Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Aggrivated with simponi

So I finally get a call my simponi is in. This was to be my first shot. I go to pick up and am on my way home and my wife says "this is an awful small box." So she opens it to find a prefilled syringe instead of an auto injector pen. We call cvs back and ask them why they gave us that instead of the pen. The pharmacist calls her wholeseller to find that the auto inject pens have been pulled due to the defect and wont be available till May. So now I get to deal with the standard syringe which I am not looking forward to at all. I am just going to wait till my wife gets home and have her inject me.

As if life isn't complicated enough
Well, good luck with your injections, glad you have your wife to help you there

I was upset too when I got my medicine but it was actually better than taking the injector pen that I used with Enbrel. It didn't leave a bruise, it didn't bleed and the needle is so thin, I didn't even feel it. Good luck with the shot.

That is awesome to hear. Maybe it won't be so bad. I get nervous when having to administer a shot correctly.

So, how'd it go? I hope it wasn't too painful and you get pain free days right quick.

Warm hugs,

Hi Brandon, I use the prefilled syringes and they're very easy to use (after having a minor disaster with the auto-injector, I have to recommend going with the prefilled until they fix the problem with the auto-injectors). Do you have a nurse who can give you instructions on how to give yourself a shot? There is an introduction kit and dvd that is usually given when you are prescribed simponi. Ask your doctor or call the company for it.

You can do it!

Well my wife called my rheumy and the nurse called her back on the way to work. She explained to her how to do it. When she got home she was going to give it to me but I decided I really needed to do it. I was also afraid it might hurt and either her or i would jump and break a needle off in me. I went ahead and done it. It was not painful at all. I pushed the meds in slower than the auto pen and if i felt anything i slowed down and it went great. I am going to request i keep getting the syringes. Forget auto pens...syringes are 1000x better.

I got used to the syringes with Enbrel, when my sweetie first went on it. OK, I got used to giving him shots with them! Don't know that I'm brave enough to do it to myself. But you say it wasn't so bad, so maybe I could. If I had to. Which I don't. Thank goodness.

Warm hugs,

The worst part was putting the needle in. I never thought I could do it but its so sharp you don't feel but a tiny pinch at first. The stinging of the medicine was non existant. I just took my time and put it in slowly. That was the biggest thing. I injected it super slowly. Worked out really nice. Even now thinking about it gives me the jitters but I honestly know it will hurt alot less

That is great to hear! I am going to stick to the syringe also.

I was on Enbrel and switched so I am not really sure if it is better than Enbrel. I was taking Enbrel every 5 days so we shall see. And it is time for my shot in the AS joints which always helps!