Stelara - Kat's journey

[Kat]

Great to see the before picture Kat, I can see that the taclonex has worked wonders but still a way to go...
Good luck with the Stelara, I hope it works well and fast for you ..

You have a very wise granddaughter who is inheriting some of her Grandmothers wisdom and tact

But she's right it does look more blond than grey  

Thanks Jim, you're a smart guy!

The nurse suggested being very careful with it being flu season, make sure to wash hands often and even advised wearing a mask when in public to combat germs. I am hoping that is overkill Other than a bit of running around tomorrow (in which I won't even be getting out of the car) I should be home most of the time anyway. Does anyone know if there are times when you're more susceptible than others to illness when on biologics? As in is your immune system more lowered say a week after injection and not as low right before an injection? I hope I worded that in a way that it made sense.

[Caroline]

Great to see the before picture Kat, I can see that the taclonex has worked wonders but still a way to go...
Good luck with the Stelara, I hope it works well and fast for you ..

You have a very wise granddaughter who is inheriting some of her Grandmothers wisdom and tact

But she's right it does look more blond than grey  

Thanks Jim, you're a smart guy!  

The nurse suggested being very careful with it being flu season, make sure to wash hands often and even advised wearing a mask when in public to combat germs.  I am hoping that is overkill     Other than a bit of running around tomorrow (in which I won't even be getting out of the car) I should be home most of the time anyway.  Does anyone know if there are times when you're more susceptible than others to illness when on biologics?  As in is your immune system more lowered say a week after injection and not as low right before an injection?  I hope I worded that in a way that it made sense.

It is a good question, Kat. I would not know if a biological does make something like a 'bump' in your immune system. More people say they are somewhat sniffy after an injection.
Washing your hands is a very good suggestion of the nurse. Also in combination with a mask, but e.g. only wearing a mask seems to be useless holding away a virus.
Remember ... a germ is not a virus, at least if I look at the dictionary then a germ is a living creature, a virus is not.

[Fred]

advised wearing a mask when in public to combat germs.  I am hoping that is overkill.

Over kill in my opinion. You only need to touch a door handle and rub your nose to get the flu, so just be sensible and give a wide berth to people that sound or look like they have it. Also keep away from peoples houses if they have it, but depending on your active life you still risk the chance of getting it.

Does anyone know if there are times when you're more susceptible than others to illness when on biologics?  As in is your immune system more lowered say a week after injection and not as low right before an injection?  I hope I worded that in a way that it made sense.

I was always advised to avoid taking the shot if I had the flu and hold it back for a week, but that was mostly at the start of using Bio's because I used to get slight flu like feelings anyway. I doubt it would make your chances any worse as it's in your system all the time, but the best time to get the flu would be around week 10 (If there is ever a best time) I would still today hold my shot back a week if I had the flu, but once it's in there it's too late to do anything if you get the flu the day after your shot.

Here they offer me the flu jab, but I've never had it it and very rarely get the flu. If I do it's never any worse than Mrs Fred and that's after around 10 years of Bio use.

Don't worry about it. If your gonna get the flu you will, then you just need to rest up and it will pass.

[D Foster]

I had the flu jab but I still got the flu though I probably didn't get it as bad as I would have had it without the jab. I find that when I take the Stelara I am more susceptible to catch things especially in the first few weeks though even all the way through the 12 weeks it can be a problem . I think the usual applies , everyone is different so the problems that I have other people would not get problems with, I think that it also depends on stress that you have which effects your immune system more than you realize and stress is something that I have had in spades.

[artemie]

flu last october and recovering from flu now, but there's a lot of it going around here at the moment.
But as I read other comments here, not everybody seems to be susceptible, so you should be fine.
Also the flu is just the flu, nothing worse or scary, Kat.

[Kat]

flu last october and recovering from flu now, but there's a lot of it going around here at the moment.
But as I read other comments here, not everybody seems to be susceptible, so you should be fine.
Also the flu is just the flu, nothing worse or scary, Kat.

There is a particularly nasty strain this year. Over 30 kids have died due to the flu in the states and yes that's a low percentage most likely when figured with the number of kids who contacted the flu. Only people under the age of 18 have to be reported to the CDC so there isn't a known number for how many adults and elderly have died this flu season. And no, I'm not paranoid about it...well not much ..... and should I get the flu I'd call my doctor, take my meds and rest up just like I would anyway. I do REALLY appreciate the reassurance however!!!!

A bit of background for me is that I do not have a scientific mind so when it comes to how meds work and things like our immune system it all goes a bit over my head so I tend to ask basic sometimes even childish questions, you'll get used to me (I hope!)

I am happy to have someone just ahead of me on Stelara so I can learn things a bit in advance, so thank you for sharing your journey and again, thank you for the reassurance.

[artemie]

Happy to hear you feel a bit more reassured. I'll be following your journey too, Kat =]

[Kat]

2nd injection today. Much like the first a little sting but definitely didn't hurt. Nothing major to report.

As to progress.... Well, I'm better than where I started from, but overall not a huge improvement from where I was at when I started Stelara. I seem to be on a cycle, first of the week it's itchy and scaly but by the end of the week it's drier and itchy in a "pulling the skin and the scales break off into little hard bits" type of thing and I have to really use something at that point. Last weekend it was coconut oil (which helped) but the weekend before that it was Taclonex (which still does help the best but I really want to use it as little as possible, actually not at all if I can, while I wait for Stelara to do it's thing)

I do feel a "little" improvement I think. Nothing I can really point to as it changes from hmm a bit better to hmmm a bit worse right now. It's still soon though so I'm hoping to really start noticing some improvement I can say is definite in the next month or two. Third injection is in May.

[Fred]

It sounds like it's going in the right direction Kat.

[Maryam]

I had about the same after the second injection, but I am clear now! Once you start clearing it it amazing how fast it goes! 

Also; regarding bugs and viruses; 80% is transmitted through contact from surfaces, handshakes etc. So wash your hands a few times more than you would. I work with severely disabled children and I didn’t get sick more often than my coworkers. You have a bit of a compromised immune system, but it’s not zero either... While working I put on gloves a litle more than I used to and I do a little extra hand washing in between.