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My mother has RA, and started taking Enbrel about 3 weeks ago, after not getting any results with the usual meds. Initially, she was feeling better 2 days after the first shot - the pain in her hands was much less, and she had much more energy. It seemed to get better for the next week or so. Then, after the 2nd shot, things starting going downhill - she is having the same pain in the joints that she was before the meds, and is very very tired again. Has anyone has this experience? If so, did things get better? She's feeling discouraged since it has gone in the opposite direction. Any information would be great. Thanks.
Hi Hannah, It can take a while for Enbrel and the other TNFs to kick in fully, so I doubt your mom’s doctor will be ready to give up on Enbrel just yet. It’s possible that she’s having a flare and the Enbrel isn’t up to top speed yet.
I think it took me about 3 weeks to notice that Enbrel was helping me, and that was a pretty fast response. From then on, even though I still had my flares (it’s a roller coaster ride, this disease!) I could tell that I was feeling better overall.
Sadly, I did end up “failing” Enbrel - after about a month or so of getting better, I suddenly got much worse again. They explained that some people’s immune systems actually respond to the meds as a foreign agent and the disease kicks up in response. That’s why they are more effective when taken in tandem with methotrexate, as methotrexate can help mitigate an immune response against the TNFs.
It’s so disappointing when you start feeling better and then have to go back to square one again, but there are a lot of meds out there for us to try until we find the one that is best for each person. I think someday they’ll be able to tell in advance who is going to get benefit from the TNFs and who is not, but until then, we all have to test our way through every one of the meds, and they like to start out with the ones that have been around the longest first.
My advice to your mom is to not despair yet - it may just be a flare. I’m sure her doctor won’t want to go on to the next med quite yet. Although once you don’t do well on one TNF med, they probably won’t wait around as long if you have an insufficient response to the next one. There’s another line of meds out there for those of us who “fail” or have insufficient response to the TNFs, so we just have to keep plugging along!
Good luck to your mom - I’m sorry she’s not feeling too great right now and I hope she does improve on Enbrel!
When I start Enbrel, it usually takes a month, or two at most for it to fully work. It didn't work miracles right away!! After about 2-3 weeks is when my pain lessened and then all but completely stopped after 4 weeks. I love Enbrel and I recommend it to everyone but it does take more than a couple shots for it to work!
