I took Enbrel for almost 2 years for mild psoriasis before i became very sick. I was out from college for a year and half withdrawing from enbrel. when i finally got off enbrel, my psoriasis was 10 times worse and all my joints were swollen and I was blacking out some days from the nausea and fatigue.my mother witnessed me blacking out one day and said it look like i had a seizure or a heat stroke. It felt as if someone was pulling razer blades over my body for months. My skin was paper thin and would tear from the slightest resistance. I became allergic to gluten and all Genetically modified foods and processed foods. For several months before and after stopped taking enbrel i was battling cysts, hives and other infections and rashes on top of the now pissed off case of” head to toe” psoriasis. I suffered from vomiting and bleeding as well. I could write more, but i’m afraid it would gross you out. over a year later, my stomach is still inflamed but i am recovering well. I lost 40 pounds over this year and now weigh 125lbs. I think overall I dodged a bullet and was lucky. I barely remember coming off this drug in May 09, there are a few months around that time that are blurred memories. I’m almost positive that enbrel messed up my memory for a few months around the time i was really sick. Im so sorry to hear about the people that died from this horrible drug. My heart goes out to you all. My hope is that people will read this and spread the word about Enbrel. I hope it saves at least 1 more person from using this drug.

i was diagnosed at an early age after seeing at least 8 dr,s that i had ankylosing spondylitis ,psoriatic arthritis, been taking enbrel since it first got approval. having a high pain tolerance out of necessity . lately i noticed intense itching on my lower legs hands and forearms then bleeding with an orange like substance at an attempt to heal.then i noticed my hair is falling out at an alarming rate,im 55 and always full hair also hair on my legs started falling out. now ihave had a nasal-sinus infection i cannot get rid of pieces of my throat yellow in color can be scraped off literally with a sterile instrument can barely swallow

One of the side effects of Enbrel in rare cases is serious nervous disorders and/or seizures. I was diagnosed with RA in 1986 at the age of 28. I am now 52. I have been on various kinds of drugs for the RA over the years. I have also been on Remicade, Humira and Enbrel. After only being on Enbrel for 1 week in 2004, I ended up in the hospital 4 days suffering from what they call partial seizures. I had never had seizures before in my whole life. I now have to be on Dilantin daily as a result. There are times I still have a seizure even on my Dilantin. I also developed a bacterial infection in my lungs. My health has went way down hill ever since. Before a seizure comes on my head hurts, vision goes blurry, I have shortness of breath, numbness, tingling and burning sensation in my arms. Then I feel like someone has sat on my chest. Then comes the involuntary muscle control of limbs. I don’t always remember all of this. Of course they didn’t have me continue with the embrel. Now I’m having the lower back pain and disk starting to buldge. I only take today for the RA Methotrexate and Mobic. I’m scared to take anything else. Has anyone or someone you know had this happen to them as a result of ENBREL? If not, there should be a class act lawsuit. I also reported this to the FDA.

I am a 53 year old female have been taking enbrel for over 6 years i have been suffering with horrible muscle pain that i was told is Fibromylgia i have devolped a rash to almost every antibiotic on the market and the last few days I have been so tired I can’t get out of bed and my throat feels like strep throat but what can I do can’t take any meds for it. I am going to a allergist tommorrow hopefully he will find a antibiotc that i will be able to take I am so scared I know my immune system is shot and i will never make it to live to be very old if anyone can offer some advice I would appreciate it.

I was on and off Enbrel for the last 5 years. I was given it to treat Psoriasis. I never had RA or was diagnosed with RA. About 12 months ago I started to experience extreme pain in my lower joints and in ankles. I am in so severe pain currently I can hardly walk and limp like I am 70 years old (I am 45). I am in so much pain I can’t take it anymore. I lost my insurance about 10 months when my insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield) went from 600 per month (for just my wife and I) to over 1000 per month. I don’t know where to turn.

Like April, I have had VERY low levels of Vitamin D. I took Enbrel for about 8 years? I think. I have been off of it for 2+ yrs. I think that I am having neurological problems now. I have A.S. I have been disabled for 2+ years. When I quit Enbrel, I was Soooo sick. Bed ridden for 2 months, then mostly bed ridden for 2 more months. I have been very ill. EXTREME fatigue, exhaustion.

First off let me start by saying that I am so incredibly sorry for everyone’s loss, whether it’s the loss of a loved one or loss of your health as you once knew it. I was diagnosed with RA in 2005. Unfortunately the meds my doctor had me on simply weren’t working for me. They couldn’t understand why my RA was so aggressive. Who know’s, right? I was in the military so I’m almost positive it was the stess of being a soldier. Needless to say, I was put on Enbrel in 2008 (I think) Immediately after I was given my first injeciton I experience lower back pain that was absolutely worst than giving BIRTH! I didn’t really begin to connect the two because my RA was controlled immediately after my first injection. After about two years of going to an accupuncturist, physical therapist and a chiropractor there was still absolutely no gain in the race for relief. I have found that I suffer from a bulging L5 S1 discs. Crap! Right? I know. So I then developed Sciatica. UNBELIEVABLE! So now the doctors want to perform emergency surgery within the next 5 days because not only do I have Sciatica, I also have a dropped foot. So now I’m tripping over everything in sight. With that being said, I went home and bought an inversion table. That helped me tremendously with my sciatica. Within about 5-10 mins of hanging upside down the sciatica was complete alleviated. My scheduled surgeon did not believe me and I was asked to come back to the hospital so that they could check my sciatica and dropped foot, and to their surprise it was completely gone. Seriously! OK, so back to the lower back pain. I noticed I only had pain when I took my Enbrel. The doctors told me that in their opinion, it didn’t make any sense. So I called the makers of Enbrel and asked if they had any complaints of low back pain and of course the answer was no. However, I am the one taking the medicine and know how my body responds to it. Since being diagnosed with RA I have learned to listen to my body. I am no longer taking Enbrel and guess what NO BACK PAIN! For those of you who are dealing with chronic inflammation, I am now taking Rheuma Shield for my RA and it works beautifully. ( I got mine from my accupuncturist office, but I’m sure you can order it on line) I take one at night so that in the morning I’m not experiencing any pain. I have completely cut out all red meat and pork and I make sure I take my vitamins( One A Day For Women, Omega 3 and Absolute Amino Acids(with Vit C and Vit B6)) I tell you, Being Diagnosed with RA may have been a blessing for me as I have become very health conscience as a result. God Bless! Remember knowledge is power and it’s inhumane to keep it to yourself. I pray that we all learn to rely on our own conscience and if it doesn’t feel RIGHT then somethings WRONG!

i was diagnoised with ra and oa (arthritis) and through the years i was on every type o antinflamatory going. when embrel came out in 1999-2000 my dr put me on embrel. i found it worked wonderul on my arthritis but ound that my immune system was not working well. first let me say i worked in a hospital setting and no mater how much i washed my hands and took other preautions i kept getting infections ater infections the most inections that i had at one time was 18 and was hospitalized a total o 19 times or treatment. one time when i was so sick at home and elt like i was going to die, i drove to the emergency room. in my persistance the dr in the hsp called my personal dr and he decided tp do a blood culture. in 3 days my dr called me up frantic for i was sepic. every time i had trouble with these infections i was out o work or months at a time and was able to bounce back to go back to work. 4 years ago i got the infections going on a rampage again but this time was not able to bouce back. i am not able to go back to work and now trying to get social security disability i am 55 yrs old and my life as i know it is over thanks to embrel…..is there a class action law suit against embrel? i would be included

hi i have been on enbrel from the start i was there guinea pig,i have severe JRA and iam now 32 at the start of taking enbrel it was a wonder drug it was great to get rid of my constant pain i was depressed,but after taking it for 10 years i think the drug is slowly wearing off as my pain is coming back in bouts,one day iam fine the other i cant get out of bed,i had to have steriod injection because my pain was so severe but how long is that going to last i dont know can anyone help?

My husband has been on Enbrel for ten years and was dizzy and sick almost every day. It really helped his RA but now he has developed lewy body dementia and I believe this drug Enbrel caused it.

Ever since my husband has been injecting Enbrel, I have felt ill. He and I are, of course, sexually active, and I’m wondering if I am getting the side effects from his bodily fluids? I’m frightened and feeling worse all the time. Has anyone else had this happen to them?

My brother-in law was on EMBREl for about two years to treat his Psorriasis. He started having severe back pain and was diagnosed with osteomyletis of his spine,which is a bone infection. Due to the infection he had about seven spinal surgeries within six weeks. He became quadriplegic and had to have a colostomy, bone from a donor put in his neck and a filter of some sort for blood clots. He also had to have a feeding tube put in. I can barely stand to tell this story we are all devistated. My brother- in-law had to go to a nursing home, and by this time he developed three pressure sores and many surgeries to clean them up. He would go back and forth to the hospital for MRSA, and complications from that. finally by month seven he was sent to hospice with a blood clot and sepsis. We lost him three days later. My sister is a 55 year old widow strugling to just keep a roof on her head, not to mention, his grand children are suffering his loss. He passed away February 2010. Please be carful with the choices that you make on your healthcare.

Im supposed to start embrel tomorow and Im scared so bad, Im 27 and have Psoriatic Arthritis. I dont want to die but I want to be there for my kids too. I cant do anything very fun. :/

I am a 42 year old female completly healthy until diagnosised w/ RA at the end of Feb 2010. My Dr. put me on enbrel. The first shot went well. I felt great. The second shot I started to feel out of breath and my heart rate was very fast. Within 3 days of my second shot i was in the hospital w/ heart failure and had open heart surgeryand was put on a right and left heart pump. I am lucky to have been at a hospital that could do the surgery that I need. I am home now and recovering. It is believed that my heart failure was due to the enbrel. Has this happened to anyonr else?

I am almost 53 years old. I have been on embrel for about 5 years now.I have Rheumatoid arthritis. I seemed to be doing quite well firstly on the embrel, but in 2007, i had to have an ankle replacement due to my mobility was so bad, i felt so wellfor a while, Then started back on embrel again, and I am just going downhill, I am having to have a carer now, i cant do cooking, very difficult to wash myself as my joints are so badly inflamed. I now have been told i need a right elbow replacement, and then a left one to follow, also my right knee needs one also. I forget to mention i have lost so much hair. I have just got a hair piece. I feel what has this Embrel done to me. I used to be so happy love life and get out and about but now i hardly venture anywhere. I had had methatrexate but was so ill, i am now on Arava to go with the embrel. I am so concerned about these side effects. I went on embrel because i was told it slows down the deformity of the joints how can this be when i am having more replacements. I must state also i was diagnosed with this disease at age 40, in my eyes, so therfore it can be in the eyes, i saw a comment before someone said impossible but i can confirm that was how i was diagnosed.With strogens disease also dryeyes and mouth. I am not sure about Embrel, I just want to stop it completely.Ijjust want my life back and stop this fatigue and tirdness.

I am 55 years old. About 10 years ago I was diagnosed with Rhuematoid Arthritis. It came on suddenly with a virus. It jumped from paralyzing pain in one wrist one day , then switched to the other one the next day. That day it moved to my feet, my knees , red spots by joints, extreme fatigue and then laryngitis. Took several months to diagnose until I could no longer dress my self. Was then put on usual dose pack, nsaids and then Arava. Shortly after that on Enbrel. With in one week I could get up out of a chair without help, walk normal and almost snap my fingers. After about a year and a half , I had a stroke in my occipital lobe. I lost middle of my peripheral vision on left side permanently. No medical reason they could find. No high bp, no plaque in arteries , nothing. Rhuemy, Internist and Neurologist say 99.9 percent sure was Enbrel. No proof, but we know it was that drug.

I was digagnosed with RA two years ago, about five months ago i was put on enbrel and now i have psoriasis, i have one disease and becasue of a medication that i am told helps with most people( in my case did not help at all) i end up with this skin problem too. I realize it has several side effects but most medication do and doesnt usually really happen. after reading all these comments i almost feel stupid for complaining over something so small but it is just another life changing problem that i do not want. i am so sick of being told this medication will help and it doesnt and causes more harm. i am truly sorry for all the above people it is sad and just wrong that you have all been thru so much more and so much heart ache.

I am 48. I broke out with psoriasis when I was 12 after a strep infection. Went thru years of coal tar tx, my mom putting a solution of oil and alcohol in my hair nightly to loosen the plagues, etc. The only time it went away was during my 2 pregnancies. Then 5 years ago a friend told us about Enbrel. I went to the derm after not going for years due to frustration. She gave me Enbrel. It was a miracle drug. My skin was great. About a year ago I started having some palpitations, shortness of breath, and decreased stamina. Went to the doctor was told it was most likely menopause. I think it is the Enbrel has done something to my heart. I have run 2 marathons, 6 half marathons and would now struggle to finish a 5k. Nothing else has changed. I don’t smoke, I exercise regularly, eat right. I am just sad that when I started the Enbrel- heart failure was not listed as a side effect.

My derm has recommended starting treatment of plaque psoriasis with enbrel – but after reading the blogs on this site…i am not so sure. she also had suggested this new drug stelara but it has only fda approved for 1 year and the long term results are unknown…having psoriasis your immune system is already compromised… so i am seriously having second thoughts.

Sorry this is a long one, but I have years of info to relate. I’ve had plaque psoriasis for 22 years, starting at age 26 like my father, but my case is much worse than his was, at times covering up to 25% of my skin including the palms, foot soles, face and hands, lower lip and nasal openings. It’s painful under my disfigured nails. I used so much topical cortisone cream that my body became saturated with it, giving bone pain whenever applied after that. I tried methotrexate, increasing the dose to 20 mg with massive body rushes, nausea and hair loss, and 50% symptom relief, so I stopped. I started Raptiva like my dad was taking, but got instantly ill like the flu so stopped. Coal Tar seems to work best but is very messy and stinky, and is becoming harder to get due to increased legislation. My heel was broken in multiple pieces from a car accident, and I decided to take Enbrel before my surgery to be pro-active against psoriasis under my cast and maybe invading the surgery site and getting PA or who knows what. I took the injections for about 6 mos. which reduced my psoriasis about 70% so I stopped, fearing such an extreme drug was worse than the limited relief, and feeling the $1500/mo billing to my HMO was an obscene burden on society. After stopping the shots, the psoriasis exploded all over my body with pimples like measles spots all over, the pimple whiteheads hard like fingernails that would not push out and just get bigger, which I believe is pustular psoriasis. I have to painfully scratch these heads out with my nails and immediately apply the coal tar like crazy to keep them from spreading horribly bad very fast. I also since have facial Melasma, which is dead skin building up around my eyes, cheekbones and mouth, which can only be removed with Azaleic acid daily with only partial success. The psoriasis is now extremely aggressive in my ears and I am losing this battle, with both my ears completely blocked for 4 days about 5 weeks ago and now one is hearing about 20%, the other less than 75%. I KNOW these changes in my Psoriasis are results of Enbrel permanently changing my skin’s physiology for the worse. I have been off Enbrel for 12+ months and these new symptoms continue. Reading the comments on this site I realize there may be much more problems to come. Taking Enbrel was a huge mistake, and I recommend to all: avoid it if they can. By the way, my dad took Raptiva for 5 years and then got diagnosed with bladder cancer and had bladder reconstruction surgery, dying 5 miserable months later in September 2008 with unexplained Hemolytic Anemia and uncontrollable infections at the surgery site. Shortly after his death, Raptiva was taken off the market. The bottom line seems to be that short-term symptom relief with these drugs is a long-term killer. I’m afraid to see what will happen to me next. Honestly, if at some point I get so ill that I believe I am more of a burden than a benefit to my family, I will take myself out. With a continuous family history of 90+ years longevity and no cancer, my dad made it to 70. His mother is still alive and well at 93 with no medications, his brother 75 and strong. I am 48 and slender, no gray hair and virtually no wrinkles, but will be lucky to get another 10 years. I don’t believe researchers are interested in finding cures when they can charge $1500/mo for treatments and bribe lawmakers to legislate away historically proven competitive alternatives like Coal Tar, which a few years ago was required by California to PROVE IT DOESN’T CAUSE CANCER or be banned as hazardous, something that Enbrel could NEVER do. Some years ago a study showed that even coffee caused cancer in lab animals at extreme doses, and they’re not talking about banning it, or tobacco outright either, both with no clear medicinal applications. The sick, sad world of big business…

In February of 2009 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In March 2009 I found out that it was lymphoma cancer. In September of 2008 I had congestive heart failure. I have been using Enbrel since the beginning and was the first patient in the area to use it. I have had RA since I was 30 years old. I am now 59.

just wondering if anyone had heart failure issues with enbrel? my very healthly 42yr old wife ended up on heart pumps and a vent after only a few weeks on enbrel. she is coming up on 2 weeks in icu, but doing much better now off enbrel… the doctors did say just today they found i think 38 similar cases of accute cardiac distress from enbrel.

When I first took Enbrel in combination with Methrotrexate for psoriatic arthritis symptoms, I believed it to be a miracle cure. The severe swelling and pain I had been living with as a result of my arthritis was finally being cured and I was able to walk and function again. I remember how happy I was. I remained on the medication for years. However, over the past two years, I developed symptoms that my doctors started scratching their heads about: night sweats, deep depression, painful arthritis flare ups out of nowhere that were more severe than anything I’ve had in the past, mood changes, weight loss, memory loss, confusion, bone density loss, etc. I was tested for perimenopause, but the results came back inconclusive. I stopped taking Enbrel completely 6 months ago, and my arthritis symptoms have come back with a vengeance, but the night sweats are decreasing some. I still can’t absorb vitamin D at all and have to be tested for this every three months. The saying “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” runs through my mind every single day.

I was diagnosed with RA in 2009 and my rheumy prescribed Enbrel and wanted to “treat aggressively” to avoid any damage. I took 8 injections and with each subsequent injection, the medicine became less effective. I also developed an internal head tremor. When I researched this medication, I became horrified and angry with my doctor that he did not discuss other treatments. He wanted to try other anti-TNFs, and I refused. Methotrexate gave me mouth ulcers (stomatitis), which told me my body was reacting negatively to this poison. I read the book by Henry Scammel which discusses Dr. Thomas Brown’s research into infectious causes of autoimmune diseases. I am now on Doxycyline 200 mg/day and Naproxen for inflammation. I had to endure the “eye rolling” of my rheumy, but I think he knew I would find another doctor if he didn’t prescribe the antibiotic. Please do your own research. Check out the Roadback.org chat board and ASK QUESTIONS! It’s YOUR body.

After trying every ra drug that came before enbrel, I reluctantly started it. That was January 2005. In summer of 2008, I got a terrible pain in the stomach area and under my left breast. It turned out to be fluid around my left lung, and after numerous tests and biopsies, I was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma. It was a terrible shock to me. I underwent six very agressive chemo treatments, and now have a year left on rituxan treatments. I was one of those people that never smoked, drank or was overweight. My dad died young from smoking cigarettes, so I was always a healthy person until ra. I only took a 25mg. injection of enbrel every other week, that was to cut costs, and I was praying it would be healthier too. That did not work for me, so to everyone out there, please be careful what you take. Sometime pain and suffering may be better!!

took enbrel for 5 years, had surgery Dec 11 to remove a tumor on my left lung…..I’m sure it is from taking embrel.My body could not stop the cancer cells from developing.

I was given Remicade and developed throat cancer. Don’t let them give it to you or your loved ones!

taking enbel for 13 years for psoriatc arthritis 3 months ago had a cancer tumor removed from bladder going for a scope test in bladder in 1 week to see if there are anymore tumors if so doctor wants me to have keymo ??????

Released from hospital yesterday after 10 days of intense anti-biotic and anti-fungal therapy for what was originally suspected to be staph infection. It started in my elbow as bursitis and spread to all tissues throughout body. Infectious desease control team concluded it’s insidiuos and rapid rampage is directly linked to Enbrel. This and other products like it should be removed from the market ASAP!

I took Enbrel on and off for several years for autoimmune vasculitis. It worked like a miracle at first, but then began wearing off quicker and we had to up both the dose and the frequency. Eventually I stopped taking Enbrel. Eight months later, after being rushed to the ER unconscious, I was finally diagnosed with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis niger, a common black mold fungus in the Southwest U.S.. (I live, however, in an urban area.) In the ICU, I was kept sedated while the doctors battled my sepsis (multiple organ failure, muscle breakdown etc.) and discovered that the fungus had also spread to my brain. It took nearly a year of taking anti-fungal medicine and regaining strength to get better. Doctors said I had been in “grave” condition. My recommendations? Before you go on any immunosuppressant, be checked for infections/fungus, get all vaccinations including flu and pneumonia, stop eating raw meats/seafood/eggs, and begin practicing germ avoidance. If you become very ill while on immunosuppressants, your doctor should be suspicious of possible fungal infection and treat with antifungals until the lab results come back. I have been advised never to take any immunosuppressants, chemo, or prednisone again. Too bad the stronger black box warning by the FDA came one year after I nearly died.

My dad (approx 70 years old) was prescribed embrel and took it for approximately 1 year. He developed MRSA about 2 years ago. This past week he was diagnosed with Trigeminal neuralgia (TN). I think we knew that infections could result but no one ever mentioned that MRSA was the most common ! (we had no idea how serious the infections can be). I also believe very strongly & with certainty that the Trigeminal neuralgia is directed related to Embrel. TN is a neurological disorder brought on by the deterioration of the myelin sheath protecting certain nerves. It has been put on record that Embrel can definately cause neurological problems…including deterioration of the sheath protecting the nerves. Certainly it would have been nice if we knew more about this earlier. While it’s been noted that TN is somewhat treatable (we’ll see), it does cause very sharp/electric shock type pain in the face and has also been labled “the suicide disease”. And what about his other nerves ? I hope you do not get it. After reading this page (I believe a lot of the conditions reported on this site/post are probably a result of taking Embrel), I’m shocked that this product has not been taken off the market – could part of this be that the drug companies are supporting our government the way they are? Everyone was begging for this product to come out sooner and now look… I don’t have RA (yet, & I pray that i don’t) and am sympathetic with the sufferers out there as you deserve to have good medicine and treatment, but I feel that good pain relief and going back to traditional medicine is the best way for RA. Keep your potassium levels and spirits up and ask your doctor about alternative medicines. I will continue to read the posts here.

47 year old female, started taking ENBREL for my RA when other meds did not work. Started 11/05, by 5/06 I had severe anemia, new onset atrial fibrillation, endometrial hyperplasia (pre-cancer), had hysterectomy in 11/06. Had more heart problems due to the atrial fib. Was scheduled to have ablation and stage 3 NHL was found on the CT scan. Did R-CHOP chemo for 6 rounds. One day after finding out I was in complete remission, my heart gave out due to the chemo drugs. I had cardiogenic shock and was very fortunate to survive. Had to have pacemaker/defib put in. I am SURE all these problems are due to my taking ENBREL for 6 months.

Diagnosed with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. People from work had a hard time dealing with the way my husband looked so we saught help and was prescribed Enbrel. Last may Dave was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. 7 grueling months later his Pet and Ct show no sign of disease. probable cause ENBREL. try other stuff first. Dave was able to get over his cancer but others are not so fortunate… Its so bad that a medicine that gave him such relief had to almost kill him…

My mom started using Enbrel for Psoriasis then developed Leukemia. After many rounds of Chemo and months in the hospital, she died on April 1, 2009. I just know this is related to Enbrel.

I am 51. I have RA which did not respond to even high doses of methotrexate, so my Rheumatologist put me on Embrel. It worked really well for my RA, but after about a year, I started having infections. I would quit taking Embrel until the infection cleared up, then after a dose of Embrel the infection would come right back or another one would develop. In effect, I wasn’t getting any benefit from the drug at this point. Also, I lost my ability to run a fever when I get an infection, which not only severely inhibits my ability to fight infections, it makes it almost impossible to be diagnosed with one since the first thing health care providers do is take a temp to screen for infection…no temp, no infection. I had a tooth infection that swelled the right side of my face to double its normal size with no fever, and the ER doc was reluctant to diagnose an infection because I had not fever. My PC has seen this enough times to finally believe me, but I have to keep telling other health care providers and they just don’t want to bellieve it. After Embrel, I went on Humira for a month, but had to stop because I was developing severe allergic reactions to it. Since then I have been on Remicade with just a few minor side effects, but I would rather find a treatment form that does not list other major illnesses and/or death as its possible side effects. Anyone have any suggestions?

I was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis July 2008. In six hours time I became paraglegic. I was on Enbrel approx 2-3 yrs…weekly injection. I was not aware that neurological disorder could mean a healthy person could become paraplegic in six hours. I have psoriasis since age 12 and psoriatic arthritis age 29. Over the years my small joints (fingers, toes) have become mutated. Reumatologist suggested Enbrel. Transverse Myelitis is a very rare neurological condition. I have always wondered if anyone else had a similar story. I see that they do. What I have is very similar to MS, only without recurring attacks.

Susan- Ive had RA for the past year and a half and the anti-biotics did absolutely nothing for me except mess up my stomach badly. Id never reccomend them to anyone for Ra treatment.

Linda- you cannot get arthritis in your eyeball.

I have psoriatic arthritis I was in so much pain I couldn’t move my hands. I tried other medications before my doctor put me on Enbrel after a few weeks I felt great started going to the gym 5 days a week. Nine months later i was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, no cancer runs in my family and my symptoms only occur it 20% of cancer patients. I was immediately taken off Enbrel and told they would not prescribe it for me again. My cancer was caught early and at 45 I had to have a mastectomy I am doing well now but my arthritis is bad I can’t stand it. I would never go back on Enbrel is does cause the reoccurrence of cancer.

I statrted taking Enbrel in 1999, for Psoriatic Arthritis. In 2008 I was diagnosed with Stage III Melanoma. The canver was removed along with 22 lymph nodes, and then a year long interferon treatment. Now the doctors will not prescirbe Enbel because they say it will bring the cancer back… so I am receiving no treatment and am in a lot of pain. I am wondering if others have had this happen?

Hi. I was 24 yrs old when I started taken enbrel. It had just come out and I was not responding to NO other treatments, that was around 2000 or 2001. It was my wonder drug and I didnt have any side effects that I remember being worth me coming off of enbrel. I was like anybody else, you wouldve never thought I had RA. Believe me before enbrel I had knee surgery’s etc. PAIN! is all I can say. In the early part of 2006 I notced a wart like thing on my elbow and tried to treat it. Time I saw my Rheumy I had several other places with small sore like things. He then thought it may be a good Idea to change to Humria, I agreed but thought it was odd seeing that I had been on enbrel for like 9 years and had never had any problems! That was not a good idea though I started taking Humria and it just exploded everywhere! I was pulled from that and was told that he thought that I was having a reaction to the TNF agent in them. I was then put on Orencia b/c it did not have the TNF agent in it, it worked off T-cells. My Rhuemy and my Dermatoligist worked on clearing me for 2 years! You name it and I tried it and nothing would work! THey were Very puzzled and finally told me I was in a small group of people who had done the same thing and because of that there was no research. I ooked like a leper and hurt and bleed it was the worst time in my life. Now the odd thing is what cleared me was something that shouldve hurt me, Remicade. It has the same TNF agent but for some reason it worked. It was the last straw, i had been on many things by then for my RA and my new Psoriasis condition. I agreed to try the Remicade under the agreeance that I would be put in the hosptial if I even looked like I was devloping a new spot. But it worked! I was thrilled and thought that my life was gonna go back to my normal! My skin cleared and is still mostly clear I do have scars that look like burns but the real isue is how my health is still out of control. I am almost 36 yrs old and in the last 2 years that I have been cleared I have had many other issues I feel is related to enbrel. My skin cleared but the rest of me has not. I now have Glacoma, and they think I have breast cancer. I was told by my surgeon too have double mastectomies, and that i could never really fight a cancer. Oh and I dont absorb vitamin D anymore my level is a 13. I am dark skinned, have a tanning bed and a pool so it is not from a lack of light. I would love to talk to anyone that is having the same problems. Thanks April

I am very interested in this issue, I suffer with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and take various different medications to alleviate the pain, In 2006 I was advised by my consultant to try a new medication ie Embrel (Etanercept) and after a number of medical checks started with the drug which I administerd myself. After 5/6 months I collapsed at home with severe abdominal & back pains. I was taken to hospital by emergency ambulance and ended in intensive care for 3 weeks with Acute Pancreatis. The Doctors blamed everything for this illness other than Embrel. I am convinced Embrel was the cause of my illness as I had never had any problems with my stomach in my life I was 65 at the time of my collapse. I now do not drink alcohol at any time and follow a strict dietary regime and have not taken Embrel since my collapse. Interestingly I had pointed out to the Doctors prior to going on this medication information that indicated there was a problem with this treatment but I was advised that everything was alright.

My husband was diagnosed with AS in January of 09. He is 30 years old and seems to have the body of a 70 year old. His onset of AS was very sudden and abrupt. He was immediately put on Enbrel by his rheumatologist. He has been on it for almost a year now. He also suffers from reflux (not related to the Enbrel) and takes Nexium twice a day. Last month we had to take him to the ER due to severe abdominal pain. They did a MRI and noticed thickening of his intestinal wall and started talking Crohn’s disease. His gastro then did a colonoscopy and said he had suffered from Ischemic Colitis. Basically his colon was dieing due to loss of blood. Our question was why? We then went to a hematologist and they did tons of blood tests. Ruled out cancer, Crohn’s and any clotting disorders, but revealed his triglycerides were too high, and LDLs/HDLs were off the charts. Also, for the last month and a half he has developed a severe skin problem. It orginally started on his hands and has now spread to his entire body. It starts with the development of a pustule and then it pops and the skin dries out and peels and goes away, but more pustules keep appearing. Today a dermatologist tells him he thinks he has Pustular Psoriasis!!!! WILL THIS EVER STOP???? Reading these previous blogs scares the crap out of my husband and myself and makes us want to stop the Enbrel. All we can think is that all the weird conditions he keeps getting are due to the Enbrel. Prior to Decemeber of last year he was a perfectly healthy 30 year old man and now we just don’t know what to think. Has anyone else developed or seen this similar problems after being on Enbrel?

Just a heads up regarding dosage. My wife and I experimented with her Enbrel dose before getting pregnant and found that she could take just one 25 mg shot every other week with the same effect as two 25 mg shots every week. That’s one quarter the prescribed dose. You may be able to save a lot of money if nothing else. Of course the drug company makes a lot more if you just take the massive dose they recommend.

After 8 injections of Enbrel I developed extreme pain and stiffness in muscles of left leg, couldn’t walk without a cane as leg would “give out” and I feared falling. Went to E.R. and a doppler showed I had a cyst behind my knee. I had arthritis pain before and this was not acting normal like usual arthritis pain, muscles in entire leg cramped and got stiff. Used Enbrel 2008-2009 8 doses.

My wife took Enbrel for several years for RA. A few years ago she caught a cold that went from sniffles to full-blown strep pneumonia with high fever in just a few days. She was taken to the hospital and died later the same day from septic shock and heart failure. I was told her body couldn’t fight the infection, likely because her immune system was so suppressed. When I informed her GP of her death, he told me that he’d heard of these types of septic shock cases occurring more frequently with Enbrel patients. This was prior to the newer “upgraded” infection warnings being issued in 2008.

I was diagnosed with RA in Jan 2006 and I was severe. Overnight onset and joint damage occuring rapidly. I was horrified by the RA drug choices available. A research of RA on the internet revealed a number of causes that have been shown to put RA in remission when the cause is dealt with. My rheumy didn’t buy it and was angry when I asked for a “safer” treatment approach which had been practiced for 50 yrs by Dr. Thomas M. Brown. He found bacteria in the synovial fluid joints which he believed were triggering the RA. The bacteria were CWD (cell wall deficient) so not the kind you could knock out with 2 weeks antibiotic. He treated with low dose tetricycline drugs with minocin being the best. This method is incredibly safe and has a 70% success ratio yet rheumatologists today ignore that treatment. I chose it and found a rheumy who believes in infectious causes to auto-immune illnesses. Perhaps the reason you guys have had adverse reactions to the Enbrel is because it allowed the CWD bacterias in you to flourish causing subsequent illnesses. Study up on infectious causes to auto-immune disorders. Psoriaris is an exception here. It is believed to be a fungal based illness.

Went on Enbrel for severe pustular psoriasis in September 2006 after 8 months of mtx not working. Felt great thought it was a miracle. In the past year was diagnosed with arthesclerosis high cholesterol had my gall bladder removed, a sphincterectomy on my dialted common bile dutc, NASH, was taken off Enbrel the beginning of July 09 have had a low grade fever since, joint pain that is unbearable, need MRI on my shoulder for severe pain and inmobility. exhaustion, had to quit my job, had a spot on my left templar lobe, have muscle termors and the 6 specialist have no idea what is wrong with me. CT scans MRI’s and numerous blood test and no real answers. Need info on withdrawal sysmptoms.

My daugther started taking Enbrel when she was 15 years old for JRA she took Methotrexate along with it. We were never informed of a cancer side affect and in March of this year she was diagnosed wth Leukemai. APML to be exact. She is in remission but it has been a hellacious year. They said that Enbrel was not linked to the drug until after she started taking it so that is why we were not informed. I think that there should be a law that anyone that takes a medication if new information is found like this they should have to send out a warning to all of the people that are taking it. It is ridiculous that they do not.

I started out by taking injections of gold in 1987,I was diagnosed with R/A in 1986 which got worse as time progressed. By 1995 it got so bad i had to retire from my job as a correctional officer, after 22 years of service at Folsom state prison. My rheumatoid Artheritus continued to get worse and my rheumatoligist recommended taking Humera which i took, on his advice because he is one of the best in the Sacramento area. I took the Humera injections for several months and started to break out in hyves on my legs real bad. My rheumatolagist immediately told me to stop taking it and i did. Upon my next visit with him he said there was a new injectable drug on the market called Enbral and strongly recommended i start it’s use which i did, as i recall this was in approximately 2002 or 2003 I will have to check with him to make sure of the date i started. At any rate i started the injections twice a week and continued to do so until June of 2009 when i went to a protologist with what i thought was hemroids. He did a biospy and found i had Squama cell cancer of the rectom. He had me get a pet scan as soon as he could get it ordered and when i got it i found out i had non-hodgkins lymphoma which totally floored me. I then had to take chemotherapy for 4 months, and still have 33 treatments of radiation to go throughfor the squamas cell cancer starting Oct 26th 2009. Obviously my rheumatologist told me to stop taking Enbrel as it was the cause of my lymphoma cancer. I immediately stopped taking the Enbrel and will never take it again as i strongly feel it was the cause of not only the lymphoma but the squamas cell cancer as well. I also ended up in the hospital with a blood clot in my right leg and an irregular heart-beat which is most likely attributed to the Enbrel as well. Seems like all the things that have gone wrong with me in the last couple of years is related to the Enbral injections i was taking. Beware people these injections can certainly cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people. I really think i would rather be crippled than have cancer of two different kinds in my body and now fight for my life. I hope this message will open up people’s eyes about the use of Enbral and other drugs on the pharmacutical market. a lot of times we are in so much pain we don’t think to check into the side affects of the things we put in our bodies, unfortunately when they first put this drug on the market they didn’t warn us of the side affect of cancer… had that warning been given to me I feel quite confident i would have elected not to have taken it.