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Enbrel for Psoriasis?
I am a 20 year old female. I was diagnosed with plaque psoriasis when I was seven. Most of the psoriaisis has been dormant for about 10 years. I got sick with Strep Throat in May, and it caused a flare up of the psoriasis. However, I was stupid and waited a month to go to a dermatologist. She wants to put me on Enbrel to help it. After reading the side affects, I'm really nervous about using it. But she said that young adults have had lots of success with it. Am I just being paranoid? Or do I have a reason to be worried? Have you used Enbrel for your Psoriasis? If so, please let me know how it has helped you.
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Maybe give some free advice about: Health?
I have worked for doctors and can tell you for certain they know very little about the products they prescribe. I agree with Adviceman. Consult a
pharmacist about it and see what they have to say.
I personally will not take any "new" medications.
If it hasn't been around for 8-10 years I just will not use it. They rush to get things on the market these days and many people have died as a result of this. Since I have seen commercials for Enbrel, I assume it is new. This is just my personal rule.
All that being said, the decision is yours. All medications, all food you eat etc. has a list of
possible side effects, allergic reactions & all that. But I don't think you are being paranoid at all. People need to take more responsibility for themselves.
What you have to look at is where is the rash?
Is it something you can live with without meds?
Is it worth the risks involved?
I do live with a rash myself. I have angioma granuloma. I probably didn't spell it right. LOL.
It is on my arms. It doesn't itch. Doesn't look that great but I have decided to just ignore it.
It isn't going away anytime soon and my doctor gave me a lotion he says may or may not work.
So its up to you. They do have to list every single possible reaction one can have to any medication. That list shouldn't stop you from
using something helpful that makes your life better. But don't just take a doctors word for
it either. You did good looking it up. I do think I would ask for something that has been around a while. New doesn't equal better in the pharmaceutical world. Thats just my opinion. :)
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I've seen the TV ads for this product and I have just reviewed the side-effects listed on the products web site. Some of the common and less serious side-effects are similar to the actual problem the product is suppose to help. The others are quite annoying at best. The more serious side-effect do give a person reason for concern as many of them are life threatening.
This is not a decision I or anyone else can make for you. All anyone can do is offer you advice. Speaking for myself and how I handle situations like this for myself when faced with a medication such as this: I will ask the doctor what alternative medications are available. I will research the medications on-line to see what the side-effects of those medications are and consult with my pharmacist to get his/her input as to how he/she feels about the different medications.
Your pharmacist is a great resource for information on medication as they are the one dispensing. They will know how many of their patients have had serious reactions. How well the drug has worked for other patients and so on.
Doctors are like anyone else. A salesman for the pharmaceutical company calls on them and sings the praises of their products. They leave brochures and sample products for the doctors to try. New medications are always being developed and older medications are always being refined. Doctors want the best for their patients. They listen to what the pharmaceutical representative have to say; add in their own experience and prescribe medication that they feel will work the best.
The more information you can gather the more informed decision you can make. In the end though the decision is yours to make. Most doctors will agree and informed patient is a good patient.
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Your doctor wouldn't be prescribing this medication if she thought it would hurt you. The side effects for medications such as this are important to know, but are typically rare (or less annoying than the original condition).
One of the side effects of injections (if it's not an injection it's probably a lower dose; I don't know how it would be administered) is risk of infection with a suppressed immune system. Your doctor will definitely make sure you don't have an active infection before she gives this to you.
I've never taken this, but I have excema and used a cream called elidel, which has a "black box warning" from the FDA. It was worth it to me because it got rid of an otherwise painful and strange looking skin condition. Monitor yourself for possible side effects if you choose to take it. As an alternative, ask your doctor if there's anything less invasive you could try first, if you don't want the shot.
I hope you find relief soon!
-LM
[19/f]
P.S. - Take any review you read online with a grain of salt - most people only write online reviews if they have a bad reaction (a small percentage of users). Happy consumers rarely take the time to write such reviews.
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