Need PsA and Ps help

[Functionalfool]

I'm new to forum so first of all, hello all! 

I was on Otezla for 2 years and then got on Tremfya 3 months ago. Tremfya was basically as effective as an injection of saline so I'm back on Otezla which does a decent job but not fantastic. Any advice or recommendations?

[Caroline]

I'm new to forum so first of all, hello all! 

I was on Otezla for 2 years and then got on Tremfya 3 months ago. Tremfya was basically as effective as an injection of saline so I'm back on Otezla which does a decent job but not fantastic. Any advice or recommendations?

Hello Functionalfool,

You must be British to choose such a name. 

Welcome to psoriasisclub.

Your intro is short… very short. I could be short too and say my advice is ********, the existing members know what my advice would be  but that could be a bit too narrow through the curve.

What at the moment are your basic problems?
What did you use before? Even before the Otezla.
And what is your goal?
Did you already do something with food?
What other things did you do?
How long do you have psoriasis? Do you have Psoriatic Arthritis too?

These questions so your problem will be a bit in a context and we can have a discussion over here on what might be a good direction for you.

Cheers and enjoy yourself on the board.
Caroline.

[Turnedlight]

Hi nice to meet you

Taking biologicals is a bit of a journey, in the U.K. if one doesn’t help they will usually move you to another.

I’ve tried 4 or 5 so far.. two did nothing for me, one was great but lost effectiveness after a year or so. The one I’m currently on is working but not completely. I also have P and Psa.

Was it your choice to go back to Otezla?

[Fred]

Any advice or recommendations?

It depends what route you want to take. Some prefer to try the naturel approach, some like, light therapy, others prefer pills, and people like me find only the Bio's help.

I would suggest reading up on the forum to see what you would prefer.

Start here:

Oral Treatments For Psoriasis

Biological Treatments For Psoriasis

Natural Treatments For Psoriasis

Once you have an idea of what you would prefer you can put your choices in the Search facility (when logged-in and find others experiences or medical studies.

When you have narrowed it down a bit and built up your knowledge of your choices go and talk to your dermatologist and see what He/She thinks. *Remember it's your body so only use what you are happy trying.

You will never cure it and you need to work with your dermatologist to find what works best for you, it can take time and just as you think you have found the right treatment it could fail.

Good luck and do report back.

Welcome to Psoriasis Club by the way. 

[Kat]

Welcome!

If you're not happy on Otzela or Tremfya then there are other roads to take. I've tried various treatments and some worked better than others. It's a matter of finding the one that works for you and sometimes it may take trying a few different ones. We're all different so what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. There is a lot of information on this forum regarding many different treatments. If you have questions about a specific one, there's most likely someone here who could answer it or direct you to posts here from people who have tried it. The links Fred put in his post are a great place to start.

My advice would be to decide which road you want to go (oral meds, biologics, more natural, etc) and then ask your doctor to try something else. It can take awhile for some meds before they start showing any improvement so patience is also necessary (I found that part to be difficult) Hopefully you will find one that works well for you.

Good luck and again, Welcome!

Kat

[jiml]

Hi I'm sorry the otezla isn't working well for you and I see Fred has given you links to the prescribed drugs section to look through
I myself haven't been on a biological drug yet as my treatment has given me 10 years clear, it's one you could consider as if you can tolerate it, you should get long term clearance 
It's Skilarence and is approved for use in England so might be worth asking about ...Skilarence I wouldn't say it's the easiest medication to tolerate but well worth a try

[Functionalfool]

There are a lot of questions to answer so I'll just give a basic summary. I had mild skin Ps for last decade, then started getting weird pains that were like sprains that popped up over night in my wrists, knees, and previous places I have broken bones in past. I wasnt diagnosed with Ps/PsA until 2 years ago and was immediately put on Otezla because I have fantastic insurance so cost is not an issue. Otezla did very well at staving off PsA but not as awesome at preventing skin Ps so I asked about Tremfya. I gave it 4 months and it's not working AT ALL, so I'm back in Otezla and refused the next injection. I am 41 years old, in decent shape (who couldn't stand to lose 15lbs tho lol) and I do labor for a living so I'm relatively strong. I have not changed my diet because no one has ever talked to me about changing my diet. I don't eat much fast food, but I do eat a lot of shit food like tv dinners. Stuff loaded with salt.

Any advice is appreciated. I am kind of new to this and my ps gets worse every year! If I missed any questions please ask again

[Functionalfool]

Also, I live in USA if that matters

[KatT]

Hi Functionalfool

 to the psoriasis club

When it comes to treatments, you need to know what's available in your country and go from there.  When one doesn't work, try another.  That being said, here are some things to think about before giving up on a treatment because even though more treatments are being made available as years go by, they mostly all fail at some point.

1.  Do you have the right dosage?  I am saying this because my rheumatologist had started me on Cosentyx but half the recommended dosage (which I didn't know).  I am now on another biologic 

2. Can you increase the frequency of the dosage?  This is working for me right now with Simponi.  Instead of an injection every 4 weeks, it's every 3 weeks. This helped a lot for my PsA

There is also the possibility of using two treatments (not two biologics) depending on what you want to do and your doctor.

What kind of psoriasis do you have?  

Hope this helps 

[Functionalfool]

The drugs I'm on are brand new and barely approved by the FDA. Because of that, technically, doctors are not allowed to go outside the recommend dosage or prescribe them for off label reasons. In US what insurance pays for is EVERYTHING due to extreme costs of new drugs. Otezla costs $45,000/yr, Tremfya costs $58k/yr. I'm currently on both and I pay $5 each/month. Idc about cost, I just want my psoriasis to go away!

I have bad psoriatic arthritis and also skin psoriasis. I'm one of the unlucky ppl who get the worst of both. 

If anyone has into about diet that they recommend, please give me name of diet. Certain things I will not due because I think they are unhealthy and those include extremely low carb diet, fasting, and basically any other fad diet