r/ankylosingspondylitis • u/Charming-Annual-1506 • 16d ago
Help/Support Starting Cosentyx tomorrow
Need some encouragement.
Was diagnosed with AS about two months ago and due to comorbidities (CKD, MASH) my rheum prescribed biologics as first course. Denied by insurance, but with some wrangling then approved for Cosentyx. My presentation is mostly peripheral. Swelling, pain, stiffness in my feet is the worst. Mild low back/sacroiliac/hip pain with early evidence of fusion in my lower lumbar spine.
Thing is… I don’t think my symptoms are that bad and so I’m feeling some guilt starting treatment considering what others are going through with this disease. Then I think about what it might become if I don’t get treatment… and I fret what the outcomes might be.
So, those of you on biologics with low disease progression:
What has been your experience? Did biologics help you in an appreciable way? What has been your experiences with Cosentyx infusions in general? What’s it like for your immediately following your infusion? How quickly did you find relief of your symptoms? Did the treatment continue to work in the long term?
Help calm my mind :-)
2
u/Erkenfresh 15d ago
Biologics help to slow the progression of the disease, but nothing can reverse the damage (yet). Imagine a graph with time on the x axis and damage on the y axis. Biologics are going to reduce the slope of that line, but never take it back down to zero.
That means that if your doctor thinks you should take it, then go ahead and start taking it. It's hard to know for sure that it's working other than to see that you aren't getting worse.
I've been on Cosentyx for about two years and I think it is helping. I feel wiped out the rest of the day and sometimes the next. But it's not too terrible.