Autoinjector-PsA
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2017
- Messages
- 4
Hello Everyone
I have been reading on this site for quite some time, its been infinitely helpful, interesting and entertaining to say the least.
I have an autoimmune/arthritic condition called Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) as a result of that I have to take a medication called a biologic, in this case Cosentyx (Secukinumab) 2 150mg sensor ready pens (auto injector pens) once per month. At only 1750.53$ per month, all covered thanks to Ontario's health benefits and a documented history of needing strong biologics. The recent introduction of 1mg of Alprazolam on injection day has lead to vast improvements in my daily life, to lessen the stress of one day in the month makes the rest of the days a bit better.
Before Cosentyx I had Remicade (Infliximab), 9800$ every eight weeks, my coverage for that from everywhere ran out quickly, Humara (Adalimumab), this one was close to 1600$ per two pens, twice per month and one oral treatment Otezla (Apremilast), I dont remember how much this one cost but I am pretty sure it was right around the 1000-1200$ mark.
Throughout all of this I experienced quite a lot of pain, middle and lower back, shoulders, neck, hips, knees, ankles, feet, hands and had to walk with a cane, though now I only need it in the winter. I used to get huge swollen feet and hands when my arthritis flared up, on top of nearly year round allergies and the digestive maze that comes with having had gastric bypass surgery.
To treat the pain caused by PsA I was prescribed 4mg Hydromorphone IR pills, later on 6mg Hydromorphone XR capsules, this lasted a year or so then, I had to change doctors because my dr was doing nothing to figure out what was wrong with me, this was fine for at the time as I had no need for pain medication with any regularity by this point, but three months later when the PsA flared up again and I had no dr, it was tyloneal#1's which dont do much for the pain caused by PsA, fast forward after a couple trips to the er, once for dehydration due to Otezla, once because my shoulder, got to love that cant breathe pain and my foot/ankle, that time I got a dr who referred me to a rheumatologist, as well as getting a referral from a local clinic dr to a pain management clinic, I saw the doctor at the pain clinic, he was shocked at how well my injections were working since I wasn't out of the loading dose period when I saw him, I told him what I took before when I had a dr and that I though tat was to strong for my current needs, he agreed and explained to me that he had no issues with prescribing me painkillers, with me smoking weed and that I was just beginning my recovery from my last flare up and that he though that 2mg Hydromorphone IR and 3mg Hydromorphone XR along with 3mg of Nabilone per day, in Canada Nabilone is used off label for the treatment of fibromyalgia and various pain syndromes, the same in the U.S.?
I had a friend who passed away a couple months ago, I am pretty sure it was a Fentanyl OD that got him. The last time I talked to him he said he was in withdrawal six hours before he was supposed to change the patch and would be back to OD within three to four hours after he put the new one on I am pretty sure they were 75 or 100ug/hour, there were other painkillers , I think Hydromorphone 2 and 8mg, Oxycontin of some sort, some strong anti anxiety medication, anti seizure medications and his dr was putting him on anti depressants. In the month proceeding his death his wife told me he had had three seizures for no known reason and was doing fairly well otherwise, one night after hearing the shower running for a couple hours she went into his washroom to check if he was ok and found him dead on the floor. There was no chance at resuscitation since she was told he was dead for a good hour or more before she went in and checked on him. He had a long history of drug addiction and physical pain form a workplace injury that I think in the end lead up to his death, again most likely form a Fentnyl OD. That tends to put things into perspective, never mind what it did to his wife and four kids.
I am now at the point, several years from where I began, I take no painkillers other than tyloneal #1's when needed and I have reciently began taking Nabilone again, 2mg per day, as it is actually working well to help with muscle and joint stiffness, I take it mainly because due to having had gastric bypass I cant take NSAID's, advil, naproxen, alieve ect to help with stiffness which it does quite well, without having to take Gravol and lay in bed some time later due to what I can describe as digestive peril.
Theres more to fill in to the story, a fall at work, the tapering down process, what a process it was and coming to terms with being no farther ahead so to speak, than when all this started, aside form not weighing as much now, that helps a lot but doesn't help as much as you think at the same time.
Thanks for reading, I can be a bit long winded with my descriptions of things sometimes.
Autoinjector-PsA
I have been reading on this site for quite some time, its been infinitely helpful, interesting and entertaining to say the least.
I have an autoimmune/arthritic condition called Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) as a result of that I have to take a medication called a biologic, in this case Cosentyx (Secukinumab) 2 150mg sensor ready pens (auto injector pens) once per month. At only 1750.53$ per month, all covered thanks to Ontario's health benefits and a documented history of needing strong biologics. The recent introduction of 1mg of Alprazolam on injection day has lead to vast improvements in my daily life, to lessen the stress of one day in the month makes the rest of the days a bit better.
Before Cosentyx I had Remicade (Infliximab), 9800$ every eight weeks, my coverage for that from everywhere ran out quickly, Humara (Adalimumab), this one was close to 1600$ per two pens, twice per month and one oral treatment Otezla (Apremilast), I dont remember how much this one cost but I am pretty sure it was right around the 1000-1200$ mark.
Throughout all of this I experienced quite a lot of pain, middle and lower back, shoulders, neck, hips, knees, ankles, feet, hands and had to walk with a cane, though now I only need it in the winter. I used to get huge swollen feet and hands when my arthritis flared up, on top of nearly year round allergies and the digestive maze that comes with having had gastric bypass surgery.
To treat the pain caused by PsA I was prescribed 4mg Hydromorphone IR pills, later on 6mg Hydromorphone XR capsules, this lasted a year or so then, I had to change doctors because my dr was doing nothing to figure out what was wrong with me, this was fine for at the time as I had no need for pain medication with any regularity by this point, but three months later when the PsA flared up again and I had no dr, it was tyloneal#1's which dont do much for the pain caused by PsA, fast forward after a couple trips to the er, once for dehydration due to Otezla, once because my shoulder, got to love that cant breathe pain and my foot/ankle, that time I got a dr who referred me to a rheumatologist, as well as getting a referral from a local clinic dr to a pain management clinic, I saw the doctor at the pain clinic, he was shocked at how well my injections were working since I wasn't out of the loading dose period when I saw him, I told him what I took before when I had a dr and that I though tat was to strong for my current needs, he agreed and explained to me that he had no issues with prescribing me painkillers, with me smoking weed and that I was just beginning my recovery from my last flare up and that he though that 2mg Hydromorphone IR and 3mg Hydromorphone XR along with 3mg of Nabilone per day, in Canada Nabilone is used off label for the treatment of fibromyalgia and various pain syndromes, the same in the U.S.?
I had a friend who passed away a couple months ago, I am pretty sure it was a Fentanyl OD that got him. The last time I talked to him he said he was in withdrawal six hours before he was supposed to change the patch and would be back to OD within three to four hours after he put the new one on I am pretty sure they were 75 or 100ug/hour, there were other painkillers , I think Hydromorphone 2 and 8mg, Oxycontin of some sort, some strong anti anxiety medication, anti seizure medications and his dr was putting him on anti depressants. In the month proceeding his death his wife told me he had had three seizures for no known reason and was doing fairly well otherwise, one night after hearing the shower running for a couple hours she went into his washroom to check if he was ok and found him dead on the floor. There was no chance at resuscitation since she was told he was dead for a good hour or more before she went in and checked on him. He had a long history of drug addiction and physical pain form a workplace injury that I think in the end lead up to his death, again most likely form a Fentnyl OD. That tends to put things into perspective, never mind what it did to his wife and four kids.
I am now at the point, several years from where I began, I take no painkillers other than tyloneal #1's when needed and I have reciently began taking Nabilone again, 2mg per day, as it is actually working well to help with muscle and joint stiffness, I take it mainly because due to having had gastric bypass I cant take NSAID's, advil, naproxen, alieve ect to help with stiffness which it does quite well, without having to take Gravol and lay in bed some time later due to what I can describe as digestive peril.
Theres more to fill in to the story, a fall at work, the tapering down process, what a process it was and coming to terms with being no farther ahead so to speak, than when all this started, aside form not weighing as much now, that helps a lot but doesn't help as much as you think at the same time.
Thanks for reading, I can be a bit long winded with my descriptions of things sometimes.
Autoinjector-PsA
