I've been allowed to go on to a different class of drugs all together. They are called biologic agents or tumour necrosis factor alpha blockers (but could be inhibitors). I have an injection once per fortnight, and I'm actually doing quite well with it. Unlike the mtx, they have started working very quickly (did anyone mention that it may be 6-8 weeks before you start to see results from taking mtx?). So after my very first injection I actually had my first pain-free day in years. Get a few more injections in and I'm almost making it to the end of the two weeks before I get sore. I inject tonight and I've woken incredibly sore, but that's ok. I know relief is coming, and quite soon too.
I've just found out I have a liver condition which means I can no longer take things like prednisone and must avoid all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, so I'm now down to only paracetamol and codeine for pain relief, so it's a good thing I've got these biologics going or I'd not be able to move at all. There's very strict rules for who qualifies to get these drugs - two injections have a full cost of $1774, but because of my PCC I only pay $5.60. Could you imagine paying that much for medications every month?!?!
That would be crazy to pay that much!!!! No matter how good it was!!
So if it takes 6-8 weeks to have effect. would that mean i would stay on the prednisone until it starts working or i would have two months of essentially nothing?? (coz that would cause serious hand blisters and stop me from doing basically anything!!!) I think i should pay you the $100 buck a month i have been paying my specialist lol you have had more info in two days than she has given me in nearly six months lol!! Although I know its all down to rememebring to ask questions.. i still walk out of the rooms and then ten minutes later i kick myself coz i have forgotten to ask something!! Even when i write it down!!!
Ohh on a completely un medical related queiry.... did the methotrexate (i keep going to write meth as an shortening.. but it just looks wrong lol) help with any weight loss??????? I have been slowly stacking on the kg's after DS, adn then again after DD and now i just still keep putting it on. i have stated excercising and it slows down the weight gain, but doesnt help me loose any.. so just wondering if maybe its somehow related and if maybe the meds might help a little with either me not gaining any more and maybe helping me loose some!!
If it were me, I'd stay on the prednisone until the mtx is starting to work - but you'll have to talk to your specialist about that.
The weight gain is quite simply down to the prednisone. In my experience, while on prednisone you gain weight. Exercising and watching your diet can slow it, but I've never been able to reverse it until I'm off it. I imagine at your dosages it would be fairly similar. I don't think the mtx will help with weight loss on its own, but it should allow you to get off the pred and make it easier to lose weight. I've also been stacking on the weight (even without pred!) and now find myself weighing the same as my highest weight during pregnancy. It's depressing, but I'm now getting to the point where I can start exercising again - need to start slow and gently, but I know I can start to do something about it now.
If it were me, I'd be asking your Dr what he thinks you should do regarding taking the steriods at the same time. Personally, I found the MTX worked quite quickly - don't forget that BW is taking it for a completely different issue and for her circumstances it may have taken longer to work. Within 2 weeks of taking it I found that all the redness on the plaques had nearly gone and within a month I saw a remarkable change in the plaques and they were all but gone in most places - some of the larger areas were more persistent though and did take up to 2 months to clear up. But I had a severe guttate flare up and had psoriasis over 80% of my body at the time.
It is the type of drug that you really do need to try and then find the right dosage amount. I am on a large US forum for psoriasis and some have found a small dose works well, some found they need a larger dose and for some it doesn't work at all. You really need to be asking your Dr these questions because we can only tell you our personal experiences which will obviously be quite different to yours.
Last edited by Trillian; May 27th, 2011 at 05:12 PM.
Yeah Trillian, i will definately check with the dr about what to take when. At the moment the steroids have it pretty under control-ish.. as in i have only small hard lumps on my hands and no where else, and they arnt all peeling and red and exposed as they have been. The finger tips on my right hand are a bit tender, but all in all they are nothing like they have been- but mind you i can go from nothing to full on blisters and bumps in a day or so.. so i would say that fingers crossed the MTX will work pretty quickly. The only delema i have though there is that as soon as i stop the steroids or drop down to anywhere below 10mg, i break out.. so I could be in for a week or so of transition where they will get worse before they clear up totally kind of thing, and i will be checking with the dr to see if its ok to maybe keep using the steroids for a week or so, and at the very least drop down to below what i ahve been taking maybe...
Its good to go to the next appt armed with some personal experience info and some questions to ask.
Which forum are you on trillian?? I found one that i think was american but it didnt seem like people frequented it that much so i stopped going there myself!
Well i took my first dose last night and so far so good!! I took them right on bed time, and they did make me a sleep a bit deeper, but nothing too crazy, and no nausea!! YAY!!
I am really glad i talked to you girls about it too, i was armed with loads of questions for my dr (all written down so i didnt forget them!!) and i feel good about starting the meds!
I am to keep taking the steroids for a few weeks until the new meds start to work, and she did say realistically it may take a few weeks to a month for them to really take effect, so fingers crossed its the start of something good and soon i will have normal use of my hands again!!!
Great to hear, Starbright! I do tend to the extreme side of the range of side effects if I get any, but it's good to know the worst and be prepared rather than having it hit you out of left field. What dose did you start on? I started with 5mg and didn't get much nausea at first but as my dose increased it got worse. But I wasn't taking the high dose folate at that point, so that probably had something to do with it!
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