Were You Scared By These Medicines At First?
Were You Scared By These Medicines At First?
I am newly diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. I am still at the point of deciding which medicine to try first. Which of course will have a lot to do with insurance. To be honest these meds scare the hell out of me. I am hopeful for the improvement that may come, but the medicines can be brutal. Where you scared at first?
You got some good answers and they are right about the assistance programs for each Med and the National Psoriasis Foundation. I too was on disability since 2000 and managed to get Enbrel, Humira, Cosentyx and now Cimza...
I was petrified when my Rheumatologist first suggested a Biologic in 2009 and being a nurse, I knew a bit more than I wanted too. Thank God I have not had any major issues from any of the injections I have been on and I have had significant relief with some of them.
Wish you the best!!
I get alot of fatigue when I’m flared up. Also, winter time makes it worse with no sun. When I’m having a bad flare up I can’t hardly do anything. Can’t dress myself, going to the bathroom is a nightmare. My wrists hurt so bad I have to wear support braces. Need to use a cane because my ankles won’t support me. I’m on otezla but I’m also using marijuana. I started that in November and I do feel some relief.
I think I do get sick more often than I used to, but other than that I feel much better. I've been on Methotrexate for years at points, and also on Humira for years and now Cimzia. The drugs made a big difference in my quality of life. I'm off the methotrexate bu would go back on it in a heartbeat if not for it being an unsafe drug while attempting pregnancy.
If you have a Rheumatologist/ Dermatologist, ask them if they can start paperwork for you to get one of the Biologics through the pharmaceutical manufacturers assistance programs. Or....Go online and type in the name of the drug and it will show you their assistance programs. You can contact them directly or go to National Psoriasis Foundation Website and there should be a number to contact for patient services and you can have them contact you to walk you through the process. Hope this helps. I never contacted Social Security so I am not sure what they do. We have to be our own advocate these days.
I don’t know your circumstances but I was on Soc Sec Disability and therefore had to sign up forMedicare before I turned 65. I started with a Medicare Advantage Plan ( Humana) and since I turned 65 I have a Supplemental Plan.... but regardless, they don’t pay much with the Biologics so I had to go through the individual drugs Assistance programs. I was lucky to have Rheumatologists in Florida and now Virginia that automatically take care of most of that for you but I started doing my own research on the individual drugs and therefore their assistance programs myself just to attempt to be more informed on all things Biologic...
God Bless....
Another great resource is The National Psoriasis Foundation. Check it out and they can give you assistance also.
