Kevzara (sarilumab) to treat PMR

My doctor still has me on prednisone for almost 1 yr. down to 10 mg but the pains reoccur from time to time. He was reluctant to put me on Kevzara, will attempt to talk him into this treatment and send more reports.

I have been on prednisone for 18+ month, with several unsuccessful attempts at weaning completely off. I am on 3-4mg daily, have had 5 doses of Kevzara at this date, but so far not seeing any benefit. I am experiencing more pain again and returning to 5mg pred.

@paulagcl and others -- I have (finally) found a second person i know who has PMR! His experience, however, is unlike my cousin's. My cousin tapered off successfully in about 1 year with no relapse - his PMR occurred about 10 yrs ago though.
For my other friend, the onset was 3+ years ago , before the pandemic, and he is unable to taper below 7.5 mg. I was searching through our CONNECT conversations and found helpful info to send to him - including that patients are now on KEVZARA! So Paula - how are you feeling ?? Good I hope : )

I'm feeling good! I am slowing tapering down prednisone and the hope is that Kevzara will take over completely.

I have been up and down from 8- 15 mgs of prednisone for about one and a half years for PMR and have now had 5 doses of Kevzara and have been able to taper down so far to 5 mgs. Overall, I do feel better with less pain. It is not perfect but a definite improvement so far. I have a great rheumatologist who has really worked with me on this.

Ironically I was going to post and ask about this medication. I ran into my doc tonight. He is calling my pharmacy to start my Kevzara asap. He saw me tonight where he stated that I've gained weight and I'm starting the moon face. He said that because of my Type 2 diabetes (well controlled) he wants me off the steroids. I'm still having pain, and he wants to bump me up to 25mg tomorrow then start taper down process next week. I've only been on meds about a month, and I'm newly diagnosed (Aug 16th). I haven't been able to work since July, so I'm ready to try to shake this to get back as normal as possible. However reading in this site, I don't think that's happening to quickly.

I read somewhere that Kevzara only has about a 25% success rate.

Currently at 5 mg and hoping to continue taper. My symptoms have improved and hopeful this is remission. On first look at Kevzara my main concerns were side effects and cost, both which should be weighed with the benefits of improvement of PMR symptoms. Best wishes to you

I don't know all the details but it was 28% of people who were not doing particularly well with tapering off prednisone.

"The approval of sarilumab for PMR was based on findings from the phase 3 SAPHYR clinical trial for patients with steroid-resistant active PMR who flared on ≥7.5 mg/day prednisone or equivalent during taper."

https://www.ajmc.com/view/sarilumab-indication-expanded-to-include-polymyalgia-rheumatica
No medication comes with a guarantee that it will work 100% for everyone. There is also no guarantee that people won't have side effects on Kevzara. The nice thing is Kevzara can be stopped if it doesn't work or if people have side effects.

Prednisone is very difficult to stop even when people experience side effects. It might be good to have an alternative to prednisone.

I was diagnosed with PMR last November and have been treated with Prednisone since then. Was doing well and was able to go from taking 20 mg. To taking 5 mg. When I had a return of terrible morning pain and was barely able to walk. My doctor recommended Kevzara and I have done three injections. So far the results are amazing. I am covered by Medicare and Cigna as a secondary insurance and am pleased to tell you that I have a copay of $25. I was astonished when I learned what this medication costs without insurance and am so very grateful to have the opportunity to take Kevzara.