Looks like the new medication will be similar to the Cosentyx. My throat, chest, mouth, and tongue all feel slightly tighter/swollen. It was the worst just after the injection and for that first hour, but has not really improved.
Similar to Cosentyx, it feels as though if another trigger were to be added to the mix (getting too excited, scared, etc...) I will be facing another throat swelling episode. So I have to be pretty careful for the next few days.
So Cimzia is another medication intolerance. I am certain that my doctor will want me to try it still for three months or so to test its efficacy on the disease itself. If the throat tightening does not progress and is only triggered for the first week or so after the injection (like Cosentyx did), then I could theoretically take this medication and just be super extra careful for that initial week each month.
Which means I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I do not want to take this medication. My body obviously does not respond well to it and the risk of a throat swelling episode requiring emergency intervention is really high. It is frightening.
Yet I do not have any other options to help actually treat the disease. With Ankylosing Spondylitis, treatment of the disease does not reverse anything or cure anything, what it does is potentially slow the progression and maybe reduce the amount of inflammation or swelling.
Without this medication there is nothing I can take (currently) to slow or help with the inevitable deterioration of my joints and bones and spine and ribs and shoulder blades etc.
So what do I do?
Take something that might help, but is unlikely to help, but that could kill me by obstructing my airway at any given time, or wait until something else comes on the market...?
The truth is I never really know what to do in these kinds of situations. It is all trial and error; a guessing game.
I do know that right now, at this current moment, the medication scares me.
The question is:
Does taking this medication scare me more than the disease itself?
I can't give you the answer for that. They are both pretty terrifying.
So the good news is that I did not have an immediately dangerous reaction after the injection, so that is a success. :)