Biological

[Carolsos]

I am being put on adalimumab in about a month's time. I have just had a chest x-ray. First one ever! Lots of blood tests and one of the blood tests to see if I have had chicken pox, if I have not had it I am going to get a vaccine for it and then start the new drug! By the time I start the drug I am going to be pretty sore as have stopped mtx. Hope everyone is keeping well. Take care. X

[Mmrr]

Good news, if your pain is too much to deal with, a wee short course of prednisolone might help you over the spell of being unmedicated.

[Neonkittie17]

That’s good news and hope it works great for you as I know you’ve been in a lot of pain and managing still to work. I hope you feel relieved to have been offered the new med.

[Carolsos in reply to Neonkittie17]

Yes I am relieved, before she started the nurse did say only if I am bad enough would I get the drug, so after going through all my joints I was bad enough for the drug! I am pleased I was bad enough, but not pleased as I am suffering! So hopefully after my Scotland holiday on 30/7/21 I will be on the new drug. Thank you for your reply. X

[Neonkittie17 in reply to Carolsos]

I hope your new med makes a huge positive difference. Enjoy your holiday. You deserve it. x

[maxdog191]

We are on the same journey! I've had my chest xray and bloods (biologics specialist had the results this week) so now just waiting to hear from healthcare at home who will contact me to make an appointment to show me how to inject. As soon as they have given me a date for that my specialist will discuss bringing me off mtx in prep to begin this course. When I went to have my bloods taken, the nurse said she was doing a lot of these so it would appear that biologic is the way to go for a lot of people currently?

[Julia311]

Interesting to hear you’ve stopped your methotrexate. I’ve been on adalimumab (Imraldi) since September 2019 and have continued to be on weekly methotrexate injections. I’ve got on really well with the adalimumab - it has improved my psoriatic arthritis so much that I now feel my life is back to normal. Worst part for me was waiting to start the new medication- as you say lots of tests - worst one was the TB. I had a 2 month wait while everything was sorted out but a short course of steroid tablets helped tide me over. Wishing you good luck and hope this also works for you.

[Carolsos in reply to Julia311]

I was having a lot of problems with mtx and asked if I could come off it.

[Adnil53]

The methotrexate will take 3 months to get out of you system . I had surgery in October last year and stopped methotrexate it took until February before I had a massive flare up with it then being out of system ! I had a Kenelog injection to cover me until the Adalimunab started working . I hope this is helpful x

[skinnycappuccino]

Hello there, that's really good news that you can start a biologic soon!! I wish you all the best with it - in my experience, biologics are absolutely fantastic and I hope very much it will be the same for you! Have a really nice day, Christine ☀️

[Green230461]

That is really good news. I was on humira for ten years and it was great but I caught shingles and it stopped working which could be why they are asking about chicken pox they are connected I believe. I am now on baricitinib a slow starter but feeling better now. Good luck and let us know how you get on. 🙋🏻

[Carolsos in reply to Green230461]

I will indeed let you all know how it goes. Thanks for your reply. Take care

[Runrig01]

It does seem surprising they’ve stopped the methotrexate. I continued mine when starting biologics, as biologics can take3-6 months to notice the difference. What was their rationale for stopping them. Hope you hear soon

[Carolsos]

Hi, I asked to stop it, I had been having a lot of problems with it . It was making me sick and my inflammation was running riot! I thought it had stopped working. I wanted to come it, so when I spoke to the nurse she said I could!