Consider Enbrel for Psoriasis Treatment
Talk to your Doctor about Enbrel
In viewing hubs over the last few weeks I have noticed numerous google ads for a prescription medicine known as enbrel for the treatment of psoriasis. Because my son, my brother-in-law and my next door neighbor use enbrel, I thought I would let you know what their results have been. And to not keep you guessing, all three have had amazingly wonderful results. Two years ago, my son clicked on a google ad about psoriasis and that one click has changed his outlook on life forever and the lives of my brother-in-law and neighbor, simply because they saw the results that my son had gotten. My son and neighbor both have medium to severe psoriasis. My brother-in-law has ankylosing spondylitis which is a chronic inflammation of the spine and joints located in the lower back, which over time can lead to a complete cementing together (fusion) of the vertebrae, a process referred to as ankylosis. Ankylosis leads to loss of mobility of the spine.
My sister has psoriasis also but chooses to stay with her own treatment for now and that is to go to Florida for 10 days each year to sit in the tropical sun and when home in New England where the sun is not quite strong enough to clear her skin, she goes regularly to the tanning salon for maintenance; quite an expensive treatment I might add.
Spa Treatment Recipes For Skin Health
Psoriasis Creams & Ointment
Understanding Psoriasis
While most people think of psoriasis as a skin disease because of the lesions found on the skin, that is just the symptom of the underlying problem. Psoriasis is not a disease of the skin, it is a disease of the immune system. In psoriasis, certain immune cells are activated and produce a protein called tumor necrosis factor or (TNF). This protein can cause the skin cell cycle to speed up causing accumulated skin cells to form noncontagious raised red patches of legions on the skin which can be quite painful, itch, crack and bleed. While the itchiness and pain can be unpleasant, some of the worst effects of psoriasis can be emotional. People with severe psoriasis can become so overwhelmed with their condition and self conscious of their appearance that they oftentimes feel isolated and depressed. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, up to seven million people in the U.S. have psoriasis. That is about 2.6% of the U.S. population. Bruce E. Strober, MD, PhD, co-director of the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Center at New York University, says that "psoriasis has a tremendous impact on quality of life'. Dr. Strober also says that "studies have shown that psoriasis detracts more from quality of life than any other condition except depression -- and that's including life-threatening illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes". Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects men and women equally and across all socio-economic groups. Unfortunately, as of yet, there is no known cure but there are options to improve it such as with enbrel.
How does Enbrel Work?
Enbrel is a type of protein called a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blocker that blocks the action of a substance your body's immune system makes called TNF. People with an immune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and psoriasis, have too much TNF in their bodies. Enbrel can reduce the amount of TNF in the body to normal levels, helping to treat your disease. It is a self-injected medication and it can lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections. You will receive an enbrel information kit as well as consultation with an enbrel representative you will work with you and other members of your family until you can administer this yourself at ease. Also you can check out more here on administering enbrel. Like all medicines, enbrel can have side effects. Serious infections have occurred in people prone to infection, such as those with advanced or poorly controlled diabetes, those who have had Hepatitis B and those who have been treated for heart failure. The many creams that my son was using before starting enbrel also had side effects (Taclonex ointment for one, can have serious side effects including too much calcium in your blood, or adrenal gland problems if you use too much or use it for too long.) Always talk with your doctor first before starting any new medication. Careful medical management and supervision of patients are recommended. My son sees his dermotologist twice a year. Although enbrel is recommended for 18 yrs. and older, my son started using enbrel at 17-1/2 yrs. due to his maturity level and willingness to have injections. This was all his idea in the first place when he clicked on the google ad and pursued enbrel until he won. Also to note, enbrel has 8 years of clinical experience in psoriatic diseases and has been used by over 460,000 patients worldwide. Many patients, including the ones I mentioned above, have seen improvement within 2 months. And I'm almost certain thinking back that my son starting seeing improvements within weeks. To hear from dermatologist Dr. Craig Leonardi, as he describes on video, the science of enbrel and explains how it works; click here. When you come to that website, scroll down a bit until you get to the video.
Finding the Right Health Insurance Coverage
Insurance Help
Make sure you check with your health care provider to see if you are covered. It is not a cheap medicine. Depending on where you do your research and where you get the enbrel from, the price seems to vary. The cheapest I saw was $1600.00 a month for enbrel consisting of 4 prefilled injectable needles. I only pay $30.00 a month for co-payment. Co-payment was $15.00 two years ago. If your insurance plan does not cover enbrel, the insurance specialists at Enliven Services (1-888-4ENBREL) will assist you by helping you overturn unfavorable coverage decisions. Once they determine the reason that your health insurance company is not covering enbrel, they will take the next step to assist you and your doctor in advocating for coverage, such as sample advocacy letters, appeal letters, and letters of medical necessity.
Well, I hope that this may help someone, even if its just one person who is seeking relief from psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, or ankylosing spondylitis. If you or anyone else you know uses enbrel, it would be helpful to those seekers if you could leave a comment for them to read. Thank you. Dottie
Ask Your Doctor if Enbrel is Right for You!
Related
Comments
Hi Dottie1:
Looks like you have a great following. it is because you care and put so much into your publications. Thank you for this one. i threw ya a tweet and a Google+ vote.
Peace,
Shaefercd
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Hope it all works out for you Misha. Thanks for your comments :)
Well, I consciously moved here, way before I
got psoriasis, and now am working on moving even more south :)
- AUTHOR
Thanks pacwriter for checking it out!
great hub
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Guardian1, Glad this hub was helpful as you gather information to help you decide whether enbrel is right for you. My son is still using enbrel and so aren't my neighbor and brother-in-law with no side effects to any of them. This is a personal decision and I wouldn't sway your decision one way or the other. Talking with a Dermatologist would be very helpful in helping to make your decision. Good Luck.
Misha, you are very lucky that you live where the sun can do good. The sun is not hot enough to fully help those who live further north. Most people, including my sister use tanning salons but her annual trip to sit in Florida's sun is what she likes best.
Sun works the best for me :)
Awesome hub. I have been considering Enbrel. You provided some great information here. Thanks for making the effort.
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Hi moonlake, my son has been using enbrel since he was 17 and he will be 20 in April. They say not to use enbrel under 18 but that is because of maturity level. Since my son is the one who pursued enbrel they knew he was not being forced into anything he was not ready for...
At this point in time, all has gone well, enbrel users must visit a dermatologist once a year to be monitored. In the beginning it may be more for adjustment to enbrel dosage. My son is a believer in enbrel. If I were to try in talk him out of using I would definitely have a very hard time. I feel that is also true with my neighbor (who is in his 40's) and my brother-in-law (who is in his 50's). He uses the enbrel for the ankylosing spondilitis.
Thank you for letting me know about Soriatane. I always like to check things out that are being used for the treatment of psoriasis.
I'm glad that I have written something that could help someone else when considering their options for psoriasis treatment.
Take care. If you have any other questions about enbrel feel free to drop me an email. Regards ~Dottie~
Hi Dottie1 so glad you did this hub. We had been wondering how Enbrel works seems your son is having good luck with it. My husband has terrible psoriasis and right now is using Soriatane and is having good luck with it. We will keep Enbrel in mind. Often psoriasis meds stop working.
Good Hub...
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Hi Mr. Nice, hey those things happen simetimes. I checked the link to kateivy and I'll say this about resemblance of me....she looks more like me than my bio 3 sisters do, so ya, I guess she could pass as a family resemblance, lol.
Hi Dottie1, Sorry it was my mistake I thought you looked like this lady. I still think there is some resemblance. What do you think. I don't worry about the message that was deleted. Here is her hub link check it out.
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For sure :)
I don't really know. Some do, some don't, I suppose. Humour is fun. :)
- AUTHOR
I knew that too, I know your humor and I love it! or is it humour in Canada :)
I knew that! :) I was just being a smarty-pants!
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Hey Shirley, come on in!
We have been virtual friends for a good while now and have developed a friendship where I wanted to talk with you on telephone and made that happen during the holidays....And we both sooooo enjoyed that call.
So why I even mention that is because we have become friends and know quite a bit about each other now and by your comment above, were very much surprised to see "Black Magic" as I was, LOL. Trust me Shirley, it did not happen and it won't!
Shirley is an Angel of Light also! :) Peace Sister of Canada! On my way to check out email:)
Peek-a-boo, Dottie! I just sent you an email.
You??? Black magic???! When did that happen, oh I don't think so!
Dottie is an Angel of Light! :)
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Hi Mr. Nice,
How are you today. I would first like to address the comment directly above and then address your other comment in the box above that.
You say that I don't have the coourage to approve....etc. Mr. Nice, I'm am really sorry if you had left a comment. I deleted the comment box because it was empty, there were no words in your comment box so yes I did delete it. I thought perhaps you started to write and then went and did some research and upon return you started a new comment box. So whatever went on doesn't really matter, so long as we both know what happened...
Now to go back and address your other comment asking me about my black magick? Do you have me confused with someone else? I have no idea what you are talking about. If you look over my hubs I haven't nothing written about black magic so ????? please do explain that one for me.....
Regarding homeopathic treatments they can be wonderful but I would like to say in the case of my brother-in-law who has ankylosing spondylitis, the homeopathic treatment that he tried was only good temporarily... Thank you for your hub link on homeopathy treament. I will definitely check it out... I totally agree that a natural way for treatment is always better than taking a prescription drug but it also has to work and maybe on some folk it will work beautifully, it just is not the case in my brother-in-law situation.
One last thing is that you seemed somewhat dissappointed that I had not listed the side effects of enbrel in my article. If you go back and reread my article, you will see under the heading "How does Enbrel Work" I did mention side effects and left a link to check out further..
I think too like you that constructive criticism is good. Take care now and have a good day...
~Dottie~
I just find out like some other hubbers you don't have the courage to approve my comment too because my first comment is still unapproved no problem that's fine with me.
Hi Dottie1, How are you & your black magick ? I remember you but you have a new picture with a different look now. You still in bibdi babdi boo business I mean magick ?
No one is considering or I know anyone who have this problem or even they will use Enbrel. My family have no antibiotic in their bodies for so many year's already because we only use homeopathic remedies. To find out more about homeopathic treatment please visit my friends hubpages who is a homeopathic doctor here is the link.
https://hubpages.com/health/Homeopathy-treatment--...
I arrived at your hub through the main hubpage listings I clicked. I was just curious but everyone knows all Allopathic medicines have side effects.
I was surprised you were recommending it to everyone & you never listed the side effects of Enbrel. Therefore after reading your hub I did some research & found the info at Enbrel own website. I thought it will be good for people to know before even considering to take Enbrel.
I really appreciate that you listed my comments otherwise some hubbers delete such kind of comments. That is the only thing I don't like about Hubpages the process of comments has no freedom of speech or it's not fair. Everyone on hubpages want to see a positive comment, when I believe constructive criticism is good. Take care.....
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Hi Mr. Nice,
I haven't seen you around in a while and it is good to "see" you :)
I appreciate that you stopped by and added some very good comments about enbrel and everyone should be concerned about risk of any medication that they are thinking about taking and always always check with your doctor.
Thank you also for the enbrel link which I have also added up in the body of this article.
For an update on my son, my brother-in-law, and my neighbor - all are still taking enbrel and getting fantastic results. None of them have had any side effects.
It has been the experience of my son, my brother-in-law, and my neighbor that their doctors all consulted with the enbrel representative about their patients and whether or not enbrel was right for them. Also before enbrel was administered, patients and family in our case as guardian for my son, had to meet with enbrel representative for further screening. The reps are quite involved with the doctor and family on helping to make the decision whether enbrel was right for these 3 people and all 3 have definitely felt after a couple of years that it was the right decision made for them. This has been their experience. Everyone who considers taking enbrel must go through the screening process with their own doctors and enbrel rep. I feel it is a very reliable screening process.
Thank you again, Mr. Nice, for dropping by and posting your thoughts. Just curious if enbrel is something you are, or someone you know, is considering? If so and you have any questions of concern please always feel free to email me. Take care....
Excellent info & hopefully helpful for many people but before anyone consider taking this read who cannot take Enbrel. What is good for one person might be poison for some one else because of the individuals health condition.
Here is the list of people who cannot take Enbrel. This info is provided on the Enbrel website.
Think you have an infection. You should not start taking ENBREL if you have any kind of infection.
Have any open cuts or soresHave TB or have been in close contact with someone who has had TBWere born in, lived in or traveled to countries where there is more risk for getting TB. Ask your doctor if you are not sure.
Live or have lived in certain parts of the country (such as, the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys, or the Southwest)where there is a greater risk for certain kinds of fungal infections, such as histoplasmosis. These infections may develop or become more severe if you take ENBREL. If you don't know if histoplasmosis or other fungal infections are common in the areas where you live or have lived, ask your doctor.
Have or have had hepatitis BHave ever been diagnosed with or treated for heart failure. Have ever had or if you develop a serious nervous system disorder Develop symptoms such as persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness while taking ENBREL
- AUTHOR
compu-smart, I sent you an email after a nice lunch and talk with my sister about A.S. Off to visit Shirley Bassey now!
Hey Dottie, im sorry to hear about your bro! It must be wearing him down constantly! again, i know there are far worse thing to have such as life threatening and contagious diseases, which im happy this is not! i look forward to hearing more!! Im off to check my mail now:)
PS, Shirley bassey is now doing it her way !;)
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Hey Comp, I'm glad you finally made it here. It's my brother-in-law who has the A.S. and has had it for as loooong as I can remember. And I also believe he is in pain 24/7. My sister and he are delivering a child to college right now across states and should be back soon. I have a call in for her to pick her brain abit about A.S. She's very smart on the subject since she's lived with my brother-in-law for over 30 yrs. and knows it's a catch 22. I will email you when I talk with her. o.k.!!!! take care, will talk soon. :)
Hi Dottie, I finally made it here..:)
Sorry to hear about your familys probs!
As you know I have ankylosing spondylitis, and I will be seeing my doc next week and I'm going to suggest your advice and see if there is anything similar as that is not dear.. I do not have any insurance!!
Regarding the side affects, which is the case with most medications! I would and do suffer the intense pain I have every minute of everyday because i don't want to relieve pain, knowing im poisoning my body instead!!,,It's a classic catch 22!!,,,,I would still use this medicine, if i can get it! as a treat, just like i can never sleep every-night, i take sleeping pils, once or twice a month as a treat too!
Thanks for sharing!:)
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Ouch is right. You'd have to sell your house to pay for a whole one of these shots. Thank you very much Harvard Pilgrim and Blue Cross Blue Shield! Thanks for passing through Bob and commenting. :) Dottie
Good hub. Just don't get yourself into a situation where you have to pay the whole shot, Ouch! Bob
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