Tremfya for psoriatic arthritis Fred's journey

[Fred]

Note for reference: It's been very damp today 29 April and the hands, fingers and arms just haven't woken up. Finding it difficult to get stuff done.

[jiml]

Note for reference: It's been very damp today 29 April and the hands, fingers and arms just haven't woken up. Finding it difficult to get stuff done. 

Hope that it eases for you and get to feel more like normal soon

[Fred]

Note for reference: It's been very damp today 29 April and the hands, fingers and arms just haven't woken up. Finding it difficult to get stuff done. 

Hope that it eases for you and get to feel more like normal soon

Thank you Jim. It's a bit worrying as the damp does seem to beat anything I try. But still early days with Tremfya, so I'll hang on in there for now.

[Kat]

Are you feeling better yet Fred?

As you say, early days yet. My doctor always seemed a bit impatient when not noticing an improvement so I wondered if sometimes I just didn't hold out long enough on some of my treatments. Hope it works for you.

[Fred]

Are you feeling better yet Fred? 

As you say, early days yet.  My doctor always seemed a bit impatient when not noticing an improvement so I wondered if sometimes I just didn't hold out long enough on some of my treatments.  Hope it works for you.

Hello Kat, I have found the psoriatic arthritis is worse when the weather is damp than it was with Cosentyx. But as the Cosentx had wasn't working as well it evens thing sup a bit. Luckily for me we don't live in an overly damp area, so it's usually not long before things are good again.

Overall it's not been bad enough to stop me doing stuff for long.

Personally I think 6 months is a fair trial period, but as long as I don't get any side effects I can;t live with I would go 1 year before deciding.

[Fred]

Week 12 update:

Psoriasis has gone down on the shins, but a little bit has popped up on the side of my belly so the psoriasis score stays on 4.

Psoriatic arthritis is doing well apart from first thing in the morning I feel a little locked up but it soon passes after my shower, I have also noticed that when it's damp or rainy I feel it more but not enough to stop me doing stuff. So the psoriatic arthritis score has gone down from 8 to 5.

Pleased to say that the annoying red itchiness has now gone, so it looks like it could have been the Cosentyx causing it after all. But I will wait till the hot summer weather before saying so for sure.

No more mild cold felling or cold sores but I took my next shot today so it will be interesting to see if they comes back.

The upset stomach is a bit better but the stools are still loose though it's not diarrhoea.

Still early days but no reason to stop.

Next appointment in August *unless it gets cancelled do to covid.

[Caroline]

Well Fred, that is all looking good.

The morning stiffness is inconvenient but as long as it mostly disappears during the standing up ritual it seems okay to me.
Funny that you feel the difference in weather. For me the weather has only marginal impact.

All logical to continue.

[jiml]

Nice update Fred good to hear it's still doing well and the psoriasis score hasn't gone up and the itchy rash has disappeared .
Best news is the psoriatic arthritis score coming down I know it's not perfect but it's heading in the right direction
Seems like Tremfya is working well for you, long may it continue and hopefully give you total clearance

[Fred]

Thank you Caroline and Jim. Yes my priority is the psoriatic arthritis, so I'm pleased with the way it's going at the moment.

Re the weather, it has always effected me when it's damp. We are lucky that we don't get many damp days, but when we do it sure makes the psoriatic arthritis worse.

On thursday afternoon I could feel pain in my shoulders and collarbone, I didn't think much of it but in the night around 3 in the morning we had a down pore and a little storm. It hadn't been showing on the weather report, but my bones knew it was coming.

[D Foster]

Well Fred long may it continue to work as well as it can for you , do you have problems if you get in a draft as well. It's strange that the wet weather is a key to set it off, we are definitely peculiar animals.