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Atopic dermatitis (Eczema) and Dupixent

Started by WV Sawmiller, February 11, 2021, 12:42:33 PM

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WV Sawmiller

   Anybody out there have any experience using the drug Dupixent for treatment of Eczema? If so how is it working for you?

   For nearly a year I have been fighting dermatitis outbreaks on my palms and soles of my feet. This causes thick dry, scaly patches to build up especially around my heels and sides of my feet. It also leads to cracking and painful cuts on my hands and feet that would burn when I washed my hands or got various solutions and materials in the cuts. I had to be very careful to keep them from getting infected.

   My personal physician and I thought it was a fungus similar to something I had many years ago and she was treating it with oral and topical creams such as used with athlete's foot. They seemed to help keep it at bay for a while but never stopped it. We changed to a different anti-fungal med with similar results. Finally I went to my dermatologist for my annual check up and when he saw what we had been using he concluded it might me some kind of contact dermatitis and we tried to identify what had changed including wood I might be handling or solvents I might be in contact with. Since I mostly wear gloves when working around the sawmill he did not think that was a likely cause. He had me stop the anti-fungal and use a mild steroid cream Triamcinolone Aceonide .1%. This did more to help and did stop the cracking but not the dry flakey patches of skin.

   After a month and enough time for the antifungal meds to wear off I came back and he did a skin scraping but could not find anything using his microscope to identify the culprit so he did a biopsy with a little punch gun taking out a plug about like a .22 bullet and maybe 1/4" deep with 2 stiches to repair the hole in my palm.

   Monday I went back to get the stitches out and for the biopsy results. The test showed no fungus and indicated an unknown Atopic dermatitis so my dermatologist gave me 2 shots of Dupixent - one in each arm and sent me home with 2 more to give myself a week apart. I return in 6 weeks to follow up. He said they had had some amazing results in some cases and did not ID any significant side effects. He said if it works we will have to fight with insurance to pay for it as it is expensive and the insurance companies typically resist paying for it. Medicare will not help apparently. He indicated it may be as much as $30K/year. The shots he gave me were samples from the manufacturer.

   I may be imagining things but it seems to be helping and the scaly skin around my heels and palms seems significantly reduced. I will keep monitoring and take the other shots on schedule.

   If any of you are using this and have had any experiences, good or bad, I'd love to hear them.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Tacotodd

Fighting with ANY insurance company is fun :( but you'll have to do what you're going to do to get any kind of real help from them. Be sure to stay alert to what they say & do. If you can and feel comfortable doing so, make a recording of the conversation (on tape) so that you may go back to it later for your own satisfaction. Otherwise, it's just going to be hearsay.
Trying harder everyday.

RichTired

WV Sawmiller,
   You might want to go through your journals to see if maybe one of the Witch Doctors you came across in all your travels put a curse on you... :D

But seriously, I hope you find out what caused it and find a treatment that works.
Wood-Mizer LT15GO, Kubota L2800, Husqvarna 268 & Stihl 241 C-M chainsaws, Logrite cant hook, Ford F-150 Fx4

Richard

LeeB

Getting the insurance to pay for biologics can be a difficult row to how and once they do you usually have to get requalified pretty often. I don't know your financial situation, but the manufacturers do have assistance programs. 
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

WV Sawmiller

Quote from: RichTired on February 11, 2021, 09:13:07 PM
WV Sawmiller,
  You might want to go through your journals to see if maybe one of the Witch Doctors you came across in all your travels put a curse on you... :D

But seriously, I hope you find out what caused it and find a treatment that works.
RT,

   Here is my journal entry for 24 Feb 2008 when we trekked in and camped with the Koma tribe in Cameroon next to the Nigerian border. They were first contacted by outsiders in the 1990's:

            Between the villages Turoman points out barriers along the trail to protect the village residents from evil. There are red X's on rocks on either side of the trail and a flat, slanting rock will be resting on another propped up with small stone or stick. Any person reaching this point with intention of harming a resident of the up-coming village will cause the propped stone to fall and the man will not be able to pass. When the villagers see the fallen stone they will know the spirit of an evildoer was captured. The evildoer will rapidly become ill and can only get well if he makes a big batch of millet beer and brings to the village of his intended victim and asks for their forgiveness. The intended victim will forgive the evildoer up to two times but the third time will not accept his offering and the evildoer will sicken and die. I ask what happens if they walk around the trap but Turoman explains this is a line that extends forever. Even a plane flying over with evil intentions would be trapped and have to ask for such forgiveness.

    Anybody got a good recipe for millet beer? ::)
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

WV Sawmiller

   Well, I gave myself my injection yesterday and I survived that so far. Its not as much fun as eating a fresh hot pecan brownie but probably better for me.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

WV Sawmiller

   I went back in for a follow up with my Dermatologist and he swears he has never seen a case like mine clear up so quickly and so completely. He said most patients with similar cases are much younger. Maybe I am just so young at heart ... :D One collateral benefit I seem to be seeing is a serious reduction in toenail fungus. I am not sure if this is from the Dupixant or the oral fungicides I was taking prior to starting Dupixant. I had some fungus under my fingernails which cleared up before starting the Dupixant. It may have started on my toenails and this is continuing the job. I first started treatment on them over 35 years ago and have never found anything that worked and this is the first ray of hope I have seen. My Dr said they are talking about opening it up to use in patients 2 and over and there are few if any side effects. Other than the expense it seems to be anew miracle drug. We agreed to back off on the dosage and see if it keeps working as well.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

mike_belben

Did you get the toenail fungus in parris island?  Because ive had that since then, and a similar skin issue has spread to my hands in recent years. I dont really have any thickening skin though other than pinch callous on the inner sides of my big toes that i have to grind off frequently.   My feet have been hurting alot the past few years. I swap shoes a few times a day. 


Praise The Lord

WV Sawmiller

  I don't know if I got it there or if I had it before. I did a tour at PISC from '79-82 working series and as the RTO but I had already been in a couple of years by then at Quantico and Oki (Futenma) before then. I remember talking to the Regimental surgeon who was a friend of mine at Camp Schwab when I was RTO of 4th Marines in '86 and he started me on some treatment that was worse than the toenail fungus. I've tried several topical treatments like you see on TV ads with no help since then. (Somebody selling Opti-Nail just tried to sell me some more.)

  
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Ed_K

 I got concrete poisoning in Thailand in 75 and have had problems ever since. We found a salve that works quite well named "Clotrimazole and Betamethasone" it's a prescribed med from my primary care Dr. I change shoes almost as much as Mike and spray them with "Tinactin" every time I put on a pair of shoes or slippers.
Ed K

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