Alex was building antibodies to Remicade, which is why we made the transition to Humira and he was already flaring. The loading doses calmed it right back down again.
The first loading doses were a shock to him and horrible. The nurses at the GI office did it, one epipen in each leg at the same time, he SCREAMED. Icing for 10-20 minutes beforehand helps, the numbing cream didn't help at all. Buzzy might, I tried something similar but it seemed like it just vibrated the liquid out. The med burns as it goes in. We had to go to the syringe vs epipen because epipen is not available for the pediatric dose. I control the injection speed and going a little slower with the syringe is much less painful for him. Also let the syringe warm up while he's icing helps. Humira provides a free home nurse to help you administer the first dose (minimal training), also a nurse on-call line. They also have a discount plan for everyone $5 copay. Have had some ups and downs, we are all a little needle phobic and he has randomly bruised, bled, welted, or rashed, but most times are fine. Hard to get a 45 deg angle all the time, sometimes I'm too steep, others too shallow. sigh. Pretty routine a year later for us now though. Much quicker and easier than the remicade 3-hour tour.... Good luck!
ps. I hate hate hate hearing the Humira commecials, I cringe every freaking time. :/
, and hopefully less again next time!
