Health Boards
Thu-08-12-2016, 02:50 AM
Dave here. 42 years old, psoriasis symptoms for ~20yrs, arthritis for ~8 years.
I've typically been a medication minimalist as much as possible over the years, but with the arthritis steadily getting worse, I've given in to things I don't want to take.
I have Celebrex for the pain when needed. DMARDs started as sulfasalazine and then Otezla.
I was in love with Otezla. Worked great for about a year, then a somewhat spontaneous decline in efficacy. I have quit the medication for 3 weeks before I go see my Rheumy next week, just so I could get a feel of whether it was actually working period anymore or not. IMO, it's at about 30-40% of what it was doing for me at its peak, so I'm not sure it's worth taking anymore. But since being off Otezla, I've felt fairly bad.
As I said, I'm going in next week to likely start a new course of treatment. I've been reading up just trying to get a sense of what is out there, so I'm fairly well-versed.
Methotrexate - I don't want to take it. Bad vibes is all... no other reasonable reason.
I've been reading about Cosyntex, which looks like it's at least a more specific biologic than Humira or Enbrel, right? Not sure if I have that right but I'll see what my doc wants to do with me. Immune suppressors give me the heebie-jeebies as well.
Anyone with a significant background in medicine on here, I'd like to throw this little nugget out there: I'm fully aware this could be coincidence, but since I've been symptomatic with the arthritis, I've not had more than a bad cold in terms of sickness. If I've had a fever in that time, it's a very short period of time... maybe an evening or something like that. I haven't had the flu, and I work in an environment with community computer workstations, so decent germ exposure. Nothing else has really changed in that time.
Anyways, just saying hello and telling my story. I'm tired of hurting. I used to run, play softball, hike... just stayed as active as possible. Now I spend a lot of time in hot baths. Hopefully I can find a remedy that won't wreck other parts of my body in the process.
I've typically been a medication minimalist as much as possible over the years, but with the arthritis steadily getting worse, I've given in to things I don't want to take.
I have Celebrex for the pain when needed. DMARDs started as sulfasalazine and then Otezla.
I was in love with Otezla. Worked great for about a year, then a somewhat spontaneous decline in efficacy. I have quit the medication for 3 weeks before I go see my Rheumy next week, just so I could get a feel of whether it was actually working period anymore or not. IMO, it's at about 30-40% of what it was doing for me at its peak, so I'm not sure it's worth taking anymore. But since being off Otezla, I've felt fairly bad.
As I said, I'm going in next week to likely start a new course of treatment. I've been reading up just trying to get a sense of what is out there, so I'm fairly well-versed.
Methotrexate - I don't want to take it. Bad vibes is all... no other reasonable reason.
I've been reading about Cosyntex, which looks like it's at least a more specific biologic than Humira or Enbrel, right? Not sure if I have that right but I'll see what my doc wants to do with me. Immune suppressors give me the heebie-jeebies as well.
Anyone with a significant background in medicine on here, I'd like to throw this little nugget out there: I'm fully aware this could be coincidence, but since I've been symptomatic with the arthritis, I've not had more than a bad cold in terms of sickness. If I've had a fever in that time, it's a very short period of time... maybe an evening or something like that. I haven't had the flu, and I work in an environment with community computer workstations, so decent germ exposure. Nothing else has really changed in that time.
Anyways, just saying hello and telling my story. I'm tired of hurting. I used to run, play softball, hike... just stayed as active as possible. Now I spend a lot of time in hot baths. Hopefully I can find a remedy that won't wreck other parts of my body in the process.
