agreed that it was time to add another drug to my list of 25mg (10 tablets once a week) methotrexate, 600mg (3 times a day) Ibuprofen, and 1mg (1 tablet daily) Folic Acid.

So today I take my first injection of Enbrel. One shot a week. This is in addition to the above list of medication. I'll be using the push needle and hoping that is easier than the straight up needle. We'll see how it goes and I hope to track my daily progress here.