Newly diagnosed at 50

Hi Ann, sorry to hear of your current problems with P. It can affect people at all ages whether hireditary, illness or stress related for example. You have been lucky to reach 50 without a major flare. Similarly you are fortunate your derm has prescribed Stelara (Ustekinumab) without trying alternatives first which is quite common procedure. I have been self injecting Stelara since Nov 19 and all good so far. I haven't experienced the side effects of the oral meds I was taking previously. The procedure with Stelara was to answer a few questions about how P affects your life, they call it a PASI test. Then have a chest xray I think to check for TB. Once approval was granted, the medication was delivered to my house. First injection was with a nurse to show me. Four weeks later the second injection then every 12 weeks. Again similar to other drugs used for P treatment you will have to have regular bloods taken. The period before I started stelara was somewhat worrying how I would react to coming off methotrexate but exciting to finally be starting a biologic treatment. Good luck.

Thank you so much. Yes I’m everything you said. Anxious but excited to get started. I have been very lucky to not have had P until now but it was certainly like a complete bang with what I have how. I have had my X-ray & bloods taken now & waiting for them to be ok. He did say a nurse would be calling to my home. Can I ask you, did it take long for you to feel the difference once you started the jab? I came off Enstillar a week ago & I've just rang the pharmacy for my husband to pick up some. The moisturiser on its own isn’t cutting it. I’m in agony today.

That's good, shouldn't be long now before starting. I suppose everyones condition is different but as mentioned earlier I was coming off methotrexate for ten years. This proved fairly successful for me but the side effects were taking their toll. To make it more worrying I had an infection at that time and had to stop Mtx for two weeks before starting Stelera so expected some rebound. So started off at pretty good clearance say 75%. Fortunately it worked well and I never had a flare between meds and t.b.h. within a couple of weeks of the first injection I could see an improvement. Six months on I couldn't be happier. I have taken numerous oral drugs, uvb plus the usual creams but this biologic treatment has worked the best for me. Good luck.

Thank you so much for your response. Fingers crossed now that all goes well & it starts working. My heart goes out to anyone suffering this for years. I’ve had it about 6 months & it has totally taken over my life x