I am new to Biologics/DMARDs. Can you share your experience?

[Anonymous]

What condition do you have? What do you take? How long did it take to make a difference in pain? What has the experience been like for you? Have you had to switch medications? I am so afraid to start but I may be at the point where I have no choice. I have been trying to manage with diet and exercise, but I’m getting worse. I’m afraid of cancer, my rheum really downplays the chances of that happening.

[Anonymous]

My 17DS has really bad eczema along with severe asthma and allergies. He’s been on Dupixent for almost a year and it’s completely improved his quality of life and skin.

He used to be so incredibly itchy that he’d scratch himself raw and bleed but still wouldn’t feel relief. He couldn’t sleep from the itchiness.

His skin is now calm, clear and he sleeps much better. His asthma is also much more controlled.

I know a lot of people find relief in biologics once they exhaust all other options and medications

[Anonymous]

I have RA and sjogrens. I take a JAK inhibitor. I had to change medicine after getting Covid. Not sure if Covid made it not work as well but it wasn’t a big deal. The medicine is fantastic! I’m in remission. There are side effects that I’m scared of but not cancer that’s really rare. I love DMARDs. I’m thankful I have them. Uncontrolled RA cuts 10 years off your life. But also those years are spent in deforming life-limiting pain. What kind of life is that?? No thanks!

[Anonymous]

I’m on Skyrizi. It’s AMAZING. Almost complete remission for a year now, and I have not noticed any more illnesses or what not since then.

I was extremely reluctant because early biologics had all these scary side effects, but new ones are pretty targeted.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Were you able to get on these meds early in your journey or did they make you try methotrexate and/or prednisone?

[Anonymous]

Do it!!! Many autoimmune disorders cause permanent damage if not medicated. I started on methotrexate and prednisone for RA, started seeing a big difference in a month but didn't get to 100 percent better. My rheumatologist convinced me to try Simponi, a anti-TNF biologic. I'm taking that and methotrexate but not prednisone (long term side effects are bad) I've been in remission for about 4 years and have been able to get back to running and I've been able to work up to doing pull ups. The key was to start medication before the damage was irreversible.

The cancer risk scared me, but I read studies and it is a pretty small increase from everyone's baseline risk of cancer and far preferable to not being able to play with my kid because my hands hurt and worried I'll eventually be unable to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Were you able to get on these meds early in your journey or did they make you try methotrexate and/or prednisone?

I put if off for years, doing other treatments that aren’t DMARDS and then went right to Skyrizi. Worth a try. Prednisone is not a lot term fix. Methotrexate isn’t as bad, but it’s like a shotgun vs a sniper rifle.

[Anonymous]

My mom takes humira for sjogrens and chrons. It has allowed her to expand her diet and so far she hasn't needed any more hospitalizations or surgeries. She is cautious about infection because she's immunosuppressed and it's annoying to keep the medicine cold and deal with travel around the time of the injection (because not every pharmacy stocks it, it's simpler just to get it from the same place each time). Yes there are risks but her quality of life wasn't great before so it seemed worth it.