So sorry you had cancer and now PsA! Don’t ya just love the double whammies? Hope the cancer is no longer an issue.
Just curious, what country are you in and did you have to jump through a bunch of other med hoops before you could get Otezla or could you just cut to the chase? Otezla is one of the meds I have had my eye on for while even though it has somewhat mixed reviews. From what I’ve read here on this forum it seems to work better for enthesitis than some others and that seems to be one of my bigger issues. Plus cancer is not in its litany of SEs. (Just a little gun shy about that one)
I’m in the US. It took my doctor about 2 months to get insurance to pay for Otezla, but that was mainly because the insuracne company wanted to to do MTX fist, but I can’t because my liver numebrs are too high.
It worked for a while. I went from shuffling when I walked to able to walk. But, after a year, when it got cold and wet here a few months ago I was back to shuffling.
Doc held off on biologics at first (diagnosed this time last year. and I’m 59) due to the recent cancer. But this time he said I had to try them or end up disabled. They don’t think the cancer issue is that big anymore and none of my docs felt like it was an issue with the prostate cancer. The prostate cancer was almost too far gone, but they got it all with surgery.
After reading a lot on the board here, I finally decided to try Enbrel. I guess it is a trade off on the potential SE’s and being able to walk and function. I have been using enbrel for 6 weeks. I am some better. I am having a lot of pain in my knees, but my hips and shoulders are better now.
I just got insuracne okay today for the new Enbrel minis.
Good to know you’re on the sunny side of your cancer journey. Congrats!
Thanks for the info. I fully understand the insurance hoops. The liver issue is one of the reasons I’m not crazy about trying MTX. So far (knock on wood) I have no liver issues. That I know of. And I’d like to keep it that way if possible. So glad you’re getting some relief. Good luck!