My mother has asked me this question just as a general question. I have had one minor infection in which I had to go off of Enbrel and she was just asking is there a minimum or max. time one can go off and on.
Does anyone know?
I have stopped and started five? different times over the past 13 years. I still take Enbrel and it still works for me. I have been off for as little as one month to as long as one year. Everyone is different.
I think the Enbrel is still working the same for me. However, like they say, there is no cure and nothing stops the progression. That being said...over 13 years (on Enbrel) my PSA has gotten worse. I don't think anything else available would've helped more medicine wise. Now, drinking, smoking, and eating bad hasn't helped me though.
Does the Enbrel seem to help the arthritis more or the psoriasis more or both equally? I think I have it in my head that when I start on the biologic it's going to be the end all be all and start of remission for me. This is what I'm praying for anyway......for myself and all of us..........that we find the right cocktail of meds that works for us. When you said that nothing stops the progression, wow! That really hit me. Certainly the meds slow it wayyyyy wayyyyy down though right?? I'm still so new to all of this. But when Enbrel stops working can't we just then switch to Humira, and then when that stops switch to Symponi, then to Remicade, etc. and so on??? Please say yes?? I don't think I'm in the mood for too much reality right now!! :-(
Yes you can use many different biologicals over time (if necessary) I've read there are over 40 new drugs anm new generation drugs in trial. Some people have immediate results some take longer some end up developing a cocktail. In the end nearly 90% of PsA folk get significant improvement.
HOWEVER, a lot of this disease IS self inflicted (so to speak) Weight, movement, and stress are 3 factors we have control over. they are also three things that cause PsA flairs. If you are waiting for a "pill" or "shot" one COULD wait a long time.
Great info!! Thanks Tntlamb!! I LOVE that statistic....90% significant improvement!! Excellent! I've lost 10 pounds. I still have more to go, but I'm losing for my knees! Anything to help them not have to work as hard! I don't smoke, drink only occasionally (twice a month maybe? Two glasses of wine.) No recreational drugs at all, ever..........only my doctor prescribed meds. OF course I have a horrible addiction to chocolate, but am proud to say that I'm managing it and have only one or two kisses or dove hearts per day. (They're here at work so they are VERY hard to avoid.) I drink nasty Apple Cider Vinegar with "The Mother" in it every morning and at night (just a little in a glass with mostly water.), I also take 2mg of Vitamin B12 daily and 5000 IUs of Vitamin D3 daily, and 5000 mg of Biotin daily for my nails!
If you're looking for something to help nail pitting purchase Elon Matrix 5000!!! Excellent vitamin! After a month on it you WILL see major improvement! I try to eat well, hardly no fast food.........but I know I still need improvement in this area. I just ordered one of those Oster Smoothie juicers so I'm going to try to do more juicing. I'll try anything! Acupuncture?? Bring it on!!! :-) I feel like I'm doing everything I can think of to manage this! Does anyone else feel like you're trying everything under the sun to manage this?? The weird thing is that no one in my family has psoriasis nor arthritis! My Dad will be 80 and Mom 78 in May and neither have arthritis and neither did their parents! Lucky me huh?
Hey Sherry,
Yes the Bio slows it way down. In my case, over the past thirteen years on Enbrel, I haven't had too many problems and I have never used anything else with the Enbrel untill 1 1/2 years ago I started taking tylenol #4 and Percocet 10/325. Also, 2months ago I tried injectable MTX/folic acid and stopped after a month.
If I was smart, I would've went back to school and found a low impact career to follow. However, I owned a landscape company and continued doing physical labor ie; tree removal, koi ponds, retaining walls, blahblahblah....needless to say my hands, feet, knees, back, neck...well, you get the idea. I could've doubled the years before I reached the point I'm at today.
Also, I'm the only person in my family with any type of Psa/P. In fact, I don't know of any in distant relatives either.