Kevzara Side Effects?

Posted by hopeinal @hopeinal, Jun 18, 2024

I'm thinking of going off Prednisone and onto Kevzara. Having such bad side effects with Pred that I'm so wanting to stop taking it. The skin on my forearms and tops of my hands is paper thin and I'm covered in horrible blackish deep purple blotches, skin tears and bruises constantly. My hair is falling out. My eyes look like I have pinkeye. Plus I'm weak as a kitten.

So I'm wondering what sort of side effects those of you on Kevzara are having, if any?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) Support Group.

jabrown0407 | @jabrown0407 | Apr 16 6:08am

In reply to @circlepfarm "@johnbishop My experience with Kevzara. I took my first shot On Tuesday, March 24, then on..." + (show)

@circlepfarm

What a scary story. It is most likely that the Kenzara was the root cause of the reaction. I suspect they took you off of it and do not want you going back on Kenzara. That being the cause I want to encourage you to report the problem on the FDA reporting database. Here is a link to a recent post I made that provides the link to their reporting system.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/report-adverse-reactions-to-medicines-vaccines-treatments-to-fda/
The importance of reporting the incident is that over time if everyone reports their incidents they would learn so very much more about reactions. No you cannot be sure, but it is worth taking the time to report the incident. Without reports the FDA has no idea what is/might be happening.

elizterrel | @elizterrel | Apr 17 8:24am

I have had ZERO side effects on Kevzara! I also did not do well on prednisone. But I'm doing great on Kevzara.

My doc says my numbers are all good and my immune system is working well.

elleninz | @elleninz | Apr 17 8:30am

Those are my side effects on prednisone for three years. So I believe those are prednisone side effects. I just got my second dose of Tyenne, once every four weeks.
Ellen

kwahearn | @kwahearn | Apr 17 10:33am

I am a 74-year-old woman who was diagnosed with PMR in August of 2024. I was initially prescribed 20 mg of prednisone daily by my family doctor, but once I was able to see a rheumatologist about three months later, I was tapered off Prednisone and put on Methotrexate. In July of 2025, I was placed on a twice monthly self-injected pen of 200 mg of Kevzara. I was taken off Methotrexate this past January. Kevzara has done a great job in lessening the PMR pain. My only side effect is injected site reactions. I get a large (6 inch by 7 inch) area of red, itchy swollen skin that lingers for several days. This happens whether injected in my abdominal area, upper arm, or thigh. Also, the needle does not hurt but the serum is very painful going in. I've tried taking it out of the fridge overnight to reach room temperature, even placing the pen in my armpit for an hour before to warm it up, but the pain is still great. The only thing that helps is knowing the pain only lasts for the 15 seconds, or so that it takes to insert the serum. I've placed an ice pack on the site area for 15 minutes before and after the injection and taken ibuprofen, acetimetaphine, and Benedryl before and 4 hours afterward. That does not appear to help, but I have to think it would be worse without it! The bottom line for me is that the benefit greatly outweighs the site reaction.

las5520 | @las5520 | Apr 17 2:14pm

I was diagnosed with PMR in April 2022. I begin Prednisone at that time. I tried methotrexate, then Kevzara. On Kevzara, not only did I have raised liver enzymes, but developed AFib. I ended up in the ER 4 times in the 5 months I took Kevzara. I finally had a cardiac ablation to stop the afib. Kevzara never provided any relief. I'm now completely off prednisone, but struggling. Now I'm just taking NSAIDS for pain. Not ideal, but hopefully it will get better.