Jean’s Skilarence Journey

[Caroline]

Good luck Jean.

If everything is right than no doubt you will get a flush.
Don’t worry, that is perfectly normal and absolutely innocent and it is the signal that it is active.

Hopefully the effect in your intestines will be limited.

[Bill]

All the best with your Skilarence, Jean. Yes, plenty of fluids, bland food and dairy if you tolerate it. They are all good ways to reduce the upset. Most of the side effects settled down by about six weeks with a 240mg*3 daily dose. If it works well for you it can keep working very well for many years. Over eight years for me now and working as well as ever.

Cheers

[KatT]

Hi Jean

 to the psoriasis club


Good luck on your journey with skilarence!  I hope it works for you

KatT 

[Sheila]

Hi Jean,

 to the club! I am new here also and am just beginning my journey to a real resolution for psoriasis. I have been using topicals up until now, much to my dismay. However, the folks here have been extremely supportive and this site has provided me with invaluable information. So glad I wound up finding this page. 

Good luck on your path to recovery and keep us all updated on your progress. Your journey could be a great help for someone else. 

Cheers!

Wintrman

[Jean]

Hi all, so it has been a pretty uneventful start to my Skilarence journey.  I have been slowly increasing the dosage over the past 5 weeks.  I haven’t suffered with any side effects but haven’t seen any improvement in my psoriasis either.  I was back with the doctor last week and my bloods were all normal.   3 days ago I increased to 2x120mg tablets a day and for the past 2 days have been suffering with horrible diarrhoea .  I am not sure whether I should drop back to just one 120mg tablet but there is no way I can work or even leave my house if this continues.  Any tips ?  Should I just try and keep going with it ?  

Thanks
Jean

[Fred]

Hi all, so it has been a pretty uneventful start to my Skilarence journey.  I have been slowly increasing the dosage over the past 5 weeks.  I haven’t suffered with any side effects but haven’t seen any improvement in my psoriasis either.  I was back with the doctor last week and my bloods were all normal.   3 days ago I increased to 2x120mg tablets a day and for the past 2 days have been suffering with horrible diarrhoea .  I am not sure whether I should drop back to just one 120mg tablet but there is no way I can work or even leave my house if this continues.  Any tips ?  Should I just try and keep going with it ?  

Thanks
Jean

Hello Jean, I have never used it but have seen this with some of our members before. I seem to remember something about getting it right with when you take it, and maybe try with something like yoghurt.

Hopefully the DMF gang will spot your question as they are better suited to answer, but for now it may be worth a try.

[jiml]

Hi Jean sorry you're experiencing diarrhoea now since increasing the dose
Can I ask are you taking them with a meal and plenty of fluid as well as it's a must to do that you can't take shortcuts unfortunately
And Fred is right you could have some yogurt that can line the stomach and make the tablets more tolerable
I hope that the problem is short-lived and passes soon
If you can get through this by if necessary cutting down the dose it should work well for you
The side effects don't tend to last long it's just your body getting used to the drug but shows its doing it's work

[Caroline]

Yes, mixing with the yoghurt, simulates a bit the slower release of the DMF in your intestines.
The mistake that Almirall made when creating Skilarence, despite the advice of several well informed dermatologists, is they did not make it slow release.

Slow release reduces the side effects on two paths, 1. Less irritation of the intestines (apparently you don’t suffer from that) and 2. Reduce the diarrhoea effect, which basically signals that there is kind of an irritation of your intestines. If possible for you request to Almirall that they should produce a slow release version. (In modern terms this is called, “controlled” release, but that is just chique words window-dressing for what it in fact is… slow release. We have a slow release in the Netherlands, but that is not made by Almirall, lots of patient swear by it)

Myself, I would step back to 1x120 for a few days. Then retry the building up with intermittent 1x120 and the other day 2z120.
You could also do 1x120 in the morning and 1x120 in the evening, I don’t know how you take them now.

Effect on your psoriasis can take some time, the effect of DMF is probably that certain cytokines that cause your psoriasis inflammation are robbed by their trigger, so gradually production of them will be reduced and this will, if everything goes as planned, reduce your Psoriasis.

[Jean]

Thanks Caroline, I am taking 1 tablet and 1 in the evening.  I will ease off back to 1 a day for a few days as you suggest.   I will also try taking with yogurt.  It’s seems crazy that they did not release a slow release tablet, my doctor hasnt mentioned a slow release option so I am assuming it’s not available here.  She has indicated that I should give Skilarence 6 months and I keep increasing the dosage until I am on 6 a day or until I am clear of psoriasis.

[Caroline]

Thanks Caroline, I am taking 1 tablet and 1 in the evening.  I will ease off back to 1 a day for a few days as you suggest.   I will also try taking with yogurt.  It’s seems crazy that they did not release a slow release tablet, my doctor hasnt mentioned a slow release option so I am assuming it’s not available here.  She has indicated that I should give Skilarence 6 months and I keep increasing the dosage until I am on 6 a day or until I am clear of psoriasis.

The scheme of your doc is okay. But… some people may need more than 6, as you already now have some problems, it is not possible to predict how it will continue.

Yes. Quite insane that they did not make that slow release version, it would widen their market in an incredible way, with the current version market penetration will be very limited. They knew before that there is a massive amount of know how on DMF with Dutch patients, but they refrained from asking them. That was not smart.
There is only one place in the world where a slow release version is made and that is in a specific pharmacy in the Netherlands. They deliver world-wide as far as I know.