Cimzia Slows Healing

Since starting the Cimzia injections, I've been watching for any noticeable changes.

Of course, I'm hoping for positive changes. Like no more pain and diarrhea would be nice. But from what I hear and read, such differences this early would be unusual.

One thing is different, though. And the first time it happened, I assumed it was a coincidence. Now I'm seeing a trend.

Breaks in my skin look worse for longer, and heal more slowly than they used to before I started using Cimzia.

The first was a scrape on my knee I got while gardening the Saturday after my first injection. I accidentally knelt on a sharp rock that drew blood. Of course, germ phobic that I am, I cleaned it and applied antibiotic ointment every day. The next day, I bought a knee pad for gardening.

Normally, a small ding like that might hurt for a day or two, then develop a scab, and disappear altogether within a few more days.

But this owie hurt for more than a week, and the skin around it got sort of puffy and red. I kept an eye on it because it looked like it was threatening infection. But it didn't get worse. After two weeks, it stopped hurting and finally got a scab. Now, 3 1/2 weeks later, it's just a small discolored area on my knee.

Then, even though there was virtually no bruising with a blood draw I had on Memorial Day, the needle's entry point remained tender and visible for a week. Weird.

Then, a few days ago, I bumped my forearm on something sharp. It bled a while. I cleaned and dressed it. I've been applying ointment and bandages until today. I still hurts, surrounded by reddish, skin that's a little puffy, and it hurst if it gets bumped.

I know Cimzia decreases the immune system's ability to identify infections that need to be fought. So I'm keeping it clean and watching this new sore to make sure it eventually heals. It makes sense that if Cymzia delays the inflammatory response, that sores can't heal as fast, since they depend on inflammation to kick-start healing.

I've officially seen evidence of this now.