Hi everyone. I was diagnosed in January with psoriatic arthritis without psoriasis and have been on five different Meds with no relief. In summary:
The Meds:
Prednisone for a month and a half with zero effect.
Methylprednisolone?? For about a month with zero effect.
Otezla for a month with severe side effects and no effect.
Humira for a month with no effect.
Methotrexate shots .8mL for 3 months with zero effect and toxicity issues
last week that forced me off of it.
I see the dr on Monday for discussion on where to go from here.
The main symptoms (there are others but these are the core issues):
Pain and swelling in my hands, ankles/feet, right knee, and left elbow.
The labs:
Both crp and esr are elevated. They decreased on the methotrexate but not below normal values. Liver enzymes are elevated but not severely just outside of normal and sporadically my blood counts are off.
I have been symptomatic for 8 months now and although the swelling doesn’t seem to worsen once it appears it has certainly “spread” since my first dr visit. Hands to feet to elbow to knee. I’ve been told my case is not a classic case and is complex and rare, but that doesn’t really help me in dealing with everything this condition has taken from me.
Is this normal? Normal to go this long and still be trying to find relief? Thanks to anyone willing to share.
Regina
I wish I could be of some help.... The only advice I can give you is to search the discussions on here and you will find some answers. Our symptoms are all similar, but everybody has different reactions to the drugs. Some take several months to work, and others, like myself, get relief immediately (I went on Enbrel 5 weeks ago). Enbrel is the only med I've taken, although I've had psoriasis for many, many years and PsA for a few years. Some get major SEs and others have no problems whatsoever! It's unfortunate there isn't one magic pill we could all take to cure us, but there's not. So, good luck to you... I'm sure you will eventually find something that helps!
I would have given Humira a longer chance, if you weren’t having any adverse reactions. It took me almost 8 weeks to see a difference and was informed that’s normal. The only thing that has brought down my sed rate and crp was prednisone, but my poor husband would take me to Walmart when he got bored just to see what I would turn into. I could not stay on it long term due to rage issues. Sulfasalizine I was on for a month before I got so sick I lost 25 pounds and ended up in the hospital. Enbrel I was on for 9months and it was ok but it just wasn’t enough so I was given Humira. I did that for almost a year now. Added methotrexate about 3 months ago and felt great on it but extremely high liver enzymes has me off of it now. I will be starting Remicade in 2 weeks. I was also on mobic and vimovo as NSAIDs. Nerve ablation got rid of my lower back pain, and I can’t wait to see what the pain specialist has in store for hand and knee pain.
Btw also classified as severe, several joints effected, large amounts of pain and quick progressive damage.
No one this forum can determine if you have PsA or not, but we can share our experiences. It's not uncommon to fail drugs; I have failed 6 different medications for both psoriasis and PsA. I do respond well to steroids, but nothing lowers my CRP to normal range. The more joint damage and older you are the higher they typically are. I will emphasize; failure to a drug is not considered a diagnosis tool for PsA. I would suggest going to your appointment and voice your concerns. Also, biologics take 4 to 6 to work properly. It took seven months to see a response to my psoriasis. A year and half later and psoriasis is mostly gone.
I am sorry you haven't had a good response to your first treatment(s)..... in all honesty I'd probably be more suprised if you did. Many of the members here, myself included, have tried multiple treatments before finding the 'one' or 'combination' that works. Also many of the treatments take many weeks, if not months, to become fully effective ..... especially the biologics, so a month on Humira possibly wasn't long enough. Here in the UK a bio is not considered a failure unless there is no improvement at twelve weeks. It has taken two years from diagnosis to find the treatment that works for me.
There are some excellent articles on the 'main' page under the Questions About PsA section which you may find informative about this treatment journey.
Thanks for your feedback everyone. To be clear - I’m not questioning my diagnosis and feel very comfortable with my doctor. I was just looking to see if anyone else has been through this frustrating experience as well. I’m glad I’m not the only one but not glad any of us have to endure any of this. Thanks again.