Kevzara Side Effects?

Hello @hopeinal, I don't have any experience with Kevzara but there are quite a few comments by others on the side effects. Here's a search of Connect with links to comments by others while you wait for members with experience to respond - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/comments/?search=Kevzara%20side%20effects.

Here's some information on the side effects if you haven't already seen it:
-- Side Effects of Kevzara: What You Need to Know
https://www.healthline.com/health/drugs/kevzara-side-effects

I'm not on prednisone now but have taken it in the past when my PMR was active. I also have the thin skin that bruises and tears quite easily. Have you discussed the side effects with your doctor?

Thanks! Yes I did bring it up to my rheumatologist and he suggested putting me on Kevzara soon. But then he moved to another state so I wasn't able to follow up. The practice he sent his 3000 patients to can't see me until late August or September. However I think my PCP could prescribe it for me.

The ones i have seen most frequently are higher cholesterol which is similar to what Prednisone does and a higher than normal WBC, The biggest issue appears to be cost if your insurance doesnt cover. If you have GCA Actemra is shown to be better. The idea is to keep your PMR from flaring back up due to the prednisone taper. This will not help with cortisol production. Methotrexate is old standby but it has a lot of issues as well. Some others i have seen are Humira and LDN. LDN intrigues me. But I dont know much about any of them. Hopefully you dont need to take it forever to get off the the prednisone. I think they all have some side effects.

I've only been on Kevzara a month and I'm not aware of any side effects so far. The true test will be in 2 months when I have labs done. There are a number of possible abnormalities like low neutrophils ( a type of white blood cell) and high liver enzymes. There is a possibility of infections. My rheumatologist had me take a special blood test for tuberculosis before getting on it. If it is your PCP ordering the drug I would make sure he/she will monitor you and do labs until you see a rheumatologist.
My prednisone side effects were never too bad but at dosages of 8 mg and above I was constantly either bruised or bleeding somewhere. I got down to 5 mg and most of that problem went away. I also had a very irregular heartbeat but that has calmed down on lower doses. Even if I can't get off prednisone I will be happy if I can just get lower than the 6 mg I am on right now.

Hola, yo me estoy inyectando con kevsara para la PMR y ACG me he puesto 6 inyecciones y no he tenido mejoria ninguna ya hace un mes que no tomo prednisona, sigo con mucho dolor en todo el cuerpo y en los musculos de los hombres y brazos estoy leyendo a ver si a alguien se ha mejorado con kevsara. Gracias

Oh dear I hate to hear that. So sorry you're having pain. Hope it goes away soon.

I tapered from 15 down to 6.5 about 6 weeks ago but then had a bad flare, my first ever. My rheumatologist told me if I could get down to 4 it wouldn't hurt me and I'd have no side effects. I'm going to taper more slowly this time. Crossing fingers! My bruising is all on my forearms and hands. 🙁

Keep us posted on how the Kevzara works for you. Good luck!

Muchas gracias Yo pienso seguir con Kevsara para ver si mejoro, el dolor en los brazos es insoportable

Drugs.com has an excellent summary of possible side effects from Kevzara. In my case low WBC and I had to come off of it. My PCP prescribed for me and yes a blood test is required to rule out TB. I had great results until I had to stop.