Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Has anyone ever used a patch for painful Humira (or MTX) injections? My daughter's about to receive her 6th Humira injection today but we're waiting on a call from her rheumy regarding this patch. I understand there is a lidocaine patch that's used for long term pain relief in some lupus patients and it's a large size that would need to be cut in half and left on for hours and hours but the patch our rheumy's been talking about is a combination of emla cream and lidocaine. We tried just the cream and it really doesn't work. It's not the injection itself....Sarah can take a shot (she's had 100's) it's not the needle that's painful, it's the Humira itself that burns. I was wondering if any of you have any info on this?

Thanks!

Vic

Hi Vic, Im sorry Sarah is having pain from her meds....Our chldren go through enough....I use the big lidocane patch for nerve pain....It does help some...Lindsey used the cream for her shots....It worked for her...I had to put it on at least a half hour before the shot....and keep it covered so it wouldnt rub off....I hope that they find something that works for sarah....All my best, Chris

We tried the patch, leaving it on for several hours, the big one, our rheumy said there was not enough info on the small one for them to prescribe it yet. The nurse said to put it on for 3 hrs. We did and in the end, it didn't work. Then, I found out that it's supposed to be most effective if used as prescribed for nerve pain. 12 hours on (then 12 off if you plan on using it that way). Our pharmacist at Walgreen's called me the next day to give me that info and urged me to try it with Sarah one more time before we cancel the entire prescription. So, we'll give it another shot (!) next week and let you know. : ))