LOOK GOOD, BUT FEEL TERRIBLE IS THE EVIL TRUTH OF RA/PsA. THESE ARE DEVASTATING AND BLEAK DISEASES THAT HIT PEOPLE IN THE PRIME OF THEIR LIFE AND SO THEY FOCUS ON RETAINING THE LIFE THEY ONCE HAD.
Our respondents professed dismay that they were struck with this disease when they were young – in their 30s and 40s – at a time when they should be experiencing life all in. They long for a return to a semblance of the life they used to have, when they could just do ‘normal things.’ One respondent shared “I never knew how good I had it when I could pick up a pen and just write! Or open a bottle easily, or exercise.” Patients with RA/PsA don’t expect to be cured, but they would like to feel good enough to do everyday things. Many shared that they may be only 45 years old but they feel 80.
While they know that RA/PsA destroys their joints, their everyday focus is on what’s destroying their quality of life now: debilitating pain, stiffness, …show more content…
Many claimed to know the basics about Biologics: injections, for Patients who are further along in disease, prescribed after DMARDS, more challenging to get covered by insurance (and therefore prescribed after DMARDs), not just a pill but a process (storage, administered), awareness from TV advertising along with a long litany of side effects from fair balance advertising.
Also, if Patients move to a Biologic when their current DMARD stops working as well, there is concern over what medication they will use to treat if and when the Biologic stops working.
Many see a Biologic as a potential next step, but given their tremendous ability to deny the pain they are in and the progression of the disease, the notion that a Biologic is the most aggressive form of treatment they know makes it feel like a Biologic is something for tomorrow – not for today. A Biologic may be the next step, but when that next step will take place is
Our respondents professed dismay that they were struck with this disease when they were young – in their 30s and 40s – at a time when they should be experiencing life all in. They long for a return to a semblance of the life they used to have, when they could just do ‘normal things.’ One respondent shared “I never knew how good I had it when I could pick up a pen and just write! Or open a bottle easily, or exercise.” Patients with RA/PsA don’t expect to be cured, but they would like to feel good enough to do everyday things. Many shared that they may be only 45 years old but they feel 80.
While they know that RA/PsA destroys their joints, their everyday focus is on what’s destroying their quality of life now: debilitating pain, stiffness, …show more content…
Many claimed to know the basics about Biologics: injections, for Patients who are further along in disease, prescribed after DMARDS, more challenging to get covered by insurance (and therefore prescribed after DMARDs), not just a pill but a process (storage, administered), awareness from TV advertising along with a long litany of side effects from fair balance advertising.
Also, if Patients move to a Biologic when their current DMARD stops working as well, there is concern over what medication they will use to treat if and when the Biologic stops working.
Many see a Biologic as a potential next step, but given their tremendous ability to deny the pain they are in and the progression of the disease, the notion that a Biologic is the most aggressive form of treatment they know makes it feel like a Biologic is something for tomorrow – not for today. A Biologic may be the next step, but when that next step will take place is