u/Smooth_Importance_47

Just curious!! Can be funny, scary, cool, interesting, whatever.

Hi all!

I'm 23F with PsA, currently on my 4th month of Taltz. I believe I have generally good hygiene, and wear a mask where necessary, however I have several high risk environmental factors for catching stuff.

I'm a college student, so I'm exposed to lots of people all the time, and until a couple weeks ago I'd been living in communal/dorm housing with shared kitchens and bathrooms with 35+ people.

I'm in an educator prep program, so I work with K-12 students sometimes.

And lastly I work outdoors in land management and wildlife conservation so I am frequently exposed to ticks and other bugs, handling wildlife, getting dirty out in the woods. Recently I have also been exposed to a lot of wildfire smoke as I am getting my basic wildland firefighter certification AND there have been lots of wildfires near me.

That being said, in my four months of being on Taltz, I developed bronchitis in the second month. I have had bronchitis before, but this sucked. It was a MONTH of brutal coughing attacks that made me wheeze, gag, shake, and have body aches out of nowhere. I was on antibiotics and an inhaler and missed a lot of school.

The third month went alright, I wasn't sick.

But now I have developed pneumonia. It came on fast. Today is Thursday. On Monday night, I had a sore throat. On Tuesday, I had a fever and fatigue. By Wednesday morning, I met criteria for Severe Inflammatory Response Syndrome/sepsis. My fever was over 103, my blood pressure had dropped low, my heart rate was 160 (sitting), and my white blood cell count was very high. My CRP was "off the charts". Had I not gone to the ER for a chest xray, steroids, and antibiotics last night, I don't want to know what could have happened.

However, Taltz has helped a lot with my pain and psoriasis. I am 99% clear of psoriasis which is really great as I had it on my forehead and scalp and it was itchy and uncomfortable. My pain has become extremely manageable and I am much more able to get through my day to day. During my worst flares, I struggled with walking for long (which I typically had to do for work or school). It's had a really great impact to my quality of life. My rheum rated my disease activity as a 2.5/10 when before it was probably a 6.5-7/10.

The other thing is, I just enrolled in a clinical trial with Taltz which allows me to get Zepbound (a GLP-1) for free for 52 weeks because Lilly is studying GLP impacts on PsA. I am 60 pounds overweight and struggle with PCOS/PMOS which is an endocrine/metabolic disorder that affects women and can make it more likely to develop diabetes, harder to become pregnant/conceive, more likely to gain weight, causes excess hair growth, insulin resistance, etc. So I have been really excited about being part of this trial, but if I go off Taltz I can't stay on the trial, and as a college student I can't afford to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1. It would be really amazing to feel more comfortable in my body by the time I graduate college in less than a year, I have a hard time liking pictures of myself and feeling confident, and have always struggled with my weight.

I have messaged my rheum but waiting for a response, wondering what you guys think.

hi everyone! title says all, I'm a newbie wildland firefighter and interested in some fire boots for work. I have very flat feet and a history of tendon issues so ideally something with arch support. I'm also a student so I'd like something on the cheaper side that isn't going to wear out on me.

title says it all, preferably good brand but cheaper side since I'm a student