Golimumab as Biologic Treatment for Psoriatic Arthritis

[Phil5062]

Hello everyone,

I’m new to GLP1Chat and to peptides. Golimumab injections have been part of my routine for 15 years. After discovering GLP1Chat, it occurred to me that an alternative might be out there. My condition is in complete remission, and I’ve finished triathlons to a high competitive standard. Following my rheumatologist’s advise/suggestion, I’m now stretching the interval between doses, moving from once each month to once every two months — we’ll see what happens.

Does anyone else have ideas, suggestions, experience or opinions?

Thanks very much,

Phil (UK)

 

[CheesyPotato]

Hey, I'm not sure whether something can replace it. That said, a few options have come up as complementary additions. Great news that you're in remission! I didn't have the same outcome; Simponi gave me a bad reaction. TA-1, KPV, and Thymulin are worth a look (running Thymulin can get a little pricey, though).

 

[Neurogroot]

Phil5062 said:

Hello everyone,

I’m new to GLP1Chat and to peptides. Golimumab injections have been part of my routine for 15 years. After discovering GLP1Chat, it occurred to me that an alternative might be out there. My condition is in complete remission, and I’ve finished triathlons to a high competitive standard. Following my rheumatologist’s advise/suggestion, I’m now stretching the interval between doses, moving from once each month to once every two months — we’ll see what happens.

Does anyone else have ideas, suggestions, experience or opinions?

Thanks very much,

Phil (UK)

Hey Phil! I spent a while stuck with Otezla, which was a grind... In my case, tirzepatide made a difference for the skin problems tied to my PsA. After reading far more than I probably should have, I also decided to try KPV injected subcutaneously. I did get a short flare—moderate and not unexpected—that lasted 2 weeks maximum. After that, my joints gradually improved; I could tell by the end of my first month, and now that I’m into my 3rd month, the improvement is really solid.

KLOW is something I’m thinking about testing, though I’ll keep KPV on hand as a backup. Tirzepatide and psoriasis have left me with some hair thinning, so my hope is that AHK-CU topical, perhaps, will help me recover in that area across the next 3-4 months. Still, to be honest, my skin and joints are far better than before (not flawless), and I’d be fine accepting the thinning for myself if it means keeping the greater ease of movement I now have.

I hope this is useful!

 

[Phil5062]

Appreciate everyone’s responses—the reading was worthwhile. The good news is that my symptoms cleared up essentially right away once I began Golimumab (Simponi). There’s some GLOW I’m going to trial (and I’m also putting in some good miles on the road bike plus doing resistance training. That will certainly help. I’ll find out how it goes when I stretch the gaps between my Golimumab doses out to 8 weeks, then try more. I’m hesitant to stop, just in case.

 

[Neurogroot]

Phil5062 said:

Appreciate everyone’s responses—the reading was worthwhile. The good news is that my symptoms cleared up essentially right away once I began Golimumab (Simponi). There’s some GLOW I’m going to trial (and I’m also putting in some good miles on the road bike plus doing resistance training. That will certainly help. I’ll find out how it goes when I stretch the gaps between my Golimumab doses out to 8 weeks, then try more. I’m hesitant to stop, just in case.

Since you're based in the UK, I can't help but wonder: would the people managing your care back the peptide approach, or not really? Here in the US, opinions vary widely. For myself, I would never raise it with my primary care doctor, yet my rheumatologist fully supports my use of them—provided I do it sensibly and it helps. So my rheumatologist knows everything; my primary care doctor, definitely not.

I ask because I want to confirm that nothing in the peptide—copper in particular—clashes with whatever treatment you're on now.

 

[LabRatBarbie]

CheesyPotato said:

Hey, I'm not sure whether something can replace it. That said, a few options have come up as complementary additions. Great news that you're in remission! I didn't have the same outcome; Simponi gave me a bad reaction. TA-1, KPV, and Thymulin are worth a look (running Thymulin can get a little pricey, though).

I have Psoriasis, Psoriatic arthritis, and Fibromyalgia. If you're okay with it, I'd like to hear more about how Simponi affected you. My treatment was an IV drip of Simponi, and it quit helping after a few months. These days, any injection they give me stops working at roughly the 6 month point because my body becomes immune to it. I've tried every shot that exists and I have to switch them constantly. Perhaps Simponi was the culprit, or perhaps it's just how my body works. I hope this isn't too personal a question.

 

[Phil5062]

Fair point—honestly, that thought hadn’t crossed my mind. When I next see my Rheumy, I’ll mention it to him. Glow appears to have evidence behind it, so he’ll almost certainly be on board (assuming it doesn’t clash with my simponi).

 

[Phil5062]

ThatFatGirl said:

CheesyPotato said:

Hey, I'm not sure whether something can replace it. That said, a few options have come up as complementary additions. Great news that you're in remission! I didn't have the same outcome; Simponi gave me a bad reaction. TA-1, KPV, and Thymulin are worth a look (running Thymulin can get a little pricey, though).

I have Psoriasis, Psoriatic arthritis, and Fibromyalgia. If you're okay with it, I'd like to hear more about how Simponi affected you. My treatment was an IV drip of Simponi, and it quit helping after a few months. These days, any injection they give me stops working at roughly the 6 month point because my body becomes immune to it. I've tried every shot that exists and I have to switch them constantly. Perhaps Simponi was the culprit, or perhaps it's just how my body works. I hope this isn't too personal a question.

It's completely fine, nothing too personal about it. Symptoms came on slowly across 6 months (the right knee plus the entire foot), so I began DMARDs. After that, per health service guidelines you try 2 dmards and so on, which is how I became eligible for biologics and was handed Simponi (Golimumab) FOC. In close to 15 years I haven't had even 1 flare up, swelling or reaction. Since then I've raced Trathlon and bike time trials at a UK level while staying in work. My job is firefighter and I'm now the Fire Behaviour instructor.

Nothing bad has come of it for me. That makes me ask whether I might move to 1 injection every 2 months? My Rheumy put this to me.

I truly hope you land on something that does the job for you. How many options have you been through? Have you read up on this much?

 

[LabRatBarbie]

Phil5062 said:

ThatFatGirl said:

CheesyPotato said:

Hey, I'm not sure whether something can replace it. That said, a few options have come up as complementary additions. Great news that you're in remission! I didn't have the same outcome; Simponi gave me a bad reaction. TA-1, KPV, and Thymulin are worth a look (running Thymulin can get a little pricey, though).

I have Psoriasis, Psoriatic arthritis, and Fibromyalgia. If you're okay with it, I'd like to hear more about how Simponi affected you. My treatment was an IV drip of Simponi, and it quit helping after a few months. These days, any injection they give me stops working at roughly the 6 month point because my body becomes immune to it. I've tried every shot that exists and I have to switch them constantly. Perhaps Simponi was the culprit, or perhaps it's just how my body works. I hope this isn't too personal a question.

It's completely fine, nothing too personal about it. Symptoms came on slowly across 6 months (the right knee plus the entire foot), so I began DMARDs. After that, per health service guidelines you try 2 dmards and so on, which is how I became eligible for biologics and was handed Simponi (Golimumab) FOC. In close to 15 years I haven't had even 1 flare up, swelling or reaction. Since then I've raced Trathlon and bike time trials at a UK level while staying in work. My job is firefighter and I'm now the Fire Behaviour instructor.

Nothing bad has come of it for me. That makes me ask whether I might move to 1 injection every 2 months? My Rheumy put this to me.

I truly hope you land on something that does the job for you. How many options have you been through? Have you read up on this much?

Humira, Enbrel, Cosentyx, Taltz, Stelara, and Simponi are all medications I've tried, and right now I'm taking Tremfya. It hasn't gotten me completely clear yet, and I'm beginning to notice it returning. So Tremfya is already becoming less effective.

To be honest, I haven't read much about it because I assumed the doctors knew what they were doing. But now that I see what this is really about—$$$ and not so much about the patient's health—I'm looking into other paths to improve my overall health.

Last year I started Sema and Nad+. My arthritis got dramatically better. I mean, my mobility had improved by the following day after pinning.

When the FDA refuses to approve peptides that have demonstrated positive outcomes for patients with so many illnesses, it tells me they care more about the $$$.

If everyone were healthy, they would lose BILLIONS.

 

[CheesyPotato]

ThatFatGirl said:

CheesyPotato said:

Hey, I'm not sure whether something can replace it. That said, a few options have come up as complementary additions. Great news that you're in remission! I didn't have the same outcome; Simponi gave me a bad reaction. TA-1, KPV, and Thymulin are worth a look (running Thymulin can get a little pricey, though).

I have Psoriasis, Psoriatic arthritis, and Fibromyalgia. If you're okay with it, I'd like to hear more about how Simponi affected you. My treatment was an IV drip of Simponi, and it quit helping after a few months. These days, any injection they give me stops working at roughly the 6 month point because my body becomes immune to it. I've tried every shot that exists and I have to switch them constantly. Perhaps Simponi was the culprit, or perhaps it's just how my body works. I hope this isn't too personal a question.

Hi, no problem sharing. My case is pretty close to yours—RA meds, many of them, and each one either quits working or triggers unpleasant side effects. I suppose I fall into the difficult-patient category. Once I received the fourth Simponi IV dose, things exploded: a major flare, migraines, enlarged lymph nodes, and a sore throat that lasted weeks. Flares are still ongoing for me. In short, after a year of believing I was in remission, I ended up pushed back and feeling worse. That’s why I’m checking out other options. These conditions can drain everything out of you… sorry, I went on a bit of a rant

 

[Devilseye]

Phil5062 said:

Hello everyone,

I’m new to GLP1Chat and to peptides. Golimumab injections have been part of my routine for 15 years. After discovering GLP1Chat, it occurred to me that an alternative might be out there. My condition is in complete remission, and I’ve finished triathlons to a high competitive standard. Following my rheumatologist’s advise/suggestion, I’m now stretching the interval between doses, moving from once each month to once every two months — we’ll see what happens.

Does anyone else have ideas, suggestions, experience or opinions?

Thanks very much,

Phil (UK)

I’m sorry to say this, but the reason you’re in full remission is that Golimumab is an incredibly strong inflammation blocker. My guess is that NO peptide can match it. The probability is 99.999% that you’ll be on Golimumab for the rest of your life.

TB500, BPC, and similar things help with healing, but unlike Golimumab they don’t suppress the immune system. That type of biologic is very good at shutting down what it targets. Antibodies bind with affinities many orders of magnitude greater than small molecules, so they perform exceptionally well. For you, it targets TNF-alpha, which is a very powerful trigger of inflammation. Even if peptides that suppress immunity did exist, none would be as effective. That chance is zero.

I understand you’re lowering immune activity and therefore face more infection risk, but by your own account your quality of life has improved a lot. You could test reduced doses to determine the smallest effective amount, but fully eliminating it from your life is unlikely.

Also remember that its long half-life, combined with years of use, means it has built up in your body. If you stop, you probably won’t feel symptoms for a long stretch, yet there’s a strong likelihood they’ll return at some point. Sadly.

Best wishes.

 

[Phil5062]

Devilseye said:

Phil5062 said:

Hello everyone,

I’m new to GLP1Chat and to peptides. Golimumab injections have been part of my routine for 15 years. After discovering GLP1Chat, it occurred to me that an alternative might be out there. My condition is in complete remission, and I’ve finished triathlons to a high competitive standard. Following my rheumatologist’s advise/suggestion, I’m now stretching the interval between doses, moving from once each month to once every two months — we’ll see what happens.

Does anyone else have ideas, suggestions, experience or opinions?

Thanks very much,

Phil (UK)

I’m sorry to say this, but the reason you’re in full remission is that Golimumab is an incredibly strong inflammation blocker. My guess is that NO peptide can match it. The probability is 99.999% that you’ll be on Golimumab for the rest of your life.

TB500, BPC, and similar things help with healing, but unlike Golimumab they don’t suppress the immune system. That type of biologic is very good at shutting down what it targets. Antibodies bind with affinities many orders of magnitude greater than small molecules, so they perform exceptionally well. For you, it targets TNF-alpha, which is a very powerful trigger of inflammation. Even if peptides that suppress immunity did exist, none would be as effective. That chance is zero.

I understand you’re lowering immune activity and therefore face more infection risk, but by your own account your quality of life has improved a lot. You could test reduced doses to determine the smallest effective amount, but fully eliminating it from your life is unlikely.

Also remember that its long half-life, combined with years of use, means it has built up in your body. If you stop, you probably won’t feel symptoms for a long stretch, yet there’s a strong likelihood they’ll return at some point. Sadly.

Best wishes.

Nice summary there, cheers. The half-life point is interesting. I’ll be watching how things go as the interval stretches: 6 weeks becomes 8 weeks.

I’ve been very lucky: the medication gives me no trouble, life carries on just as it did before, and I’m completely free of symptoms. A second stroke of luck is that I seldom pick up common colds or similar. My wife is a teacher, so she’s around everything that moves through her school and brings it home, yet I hardly come down with anything.

 

[StemCellPrincess]

Devilseye said:

Phil5062 said:

Hello everyone,

I’m new to GLP1Chat and to peptides. Golimumab injections have been part of my routine for 15 years. After discovering GLP1Chat, it occurred to me that an alternative might be out there. My condition is in complete remission, and I’ve finished triathlons to a high competitive standard. Following my rheumatologist’s advise/suggestion, I’m now stretching the interval between doses, moving from once each month to once every two months — we’ll see what happens.

Does anyone else have ideas, suggestions, experience or opinions?

Thanks very much,

Phil (UK)

I’m sorry to say this, but the reason you’re in full remission is that Golimumab is an incredibly strong inflammation blocker. My guess is that NO peptide can match it. The probability is 99.999% that you’ll be on Golimumab for the rest of your life.

TB500, BPC, and similar things help with healing, but unlike Golimumab they don’t suppress the immune system. That type of biologic is very good at shutting down what it targets. Antibodies bind with affinities many orders of magnitude greater than small molecules, so they perform exceptionally well. For you, it targets TNF-alpha, which is a very powerful trigger of inflammation. Even if peptides that suppress immunity did exist, none would be as effective. That chance is zero.

I understand you’re lowering immune activity and therefore face more infection risk, but by your own account your quality of life has improved a lot. You could test reduced doses to determine the smallest effective amount, but fully eliminating it from your life is unlikely.

Also remember that its long half-life, combined with years of use, means it has built up in your body. If you stop, you probably won’t feel symptoms for a long stretch, yet there’s a strong likelihood they’ll return at some point. Sadly.

Best wishes.

100% this!! When you were fortunate enough to land on a therapy that helps and to remain stable across years, I wouldn't start tinkering with it. My partner is now on their third biologic, and success has been very limited. When the medication you take has no impact on your daily routine, you're the lottery winner