8 FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered 8 FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

1. How long will it take before I see a response?

3. What happens if I accidentally miss a dose?

4. Biologics for HS are relatively new. How do I know they’re safe?

5. Does taking this medication increase my risk of cancer ?

6. Can I get pregnant while taking this medication?

2. What if I’m scared of needles?

7. Will I need to take a biologic forever?

8. What happens if a biologic drug doesn’t work or stops working?

9. Will I have to take these medications forever?

8. Will I be able to afford this medication?

7. JAK inhibitors are still pretty new – are you sure they’re safe?

6. I read that JAK inhibitors increase the risk of blood clots. Should I be worried?

5. Can taking a JAK inhibitor cause cancer?

4. Why do I need to get certain vaccinations first?

3. Will taking a JAK inhibitor shut down my immune system?

2. If one JAK inhibitor doesn’t help me, does that mean none of them will?

1. Which JAK inhibitor is most likely to help me?

FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

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Aleshin: Don’t make any big decisions before the three-month mark, unless you’re having serious side effects, because it does take some time for the medication to start working. Then, at the six-month mark, if there’s absolutely no improvement, we’ll talk about the risks and benefits of switching to a different medication.

1. How long will it take before I see a response?

FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

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Naik: An initial reservation about self-injection is common. There are programs through pharmaceutical companies where a nurse will come and teach you how to self-inject. And once you get over that hurdle, it’s usually smooth sailing. You can also ask your doctor about switching to a biologic that’s given via infusion instead.

2. What if I’m scared of needles?

FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

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Naik: The general guidance is that, for example, if you take a medication weekly and forget to take it on your scheduled day, it’s completely fine to take it the next day. It’s not something that should happen regularly, but life happens. What we don’t want to see is a more long-term hiatus from biologic medications, because skipping several doses, or regularly stopping and restarting, can contribute to developing a resistance to the medication. So taking your medication on time is a really important part of biologic treatment. Ultimately, you should talk to your doctor if you miss a dose.

3. What happens if I accidentally miss a dose?

FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

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Aleshin: Biologics are a relatively new medication approved to treat HS in the United States. But they’ve been around for quite a long time and are used for treating other skin conditions (like psoriasis) and inflammatory conditions (like rheumatoid arthritis). So we actually do have very good long-term safety data.

4. Biologics for HS are relatively new. How do I know they’re safe?

FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

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Hamzavi: There’s a theoretical risk of internal cancers, but that risk is very low. We haven’t seen much actual evidence of that with biologics used to treat HS.

5. Does taking this medication increase my risk of cancer?

FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

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Aleshin: There’s been a lot of investigative work around how to manage HS in pregnancy, but there’s still not a lot of data out there. It ultimately comes down to a discussion between you and your dermatologist and ob-gyn.

6. Can I get pregnant while taking this medication?

FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

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Aleshin: What we know with these medications is that some people can have a long-lasting response, but biologics can lose efficacy over time. Each person is unique and responds to biologic drugs in their own way. So we guide treatment length based on how you’re responding. If it’s going well, we may keep you on it for a prolonged period of time. Sometimes we use biologics to help quiet the inflammatory response and then reassess to see if you’re a good candidate for surgery to excise the lesions, in which case we may possibly take you off the biologic.

7. Will I need to take a biologic forever?

FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

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Hamzavi: If you try one type of biologic and it doesn’t work, or loses effectiveness over time, there are other options. So if you’re unhappy with your treatment outcomes, talk to your doctor about switching to another biologic for HS.

8. What happens if a biologic drug doesn’t work or stops working?

FAQs About Biologics for HS, Answered

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