Starting Kevzara (Sarilumab) in a few days

Just started Kevzara today myself about 1 hr. ago. Currently at 15mg as of this AM(just tapered today to 15mg.
I'll post again if I have any issues. So far it was easy. People have posted a lot of suggestions for me under my "Boomermeg" discussions re Kevzara, asking for any experience, tips, how to's etc. It's very helpful in addition to the info that comes from the manufacturer and Pharmacy. Blessings.

@boomermeg Oh thanks i just found that helpful discussion!

@karenel
Glad you found it. It's a great support group here. Everyone tries to help and support eachother. I'm really grateful for the Mayo Clinic for having all the support groups and to all the people here. Post anything you need as a "discussion" and people will respond. Blessings.

My Kevzara experience is:
I went from 40-35mg/day of Prednisone to zero in 8 months using Kevzara.
Kevzara dropped my white blood cell counts, including absolute neutrophils and platelets count, to below acceptable.
My last 0.5mg/day of Prednisone was 10 days after my last Kevzara injection. So, I stopped Kevzara before I stopped Prednisone.
My blood counts are improving.
My ANC & ESed rate are low, andwhere they should be.
I must say that while I was on Kevzara, I never got sick. Never had a bad experience that I was aware of.
I never experienced “no pain” though. while taking Kevzara. I always had a tiny bit of pain and I was tapering Prednisone as fast and as smartly as possible. I was on a mission: Get off Prednisone!
When I felt good for three days, I’d lower the Prednisone (by only .5mg/day once I was below 5.)
I’m sure that I have something else going on besides PMR, but I can tolerate it. If I can’t, I have another biologic called Cosentyx that I can begin injecting.
I would not hesitate to use Kevzara if I had to again, but I’d probably opt for Cosentyx if given the choice, as it may be a better fit for me. I’m hoping that I never have to find out.
I wish you the very best with Kevzara and your taper. Keep us up to date.

Thank you @stonewheel That is very helpful and inspiring! Wow fast prednisone taper! I too can't wait to get off prednisone but love how i have almost no pain now. Good luck with your next chapter...Karen

Kevzara was a real gift to me. Tapering down on prednisone was hard and unsuccessful until I was put on Kevzara. After the first 3 months on Kevzara I was able to taper at the rate of 1 mg a week at the advice of a board certified rheumatologist. I have had no flares and no side effects and will stop Kevzara in December. I hope you have a similarly positive experience.

cwbf, your story is my story. I am planning to be done with Kevzara in December. I was diagnosed with PMR January 2024. Could only get to 5 mg with prednisone and still had pain. Started Kevzara in January of 2025. Tapered off of prednisone pretty quickly. I wish I had started Kevzara as soon as my rheumatologist suggested it. I was determined to taper off of prednisone on my own. Stubborn I guess! Happy now. Pain free. My skin is super thin due to the side effects of the prednisone and I will have to live with that. Blessings everyone.

@cwbf good luck with the Kevzara end date!
How long on a Kevzara and what intervals for injection?

I too was hoping for December…..however
Interestingly, my Rehumy just told me that 12 weeks at 3 week injection intervals is NOT enough time to chg to 4 week intervals.
“There’s a risk if a flare over 50% of the time.”

it seems it is fairly new to figure out for PMR the tapering of Kevzara? We are like the first cohort to be doing this, or you all are, i just started. Thanks for paving the way! There are current ongoing studies and soon there will be more data out to help our doctors/us through use and tapering both. Exciting time for PMR!

@karenel

It truly is an exciting time for people with PMR and GCA. Nothing much changed for more than 50 years and now there finally is some progress being made. There still is a long way to go. I think we are like pioneers in one way of looking at it.
https://www.healio.com/news/rheumatology/20250220/tsunami-of-effortbrings-biologics-to-the-forefront-in-giant-cell-arteritis-pmr