Biologic Taltz

[PWSCHNEIDER1000]

After having Humira lose it's effectiveness after a good 13 months being 85% clear, I have started on the biologic Taltz.
I took 2 injections to start on Monday March 20th. I had injection site reactions by Tuesday.
On Wednesday the injection sites had turned a slight pink and began to itch.
On Thursday the injection sites became more noticeably pink and itched more plus the affected area grew in size to 2 inches in diameter.
On Friday I applied a topical steroid Desonide cream to the affected area and got no relief from the itch nor the pink skin.
On Saturday the affected injection areas seem to stabilize and after an application of stronger steroid ointment, Clobetasol, the itching began to calm down.
On Sunday the affected areas began to recede and itching continued to calm.
Today Monday, the pink is gone and the itching is only slight.
 My psoriasis seems to be reacting positively to the Taltz.
The level of aggression has slowed some. The inflammation has gone down and I'm more comfortable overall.
I experienced some insomnia during the period when the injection sites were irritated. That's gone.
I seem to be more active than I have been for weeks. I have two dogs and can actually catch the slower one.
I'm remaining positive about all this.
I was doing some house cleaning the other day and found one of my health logs from a few years back when I struggled with arthritis, psoriasis, irregular heart rhythm, and Lyme disease. LOL I seemed pretty laid back about the whole thing at the time. I don't know if I could be that calm if my health was that bad today.

[jiml]

Thanks for starting this thread I will be very interested to read your journey and hope that Taltz works well for you as it seems to be starting already....it's a shame about the injection site reaction, hopefully the next one will be less troublesome

It's good you are feeling energised when out with your dogs ..lets hope before long you will be able to catch both of them  

You say you had Lyme disease in the past.....is that totally gone now? And I guess it's safe to be on Biologicals when you've had Lyme .....

Good luck I will enjoy following you here


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[Fred]

Good luck with your journey on Taltz and thank you for sharing. We have had others give it good reviews so your input will be interesting.

You mention the injection site problem. Are you using the Syringe or Pen type injector? I ask because I've never got on with any of the Pen type and I know of others that have had problems with the Pen.

Good luck, I've subscribed to your thread.

[PWSCHNEIDER1000]

I was reminded during last night's trip to the bathroom, that another side effect I've experienced with both Humira and Taltz is muscle cramps.
I need to jump out of bed and quickly find a position of relief or pull my foot against the cramp or jut my leg out sideways at weird angles to relieve
the muscle tension much like a Kung Fu fighter must do while warming up. I hope no one is watching not even God.

The result is sore muscles for a day or two.
 The Taltz comes in a pen. There was no choice between a pen or syringe. The Taltz pen differs slightly from the Humira pen. The Taltz pen is clear,
has a triangular shaped bell on it's skin touching end, and the mechanism has a click at the start and another click signaling the injection has been completed.
 I never experienced a pen failure with Humira. Both pens seem well designed and are easy to use.
 I was extremely hesitant about self injecting until I watched a young girl on Youtube inject herself with Humira.
I told myself if that little kid can do it, so can I.
Oh yeah? LOL the first time I held that injection pen in my hand over my thigh, I had to watch that little girl inject herself another 6 times before I could pull the trigger so to speak.

My Lyme disease was a monster. It was triggered by my general practitioner giving me two injections at one time, one for Pneumonia and the second for Tetanus.
Normally I had tolerated injections without incident. That time the injections activated the Lyme spirochete that had been dormant for who knows what length of time.
If you read enough about Lyme disease, you know the researchers don't know enough about it to have a real cure for the patients who have been infected for more than
a few months. If Lyme disease is treated within the first month of infection with antibiotics (Doxycycline) the Lyme spirochete is killed in almost a 100% of the time.
In my case I don't know when I was infected. I work in the woods of Wisconsin but have traveled often to other high Lyme disease areas including Lyme Connecticut where the affliction was first noted by the medical world. I may have been infected years ago with Lyme and never knew it.

 My experience with Lymes started with swollen knees . It was a disabling swelling that literally had me on my knees. My MD drained my knees several times in one year each time injecting Cortizone which brought relief for about 4 months.
To make a long story short, I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease by a little ole country doctor in a small town in northern Wisconsin when I went to see if he would drain my swollen knees and give me a shot of Cortisone. It was that doctor who's protocol for swollen joints included testing for Lyme disease. He said I had it but could only prescribe one month's worth of Doxycycline. He advised that if my Lyme infection was older than 6 months the antibiotic probably wouldn't cure it. He told me to find a Lyme literate Dr. who was willing to prescribe the necessary long term antibiotic regimen NOT recognized by the American Medical Association. It took me months to find one and another 12 months and a dozen different meds and supplements to finally get "cured"
 jml, your original question, am I cured . . . . . I think so, but I don't know for sure. There is no test yet to show if the Lyme disease is absent. I no longer have the swollen knees and aching joints similar as before.
The tests they have to determine IF YOU'VE BEEN INFECTED only measures those artifacts in your blood that indicate that your body has reacted to LYME disease NOT actually testing for the presence of Lyme itself.
My current state of health includes joint pain which I'm being told is Arthritis or Psoriatic Arthritis. I don't have the swelling as though it were Lymes. The Arthritis responds to regular Arthritis treatments including the Humira injections.
I think I'm Lyme free but can't prove it.

[mataribot]

The syringe is now available in the US. You must contact your dermatologist for it (different subscription). You can thank the FDA for that jack hammer pen. Leaves a nice bump after injection. I wouldn't apply steroid cream to it. Try taking a antihistamine 90 minutes before injection.

[PWSCHNEIDER1000]

The syringe is now available in the US. You must contact your dermatologist for it (different subscription). You can thank the FDA for that jack hammer pen. Leaves a nice bump after injection. I wouldn't apply steroid cream to it. Try taking a antihistamine 90 minutes before injection.

I'm ok with the "jack hammer" pen LOL. I'd be shaky with the syringe.
The antihistamine is a good idea mataribot. Thank you.
I'll try it next injection and report back.

[Caroline]

I was reminded during last night's trip to the bathroom, that another side effect I've experienced with both Humira and Taltz is muscle cramps.
I need to jump out of bed and quickly find a position of relief or pull my foot against the cramp or jut my leg out sideways at weird angles to relieve
the muscle tension much like a Kung Fu fighter must do while warming up. I hope no one is watching not even God.

The result is sore muscles for a day or two.
 The Taltz comes in a pen. There was no choice between a pen or syringe. The Taltz pen differs slightly from the Humira pen. The Taltz pen is clear,
has a triangular shaped bell on it's skin touching end, and the mechanism has a click at the start and another click signaling the injection has been completed.
 I never experienced a pen failure with Humira. Both pens seem well designed and are easy to use.
 I was extremely hesitant about self injecting until I watched a young girl on Youtube inject herself with Humira.
I told myself if that little kid can do it, so can I.
Oh yeah? LOL the first time I held that injection pen in my hand over my thigh, I had to watch that little girl inject herself another 6 times before I could pull the trigger so to speak.

My Lyme disease was a monster. It was triggered by my general practitioner giving me two injections at one time, one for Pneumonia and the second for Tetanus.
Normally I had tolerated injections without incident. That time the injections activated the Lyme spirochete that had been dormant for who knows what length of time.
If you read enough about Lyme disease, you know the researchers don't know enough about it to have a real cure for the patients who have been infected for more than
a few months. If Lyme disease is treated within the first month of infection with antibiotics (Doxycycline) the Lyme spirochete is killed in almost a 100% of the time.
In my case I don't know when I was infected. I work in the woods of Wisconsin but have traveled often to other high Lyme disease areas including Lyme Connecticut where the affliction was first noted by the medical world. I may have been infected years ago with Lyme and never knew it.

 My experience with Lymes started with swollen knees . It was a disabling swelling that literally had me on my knees. My MD drained my knees several times in one year each time injecting Cortizone which brought relief for about 4 months.
To make a long story short, I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease by a little ole country doctor in a small town in northern Wisconsin when I went to see if he would drain my swollen knees and give me a shot of Cortisone. It was that doctor who's protocol for swollen joints included testing for Lyme disease. He said I had it but could only prescribe one month's worth of Doxycycline. He advised that if my Lyme infection was older than 6 months the antibiotic probably wouldn't cure it. He told me to find a Lyme literate Dr. who was willing to prescribe the necessary long term antibiotic regimen NOT recognized by the American Medical Association. It took me months to find one and another 12 months and a dozen different meds and supplements to finally get "cured"
 jml, your original question, am I cured . . . . . I think so, but I don't know for sure. There is no test yet to show if the Lyme disease is absent. I no longer have the swollen knees and aching joints similar as before.
The tests they have to determine IF YOU'VE BEEN INFECTED only measures those artifacts in your blood that indicate that your body has reacted to LYME disease NOT actually testing for the presence of Lyme itself.
My current state of health includes joint pain which I'm being told is Arthritis or Psoriatic Arthritis. I don't have the swelling as though it were Lymes. The Arthritis responds to regular Arthritis treatments including the Humira injections.
I think I'm Lyme free but can't prove it.

Hi. PWSchneider,

There is a testimony on video of a Guy who followed my auto-vaccination therapy, the story starts over here A different than normal treatment for Psoriasis called Auto-vaccination, where this guy explains that he has had Lyme for years and was 100% unable to work. After the treatment he regained fully his ability to work again.
As Lyme is very resistant against anti-biotics, the auto vaccination forms a totally different approach.

Cheers,
Caroline

[Kat]

Hoping you have good success!

Thanks for sharing, it's very informative.

[PWSCHNEIDER1000]

I'm now in week 4 of my treatment for Psoriasis and PSA. with Taltz. I have had 2 treatments, three injections with the Taltz "pen".
My psoriasis continues to improve. The long term lesions have reduced in size and aggression and have thinned.
I did have one day/night of overall body itching. Bathing and application of psoriasis creams helped with that episode.
I notice a general improvement with the overall skin health ie: better color, smoother, more elastic, more resistant to abrasion and bleeding from bumps, and less bruising.
I took an antihistamine as suggested by another member prior to the 3rd injection to possibly eliminate the injection site reaction but it had no affect. The injection site reacted the same as before.
I used several over the counter creams and found that Caladryl reduced the inflammation. Site reaction goes away in 4-5 days.
I contracted an upper respiratory infection from my daughter two weeks ago. It was severe. My wife came down with the same infection.
We both coughed and weezed and ached and couldn't eat. We're just now having some sign of recovery going on.
Because of the upper respiratory infection I can't report on any of the other known Taltz side effects, not knowing which issue was causitory, Taltz or the infection.
My Psoriatic Arthritis has improved also. The general pain level has dropped to a level 1-3 at worst from level 3-5.
The previously noted insomnia is no longer present.
 
I feel Taltz is creating a positive result so far with few side effects. I did have a squamous cell carcinoma removed yesterday. That was not a result of Taltz or my previous treatment with Humira.

[jiml]

That's pretty good news that the Taltz is working and you are seeing improvements. I hope the improvement continues and you get clear of psoriasis and the arthritis pain, thank you for the detailed description of your progress
I look forward to the next update,
Jim