| PAKB4U |
Drugs and Medications |
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Conventional
Prescribed Treatments
There are a number of drugs used to treat PA. For decades there was very little change in options for medications. But then in the mid 1990's or so there were a few ground breaking drugs released. These mostly fall under the category of "biologics", or highly manufactured drugs (which are very complex, in addition to being prohibitively expensive... i.e. $1,000/mo). The drug I am most familiar with is Methotrexate (MTX). I have been on 15mg 1x/wk for about 10 years now. A 10ML bottle of MTX (in a 25mg/ml solution) costs about $25. I get about 16 injections from a 10ML bottle, which puts my cost at about $6.25/mo. A huge bonus for me since I pay out of pocket. It is inevitable that I will try one of the new biologics, most likely Enbrel. What has kept me away so far are the cost and the newness of it. (Another new drug that has been used for arthritis is Vioxx, which was recently pulled from the market. I don't feel like being someone's lab rat.) I've also studied the spec sheets (side effects, etc.) and to me it seems like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. I'm content to stick with the "known" for as long as possible. MTX is an imuno suppressive medication. It is NOT a fun drug. MTX is commonly used to treat: cancer, severe forms of psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis. So folks with PA who use this stuff are basically on extended low level chemo therapy. Side effects include nausea and decreased energy. Yes, this process makes you more prone to illness since your immune system is being beaten down. |