SIX WEEKS INTO HUMIRA TREATMENT

Well, the election ended up being a little closer than my prediction, but I'm going to go ahead and call it good as I whistle and walk away!

The other night I had my fourth Humira injection, six weeks to the day of my first injection. The treatment is going really well. The "sorta" headaches I had when I first started have completely dissipated. There are no other side effects that I am experiencing. So that's very encouraging. When I was rocking and rolling on leflunomide I had my arthritis in remission without any side effects as well. My hope for Humira was to achieve that same thing, and it seems to be coming to fruition.

I'm not going to declare 100% remission yet... I have to get my mileage back up and make sure everything holds up. However, I think I have a pretty good shot of that being the case, given that Humira is a more aggressive treatment than leflunomide and methotrexate. It would be really weird for them to work great and have Humira come up short. But who knows! I am back up to eight miles on my "long" run... I think once I am running 10 or 12 on the regular without any issues, it will be pretty safe to call it a success.

As for the injections themselves, I just want to mention how freaking easy they are again. This last one I literally did not even feel. Normally you feel a little something, but I honestly could not feel it at all. So that's been a huge relief. I haven't had any bad injection site reactions or anything like that after the fact either. With the injectable methotrexate I was coming to dread the injections... I honestly could not care less at this point with the Humira.

The only thing I really seem to be fighting is the weather. Daylight Saving Time just ended, meaning all evening runs are in the dark now. Oregon weather has switched to "winter" mode, which means a lot of rain I am trying to work around as well. I just don't have the motivation to get out there when it is cold and wet. This is a tired, old song though, nothing new. Most years I at least had a race to look forward too, however, with the pandemic, obviously those are all gone. So for now, each time I get outside and do a run it is a small victory. As long as I can keep getting out there three times a week, I'm calling it good.

P.S. My liver tests are back to normal and I can drink again. Not that I'm a huge drinker, but it will be nice to at least have a beer here and there again.