I’ve been MIA from here for a long time while on MTX with symptoms getting worse. I have such a fear of needles, I haven’t been able to take a biologic. With my hands all stiff and sore, I gave in and told rheumy I’ll take a biologic now. He told me of the new biologic that’s taken orally. I was so happy to hear about it.
I start on Saturday with the starter pack while I wait a couple of weeks for insurance to approve it.
Is anyone on Otezla? How are you doing?
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That’s great, that you will be able to take this medicine. I hope it works for you.
That said, if you ever do need to do injections, they are really quite simple and most you never see the needle.
I'm afraid of needles, too. If you ever do have to take injections, there's what's called "sureclick injectors". You don't see the needle. It's really not so bad. I hope Otezla works! Please let us know how it goes!
Hey Spammy, aloha! Glad you’re back, and good to hear that you are taking decisive action on the PsA front. Otezla is fairly new on the scene, and there has been a bit of discussion, which you can track down using thee search bar at the very top right of this screen.
I hope Otezla works for you, but like J and Stoney say, don’t live in fear of needing injections down the road. They’ve made that part of the process as easy as possible. (They’d better, given the price of the stuff!) What’s important is that you protect yourself from the permanent damage that PsA can do to your body. As we say here “Fear the disease, not the needle.” OK, I made that up. What we usually say is “Fear the disease, not the drugs.”
Aloha! Thanks for the replies, Stoney, Grandma J, and Seenie. Seenie I no longer fear the medicine, just the disease and needles, hehe. You should see what a big baby I am getting the TB test every year. Not to mention labs every 2 or 3 months because of the mtx. Thanks for everyone’s support. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Well after two weeks on Otezla and tolerating it quite well (almost no side effects), my insurance company denied coverage. I have to fail on older (cheaper) dmards before getting the new (expensive) one. 
Spammy, that is a total bummer. But all is not lost: your rheum may know some tricks to make the insurance people happy. Discuss it with him/her.
Thanks, Seenie. I’m going in on Tue. I know I can’t try sulfasalazine due to an aspirin allergy. So I think my next best option is remicade (less needles).
Sorry to have to tell you this, Spammy, but remicade is in the same price range as Otezla, if not more. I’m guessing that your doc will have to convince your insurance that sulfasalazine, hydroxychloroquine and leflunomide aren’t for you. Such a shame that you can’t continue on Otezla for the time being.
Thanks for the heads up so I can go in there expecting it. Will see what rheumy days.
Hi Spammy. Do you have psoriasis too? Because I think a dermatologist can get you on a biologic easier than a rheumatologist can. At least it worked for me. She just had to remind the insurance co. that I have PsA also. And, you get double the dose if you go on it for psoriasis as well.
Spammy said:
Thanks for the heads up so I can go in there expecting it. Will see what rheumy days.
Thanks for the suggestion, Grandma J. I had a psoriasis flare after I stopped prednisone. I finally got it under control with topical steroid cream after a year. I don’t have any psoriasis on my skin at the moment. I have it in my nails, tho. Will try the dermy if rheumy can’t get it.
Seenie and Grandma J,
Rheumy put me on sulfasalazine. A few days later, I started wheezing. Rheumy told insurance I failed 2 dmards and they approved Otezla coverage for 2 years.
I was contacted by a pharmacist at the specialty pharmacy and was told to call Celgene to ask for copay coverage. The pharmacist said with my insurance, my monthly copay is $65. Then was told with Celgene’s coverage, my copay goes down to $0. The program covers me until the end of this year.
Four months of free meds sounds good to me. Mtx is also $0 under my insurance plan because they cover oral chemo.
After the end of the year I was told to reapply with Celgene and see if I qualify for another year.
Please keep us informed of your progress. Saw my rheumy six months ago and told him I would be interested in Otezla down the road. Just saw him again yesterday. He told me that from what he is reading that it's showing great effectiveness on the psoriasis side but no concrete proof of any on the joint side.
Will do, Sherm. I hope it helps the PsA. That’s what’s bothering me the most. But if it only helps with psoriasis, at least my nails will be nice for the first time in almost 30 years…??? There I go making myself feel really old.
Sherm said:
Please keep us informed of your progress. Saw my rheumy six months ago and told him I would be interested in Otezla down the road. Just saw him again yesterday. He told me that from what he is reading that it’s showing great effectiveness on the psoriasis side but no concrete proof of any on the joint side.
Such great news! 
Spammy said:
Seenie and Grandma J,
Rheumy put me on sulfasalazine. A few days later, I started wheezing. Rheumy told insurance I failed 2 dmards and they approved Otezla coverage for 2 years.
I was contacted by a pharmacist at the specialty pharmacy and was told to call Celgene to ask for copay coverage. The pharmacist said with my insurance, my monthly copay is $65. Then was told with Celgene’s coverage, my copay goes down to $0. The program covers me until the end of this year.
Four months of free meds sounds good to me. Mtx is also $0 under my insurance plan because they cover oral chemo.
After the end of the year I was told to reapply with Celgene and see if I qualify for another year.
Hello everyone, I’m back with an update on Otezla. After 17 weeks on it, I didn’t see any significant improvement or reduction in PsA symptoms. I also was still having severe nausea. I know some patients stopped taking Otezla in the clinical trials due to nausea and couldn’t understand how that happens. After experiencing Otezla nausea, I now understand. Otezla nausea is far worse than mtx nausea! My rheumy said to discontinue. Will discuss the next course of treatment at my next appt.
Drat, darn it. Isn’t it awful to “invesst” in a 17 week trial, putting up with nausea, and have it come to nothing? That’s sometimes the way of it with this disease. Seventeen weeks of “gap” and now several more coming up. Hang in there, Spammy!
Thanks, Seenie!
Last month my new rheumy (I fired the last one) diagnosed me with a rare connective tissue disorder - Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I Finally got my Dr. House medical mystery diagnosis. Yay! Unfortunately there's no cure, but I already got used to that with PsA.
Hi Spammy. Sorry Otezla didn't work! :( I'm sure this is a huge disappointment for you, but does this open the door to a different type of biologic? I know you're afraid of injections, but the sure click injectors make it easier cuz you don't even see the needle (I'm not gonna lie-the injection does hurt a little- but just a little). Which biologic works best? We all have our favorites-mine is Enbrel. I don't mind the once a week shot because it makes me feel so good! I hope you can bite the bullet and try an injectable because once it starts working for you you'll look forward to that injection, I kid you not!! :-)