I have been having an active flare of my PSA and Sjogrens for over a year now. Restasis seems to be helping with my eyes, but nothing has seemed to help my inflammation. Humira just quit working after being my miracle drug for over 5 years ( I know, I was very lucky to get 5 years out of it). Enbrel didn't work at all, made me quite ill too. Currently, I take plaquenil daily, 15 mg. methotrexate weekly, folic acid daily, vitamin D weekly and folate weekly. Still not much relief after 9 weeks, so we are adding Orencia this week. I do not know much about the new med and was wondering if anyone has any information or personal experience with it they would like to share with me? Also, I'm not to thrilled with the side effects of the methotrexate, but I am still hanging in there with it. Prior to all this, Humira was the only medication I was on. All of this is becoming a bit overwhelming...
I’m currently having Orencia infusions every 4 weeks and its working!!
I have had Humira,Enbrel & Remicade along with methotrexate. I would say I noticed improvement after the 2nd infusion & I’m continuing to see a difference.
I truly hope you find some relief,it has taken me 3 years to find the right combination.Good Luck.
I started Orencia recently. After four injections nothing's better, but I have to say nothing is worse, either. From what I've been told, Orencia is really slow to work, so I'm still hopeful this one will be the ticket. Are you doing infusions or injections? I guess the infusions do kick in quicker. I haven't had any side effects, and for me, that's a big deal!
Orencia works differently than Humira & Enbrel. They are TNF blockers, while Orencia blocks B cells. From what I can find out, it's not actually approved for PsA. I guess it did work in some PsA patients' joint problems but was kind of a washout on skin problems. My psoriasis is mild, and the MTX has done a great job clearing my skin, so I'm not looking for relief there from Orencia.
Let's hope it's a smashing success for both of us!
Thank you! Fingers crossed :)
Lindseylou said:
I'm currently having Orencia infusions every 4 weeks and its working!!
I have had Humira,Enbrel & Remicade along with methotrexate. I would say I noticed improvement after the 2nd infusion & I'm continuing to see a difference.
I truly hope you find some relief,it has taken me 3 years to find the right combination.Good Luck.
I am a bit nervous since it is different from Humira and the Humira worked so well. I don't like the "we'll just have to try it and see" approach, but I guess that's how we find out what works for us. Patience is something we need when dealing with doctors and meds. I will be doing the injections, not the infusions. This is the 3rd medicine the doctor has added in the last 4 wks. I understand they are all slow acting, but I don't understand how we are going to know which one has worked since we are adding them all at the same time basically...Thanks for your reply :)
Louise said:
I started Orencia recently. After four injections nothing's better, but I have to say nothing is worse, either. From what I've been told, Orencia is really slow to work, so I'm still hopeful this one will be the ticket. Are you doing infusions or injections? I guess the infusions do kick in quicker. I haven't had any side effects, and for me, that's a big deal!
Orencia works differently than Humira & Enbrel. They are TNF blockers, while Orencia blocks B cells. From what I can find out, it's not actually approved for PsA. I guess it did work in some PsA patients' joint problems but was kind of a washout on skin problems. My psoriasis is mild, and the MTX has done a great job clearing my skin, so I'm not looking for relief there from Orencia.
Let's hope it's a smashing success for both of us!
Sorry to reactivate an old thread but I’m scheduled to start Orencia infusions soon (I’ve got a new thread started) and was curious about others’ experiences with them. I haven’t been on an infusion yet, and am not sure what kind of side effects to expect. I’m hoping to get it scheduled for a Friday afternoon so I don’t have to return to work after, but we haven’t quite gotten that far yet.