I wrote this article for the National Psoriasis Foundation as an update to my Treat to Target experience earlier this year. The editor decided to take excerpts from below as a postscript and republish as An ongoing experiment with Treat to Target. See the postscript below for a brief week 13 with Tremfya update.
Here is the full article:
Psoriasis treatment for me is a series of starts and stops, and then restarts. In the past, I focused on finding something that effectively calms down the inflammation in my body so I can at least function at my job. When a treatment stopped working, or a new treatment proved unhelpful, I moved on to the next one. I find treatment rarely follows a dependable straight-line path for the foreseeable future.
Earlier this year my approach to treatment changed after I read about the National Psoriasis Foundation’s Medical Board’s “Treat 2 Target” treatment strategy. They established the goal of 1 percent or less psoriasis on the body within three months of treatment. An alternate acceptable goal is to maintain 75 percent improvement of psoriasis skin involvement in three months. These treatment goals inspired me to not accept “good enough” and strive for better results.
Of course, treatment decisions are individual and meant to be worked out with medical providers. Knowing I needed to consider change to more effective medications, I talked to my dermatologist about setting goals at my first appointment of 2017.
When I wrote about my first Treat to Target experience earlier this year, I hoped to reach the treatment targets I set with my dermatologist, Dr. Maverakis within the three or six-month time frame. Unfortunately, circumstances did not work out as I wished.
Hitting Targets Can Take Time
Many variables came into play as I strived for at least 75 percent psoriasis improvement. First, I ultimately decided not to do the treatment my dermatologist first prescribed for me. He wanted me to try Goeckerman therapy, a combination of coal tar and phototherapy. At first I went along, but over time I became less enthusiastic about the time consuming and messy nature of the treatment. Several poor experiences with phototherapy in the past proved difficult to overcome as well.
The next option we considered, the innovative biologic Tremfya (guselkumab), would not gain FDA approval until summer at the earliest. In the meantime, I asked if I could try a newer systemic medication. While my dermatologist agreed to prescribe it for me, my health insurance provider ultimately denied covering it. Eventually the drug manufacturer agreed to provide it for free after I applied to their patient assistance program. In the end, receiving the medication took almost six weeks.
The next twelve weeks became a roller coaster ride with the new systemic medication. I managed the ups and downs of challenging side effects and waited day after day to see improvement. My dermatologist and I decided to stop it due to lack of response. In fact, my psoriasis seemed worse.
Hitting those targets took much more effort and time than I expected. But setting the goals kept me focused on reaching them however many setbacks I faced.
Months into my Treat to Target experience I felt disappointed and at a loss what to do next. Hitting those targets took much more effort and time than I expected. But setting the goals kept me focused on reaching them however many setbacks I faced.
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Follow my Tremfya journey!
3 Weeks with Tremfya: The Waiting Game
5 Weeks with Tremfya: Biggest Fear?
6 Weeks with Tremfya: Redefining Expectations
8 Weeks with Tremfya: It’s Working!
10 Weeks with Tremfya: One Step Back
12 Weeks with Tremfya: The Third Injection
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New Treatment, Renewed Hope
Around the time my dermatologist and I decided to stop the systemic medication, the FDA approved Tremfya. Dr. M. asked me to come to the clinic the next day at lunch time so he could see me without an appointment. A few weeks later I became the first patient to use the new biologic medication in the University of California, Davis Health System.
Once again, I feel hopeful that I can reach the treatment targets Dr. Maverakis and I set earlier in the year. A few weeks into treatment psoriasis lesions on my arms and legs started to slowly fade, becoming flatter and less scaly. Although I experienced new outbreak in the next couple weeks, those lesions began to disappear soon after. I’m optimistic that clear skin is possible in a couple more months.
Once again, I feel hopeful that I can reach the treatment targets Dr. Maverakis and I set earlier in the year.
The path to clearer skin, however, might take a turn for the worse at the end of the year. I’m losing my dermatologist as his medical group will no longer participate in my health insurance provider’s network. I want my new healthcare providers to continue the goals and treatment I started this year, but I have no guarantees that they will.
I’m not too worried, though, about what comes next. My experience with Treat to Target so far tells me that obstacles and challenges to reach treatment goals come in many different forms and ways. Keeping the goals in mind, while adopting a flexible attitude, gives me the courage and persistence to overcome them one by one.
Postscript: At week 13 on Tremfya I’m seeing a bit more psoriasis breaking out all over, but especially on my trunk and stomach. I am remain optimistic that in the next few weeeks the injection I took last week will start working!
PsoHoward 