Fear Of Biologic Treatments For Psoriasis

One of the things we get used to when living with psoriasis is our treatment schedule and having to take medication. When I first started my journey with psoriasis seventeen years ago, I was not one for taking a lot of medicine. I hated the thought of having to take a pill for the rest of my life.

The courage that comes with trying new medication

It is always a scary thing to try a new medication. Since my diagnosis, it has not only been the recurrence of pills but biologic medications as well.

I have had one biologic treatment that went horrible, two that did nothing, and the rest have helped in one way or another. I might have never tried any of them if I chose to read the inserts that come with them. Though, I have had psoriasis long enough to know everyone doesn’t experience the same reaction.

My first biologic

The first biologic I was on, I read the insert information that came in the box. I had serious worries about what the medicine would do. Reading what was printed made those worries no less real. In fact, I would say that it made them worse. You hear a lot of different things about biologics nowadays. Back then you didn’t hear much of anything except from your doctor.

I was so overwhelmed with having psoriasis that a lot of the time I would forget to ask important questions. Then again, I figured why should I have to ask the questions when the insert should tell me everything I needed to know. Boy was that a colossal mistake. It told me everything I should know and even more. I remember finishing reading it all and thinking this is just crazy that I would even consider taking this.

Relief over fear

Now, I no longer read the inserts that come with my medicines. None of them whether they are pills or new biologics. I have lived with my condition long enough to know that what works for one will not work for another. What causes a reaction to one person will not cause a reaction to another person.

The manufacturers of the drug must tell you by law what can potentially happen. It is like having surgery. Before the surgery, the doctor is obligated to tell you everything that could possibly go wrong. That doesn’t mean that it will go wrong. However, if they do not tell you they can be in for a huge lawsuit.

The drug manufacturer is the same way. That might be a simple way of looking at it, but it is my way. I do not want to hear what could happen. I deal with enough anxiety on my own just giving myself the treatment.

Keep moving forward

Even with the scary warnings and intimidating insert, I took that first biologic simply because I was desperate for relief. It had everything to do with being so widely covered in psoriasis. I did not want to live like that. Therefore I was willing to try just about anything to make my psoriasis go away.

The two biologics that brought no relief, it was a fairly easy choice to switch to another treatment. I never wanted to get back to being that widespread again. This meant taking something new to keep my psoriasis at bay.

Honestly, that is what drives me to make decisions about treatment. Do I want to keep trying until something works? For me, since I have not been totally clear in all the seventeen years, I strive to keep moving forward until I find that one treatment that will do that for me.

Every story is different

So this is my story of starting new treatments and why I do not read the inserts that come with any new medication. I hope maybe something I have said in this article will make it easier for you the next time you have to start a new treatment.

I am sure there are those of you who will disagree and that is fine as well but if I can help relieve even one person’s fear then I will count it a success.