Worthy of Shiny Leaflets

I had a new delivery of Humira yesterday. This was the delivery of the new-fangled, super-concentrated, supposedly improved version. The one that I got a shiny leaflet in the post about (twice) and when the company rang to book the delivery, they asked again if I knew about it.

Pretty much, they've shrunk the volume of liquid in the auto-injector and made some changes to the packaging. They also have said that they have removed an ingredient (Citrate), which supposedly is the cause of the post-injection wasp sting.

So here it is -

And this is the new style auto-injector -

The biggest difference is that the window is bigger and the casing is ever-so-slightly smaller. And the painted the '2' white.

The box came with another shiny leaflet. Which I think looks like an advertisement for batteries from a distance.

And that was about it.

So tonight was a jab night and I tried out the new version.

It was a little strange. It injected mighty speedily this time.

And there was no wasp sting. That was a little weird. It fact, I had to double check that the needle went off at all. It definitely did. But rather than immediately grabbing for ice pack, it was sort of okay and wasn't stinging while I dabbed the resulting spot of blood. Very weird. I wondered if I had got a dud one for a bit, but then the inevitable post-Humira yucks set in about 15 minutes later, pretty much on schedule.

So, possibly it is worthy of multiple shiny leaflets after all.

Baking Plan B

I have an unexpected evening off tonight. An evening off has become a rare thing as of late, so I rather treasure it. I made a batch of pesto for the freezer, and wanted to bake chocolate chip cookies. Then this happened -

Short of shortening!!!! Diaster!!

Okay, it's actually margarine, but you get my point. I can't 'halve' the recipe as it calls for an odd number of eggs and it's hard to cut an egg in half.

So out came my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and I found something needing only half a cup of margarine.

Brownies! Cue unsweetened Baker's chocolate from Canada and my Pyrex jugs to melt it.

Boiling water in the big one, chocolate and margarine in the other. I do own a double boiler, but don't remember the last time I used it as this is involves less mess and works just as well.

Then I mixed in the other bits and made Brownies.

1/2 cup margarine -melted
3 oz of unsweetened chocolate -melted
1 cup of white sugar
1tsp of vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup of flour
1/4 tsp of baking soda
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Mix everything in order and pour into an 8" square pan. Bake at 180C/350F for 30 minutes.

Ta da! Brownies! Plan B is tasty!

Well, This is Interesting

I got some correspondence from the company who distribute Humira this week. It was a shiny leaflet, telling me all about 'the' changes' I would seeing my next delivery.

It states that the volume of liquid in the injectors is changing, and will now be half the amount.

I do love how they feel the need not only to send this notice out on glossy paper (twice in one week), but also the put this lovely stock photo of two people and a dog walking through tall grass. In the 24 hours after one takes this stuff, I can assure you that this is not what you feel like doing.

The most interesting part of this letter was this statement - 

Pretty much what it says is that they are removing an ingredient from the formula called citrate. They acknowledge that this causes 'a stinging sensation', which anyone taking this drug will tell you. It's bad enough it's an injection, bad enough that it's jabbed into you thigh or abdomen, and bad enough it makes you feel like poo, but imagine purposely having a wasp stinging you every time. And that stinging sensation lasts. Ow!

This is a universally reported side effect, which in the product leaflet is listed as 'discomfort at the injection site'. The letter doesn't indicate what purpose this ingredient served or why it wasn't removed sooner. So why now?

What is an interesting coincidence is that Humira goes off patent later this year. When it's older brother Remicade (known as 'Rat Crack's amongst Crohnies), there were two 'bio-similar' drugs on the market within weeks. Drugs which are much much cheaper. The same is expected with Humira this autumn, particularly because Humira is self-administrated at home, rather than given as a day patient at hospital as an infusion, which makes it much cheaper anyway. At £500 a shot, I'm not surprised they are looking for ways to make it supposedly 'better' so that patients demand it over the new, cheaper alternatives.

My next delivery is due within the next week or two. We'll see whether or not these changes make any difference.