Tag Archives: psoriasis treatment

psoriasis, Psoriasis Treatments, Skyrizi

2 Years with Skyrizi for Psoriasis

A lot can happen in a couple of years. I’ve changed jobs, become an empty nester, and adjusted to (more forced into) pandemic life. But all through the past twenty-four months one thing has remained the same: Skyrizi.

I started taking Skyrizi to treat my psoriasis on May 31, 2019. With two years under my belt, I wanted to update how I’m doing and my experience with Skyrizi through a Q/A format.

Current Dose?

Skyrizi is normally dosed at every twelve weeks with two syringes making up one dose. When I began I took a dose at week 0 and then at week 4. These two doses are considered a starter, or loading, dose. My next dose, a maintenance dose, was at week 16 (or 12 weeks after the week 4 loading dose).

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psoriasis, Psoriasis Treatments

2020 Psoriasis Treatment Update: How a Work Leave Might Impact My Skin

Prayer Chapel, Redwood Christian Park, Boulder Creek, California

Lori and I joined a Christian conference for graduate students in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains. We found this prayer chapel during one of our walks. The trip marked our first weekend on leave from the church.

Happy New Year! I know it is almost mid-February, but it’s my first PsoHoward entry of the year. I’ve been quite busy preparing for a personal leave that started this month. Now that I will be on four-month break I hope to come back to writing regularly.

Today I’ll start with treatment updates.

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psoriasis, Psoriasis Treatments

Skyrizi Week 16: The Verdict?

The Chang family trip this summer included a trip to Crater Lake, Oregon. I especially enjoyed the trip with improved psoriasis.

This week marks the sixteenth week since I started taking Skyrizi to treat my stubborn psoriasis. I took my first dose of two 75mg injections on May 31st. My second dose came four weeks later on June 28th and anxiously awaited results. Now I’m on every twelve-week dosing with the third dose this week. 

A couple weeks ago I called the Accredo specialty pharmacy to see if they could deliver Skyrizi last Friday in anticipation of taking it this week. With travel to take my daughter to college scheduled at the end of the week I wanted to take it a few days early. My dermatologist agreed. I took the third dose on Monday.

With the third dose injected, and sixteen weeks into the new Skyrizi therapy, what’s the verdict?

I’ll use the same categories to evaluate Skyrizi that I used with Tremfya. Here’s my evaluation:

How well is Skyrizi working for me?

The Verdict: Not as good as hoped, but better than others. 

I did start taking Skyrizi with super high expectations. The dermatologists I talked to recommended it to me. I read about how the effectiveness of Skyrizi topped other biologic medications. No question I wanted to try Skyrizi next with the hope that my psoriasis would magically clear.

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psoriasis

Skyrizi Week 3: Three Questions Waiting to Be Answered

I can’t believe I finished my third week of taking Skyrizi (Risankizumab). In the coming week I take my second dose. This dose is a loading dose administered at week four. The dosing moves into every twelve weeks thereafter.

The biggest questions I have when I take a new medication are if it will work, when it will start working, and will I have side effects. See below for my updated impressions on these three questions.

Will Skyrizi Work to Clear My Psoriasis?

This is a crystal ball question to be determined in the coming weeks. But if you make me give an answer of what I predict I’ll tend to take the pessimistic view. When a drug claims that X out of 10 people who took it during clinical trials reached PASI 75 or 90, or even cleared, I’m skeptical I would be one of them. 

I’m usually the X out of ten that did not reach any notable level of psoriasis clearance. I know, I know. Past results do not predict future outcomes. Too many variables must play out before making any conclusions. My body changes over time. New medications have different mechanisms of action in my body than others. But I’ve faced disappointment after weeks and months of waiting on a new drug enough times to not get my hopes up.

Follow My Skyrizi Journey!

Starting Skyrizi for Psoriasis Week 0

Skyrizi’s website makes the following claims:

  1. In clinical trials, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at four months, after just two doses
  2. Of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained 90% clearer skin through one year
  3. Also, 8 out of 10 people achieved clear or almost clear skin at four months, after just two doses.

Number 1 and 3 sound like the same results told in two different ways. Number 2 says that those who did respond sustained it after a year. Okay, awesome numbers to be sure. I just hope I’m not the 1 out of 4 or 10 who doesn’t get a great response.

When will Skyrizi Start Working?

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