Started Enbrel 50mg today

After months in the absence of any anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals for my AS (thanks primarily to a lack of health benefits), I am now able to resume my regime. I was reassessed by my rheumatologist and prescribed Enbrel 50mg once a week via the SureClick auto-injector. She warned me that her patients reported increased pain during the injection, which she attributes to the medication's chemical composition.

I decided the site of the first injection would be the middle of my right thigh. The instructions indicated that I would not have to pinch my skin or angle the syringe at 45 degrees to keep the needle in the subcutaneous tissue; direct placement on the skin at a 90 degree angle was the new process. I took off the protective cap, pressed the auto-injector firmly against my thigh at the required angle, and pressed the purple button until I heard a click. Not too bad, I thought after I felt the needle pierce my skin...until I felt the sharp burning sensation of the medication being pushed into my tissues. The instructions warned that I was not to pull the auto-injector away until I heard a second click, which felt like it would never come. I can only describe the pain as if someone pinched a tender piece of your flesh between their fingernails, and continuously increased the intense pressure of their pinch until you could no longer bear it...worse than sharp pins pricking through fleshy epidermal layers...worse than a papercut in the web of your individual phlanges. I am not sure how I long I will continue with this dosage if the pain is this intense; multiple injections a week may provide less discomfort.