Guest guest Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 Hello all, Went to the Psoriasis Dr. yesterday and he has put me on Embrel. It's something new and it effects your immune system because Psoriasis is an auto immune disorder. I'm a little nervous about it. And when I run out of Rx coverage I couldn't,t possibly pay for it. The other alternative is for him to prescribe a portable light box for me to have at home. (before I lose my coverage) I don't know... I leaning toward trying the Embrel but, I feel that I need more info. on the drug. Does anyone have any experience with this drug.? I know it has to be self injected twice a week. Presently it is not approved for Psoriasis only for Psoriatic Arthritis but it also helps psoriasis and will be approved in about two months for psoriasis. Any thoughts? Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Robin, You can go here for more information: http://www.enbrel.com/index.jsp I am on a similar drug, called Remicade. Both of these are considered to be TNF (tumor necrosis factor) inhibitors or anti-TNF drugs. Mine needs to be given IV. I have not ever experienced any side effects, but this is not true for all people. Some actually have some pretty severe reactions. Most important side effect is higher risk for infection and they have been finding a correlation in of worsening of congestive heart failure in those with cardiac problems. Also other kinds of drugs may or may not be dangerous to take with it. I would not take it myself, except that the Crohn's puts me at a much higher risk for intestinal/arterial ruptures due to VEDS, so I do it.......lesser of two evils so to speak. I have noticed that the more inflammation I have going on in the intestines and other places, the more dissections I have, so as far as my GI doc is concerned this is most important. I guess what bothers me most is there are really no long term studies on what these types of drugs do. FDA approved based on eight week clinical trials. I have a friend I met when we were both getting our Remicade treatment...he was receiving it for Psoriasis. He had a bad reaction and had to stop it, and they then put him on Enbrel. I seen him at the store recently and he told me it took it longer to work, but it is working really good. He is older and seems to tolerate pretty well. He also has a pretty severe case too..... So, I guess there is probably a lot to consider. Go look at the site and see what you think. If there is any chance of using the sunbox you might want to try that first. Hope this helps. Take care. Hugs, Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Robin, You can go here for more information: http://www.enbrel.com/index.jsp I am on a similar drug, called Remicade. Both of these are considered to be TNF (tumor necrosis factor) inhibitors or anti-TNF drugs. Mine needs to be given IV. I have not ever experienced any side effects, but this is not true for all people. Some actually have some pretty severe reactions. Most important side effect is higher risk for infection and they have been finding a correlation in of worsening of congestive heart failure in those with cardiac problems. Also other kinds of drugs may or may not be dangerous to take with it. I would not take it myself, except that the Crohn's puts me at a much higher risk for intestinal/arterial ruptures due to VEDS, so I do it.......lesser of two evils so to speak. I have noticed that the more inflammation I have going on in the intestines and other places, the more dissections I have, so as far as my GI doc is concerned this is most important. I guess what bothers me most is there are really no long term studies on what these types of drugs do. FDA approved based on eight week clinical trials. I have a friend I met when we were both getting our Remicade treatment...he was receiving it for Psoriasis. He had a bad reaction and had to stop it, and they then put him on Enbrel. I seen him at the store recently and he told me it took it longer to work, but it is working really good. He is older and seems to tolerate pretty well. He also has a pretty severe case too..... So, I guess there is probably a lot to consider. Go look at the site and see what you think. If there is any chance of using the sunbox you might want to try that first. Hope this helps. Take care. Hugs, Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Robin, You can go here for more information: http://www.enbrel.com/index.jsp I am on a similar drug, called Remicade. Both of these are considered to be TNF (tumor necrosis factor) inhibitors or anti-TNF drugs. Mine needs to be given IV. I have not ever experienced any side effects, but this is not true for all people. Some actually have some pretty severe reactions. Most important side effect is higher risk for infection and they have been finding a correlation in of worsening of congestive heart failure in those with cardiac problems. Also other kinds of drugs may or may not be dangerous to take with it. I would not take it myself, except that the Crohn's puts me at a much higher risk for intestinal/arterial ruptures due to VEDS, so I do it.......lesser of two evils so to speak. I have noticed that the more inflammation I have going on in the intestines and other places, the more dissections I have, so as far as my GI doc is concerned this is most important. I guess what bothers me most is there are really no long term studies on what these types of drugs do. FDA approved based on eight week clinical trials. I have a friend I met when we were both getting our Remicade treatment...he was receiving it for Psoriasis. He had a bad reaction and had to stop it, and they then put him on Enbrel. I seen him at the store recently and he told me it took it longer to work, but it is working really good. He is older and seems to tolerate pretty well. He also has a pretty severe case too..... So, I guess there is probably a lot to consider. Go look at the site and see what you think. If there is any chance of using the sunbox you might want to try that first. Hope this helps. Take care. Hugs, Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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