REAL STORIES TELL THE PLAIN TRUTH*
Living with moderate
to severe plaque
psoriasis can be
anything but clear.
Whether you’re newly diagnosed, or have tried treatment after treatment, you might feel frustrated and confused. It’s time for a Clear Understanding. Getting a clear understanding of your disease can help you find a path forward, which may include exploring a new treatment option for you.
Hear stories from real people* below who share their experiences of what it’s really like
for them living with plaque psoriasis. Together, we’re helping the people in your life
realize that plaque psoriasis doesn’t just happen on your skin – it starts inside the body
with your immune system and symptoms can impact different parts of your life.
Check out the quiz below to see if your symptoms are causing you to make compromises.
*Not all experiences with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis are the same. Your experience may differ from the stories featured. Al, Nitika, and Portia have been paid to participate in this campaign.
Al’s Clear
Understanding
Over 3 decades after his initial diagnosis and years of struggling with his moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, Al opens up about how he is now more comfortable around family and friends – without fear of being embarrassed by his skin. He wants others to see the possibilities that can arise with a Clear Understanding of plaque psoriasis.
Voice Over & On Screen:
Indication
SOTYKTU (deucravacitinib) is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who may benefit from taking injections or pills (systemic therapy) or treatment using ultraviolet or UV light (phototherapy). It is not known if SOTYKTU is safe and effective in children under 18 years of age.
SOTYKTU may cause serious side effects, including: Serious allergic reactions. Stop taking SOTYKTU and get emergency medical help right away if you develop any of the following symptoms of a serious allergic reaction: feel faint; swelling of your face, eyelids, lips, mouth, tongue or throat; trouble breathing or throat tightness; chest tightness; skin rash, hives. Please see Additional Important Safety Information at the end of this video.
Al:
Being who I am as a mechanic, I need to understand how it works, and how to fix it. The most frustrating thing for me to have is something that I can’t even comprehend or do anything about. Figuring things out, it’s just been a little frustrating having psoriasis. I get a hug from my wife at night, she’ll grab a patch and make me feel uncomfortable and feel rejected. I can’t be as free as I want to be until now.
My name is Al. I’m a patient taking SOTYKTU for the treatment of my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. It started in my early twenties, but once I reached my thirties, then things kind of changed. Just, symptoms got worse, psoriasis spread all over my elbows, my knees, legs, and I just had to cover up. I never had anybody actually give me some good, sound advice. As far as information from the doctors, they were very vague about it. Oh, you have psoriasis, of course, if you’re talking about 20 some years ago, there was no Google. There is no asking anybody things. It was just some books. So there’s not much you can do. Whatever the doctor told you then and that’s what you do. I actually kind of understood it for being an autoimmune disease. As far as everybody else, I just tried to keep it away from them. I just tried to not make them look at me in a different way. I didn’t want to scare them or think that I got something contagious. My grandkids, they might see a patch and say, “What happened here, Grandpa? You have a booboo.” Hard to explain to a three year old, but he goes, “Oh, Grandpa, just got a scratch.” And I was dressed with a buttoned down long sleeves, long pants, and then it just became a way of life. I was able to still do my job without any issues, other than with age, I became a little debilitated in my hip and I needed surgery. I had a fairly large patch of psoriasis on my left side. They couldn’t cut through to get the hip replacement. The doctors couldn’t do the surgery. And that’s what led me to search for something that would help me take this patch away.
Voice Over & On Screen:
In two studies of people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, including 1684 adults, 841 people received SOTYKTU, 422 received Otezla® (apremilast), and 421 received placebo. Patients were assessed at 16, 24, and 52 weeks. In one study, 50% of people taking SOTYKTU saw clear or almost clear skin versus 9% taking placebo. Individual results may vary.
Al:
SOTYKTU’s just been working great. I have a fairly normal life. I mean, I can wear short sleeves and shorts in good weather. I just want to share that with people. Go out there and see your doctor, your dermatologist, and ask him about SOTYKTU or ask him about getting treated for it. You know, it’s not worth the embarrassment. Now it’s it’s entirely different. You know, you go to bed, you get these hugs and this warmth and stuff that you couldn’t get before. It’s something that I didn’t know that I had until I’m clearer. I’m very grateful for that. Now I’m taking SOTYKTU and my skin is so much clearer.
On Screen:
In Clinical Trials:
Voice Over & On Screen:
The most common side effects of SOTYKTU include: common cold, sore throat and sinus infection (upper respiratory infections), cold sores (herpes simplex), sores on inner lips, gums, tongue, or roof of the mouth (canker sores), inflamed hair pores (folliculitis) and acne. These are not all of the possible side effects of SOTYKTU.
INDICATION
SOTYKTU (deucravacitinib) is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who may benefit from taking injections or pills (systemic therapy) or treatment using ultraviolet or UV light (phototherapy).
It is not known if SOTYKTU is safe and effective in children under 18 years of age.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION about SOTYKTU (deucravacitinib)
SOTYKTU may cause serious side effects, including:
Serious allergic reactions. Stop taking SOTYKTU and get emergency medical help right away if you develop any of the following symptoms of a serious allergic reaction:
- feel faint
- swelling of your face, eyelids, lips, mouth, tongue, or throat
- trouble breathing or throat tightness
- chest tightness
- skin rash, hives
Infections. SOTYKTU is a medicine that affects your immune system. SOTYKTU can lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and can increase your risk of infections. Some people have had serious infections while taking SOTYKTU, such as infections of the lungs, including pneumonia and tuberculosis (TB), and COVID-19.
- Your healthcare provider should check you for infections and TB before starting treatment with SOTYKTU and watch you closely for signs and symptoms of TB during SOTYKTU treatment.
- You may be treated for TB before you begin SOTYKTU treatment if you have a history of TB or have active TB.
- If you get a serious infection, your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking SOTYKTU until your infection is controlled.
SOTYKTU should not be used in people with an active, serious infection, including localized infections. You should not start taking SOTYKTU if you have any kind of infection unless your healthcare provider tells you it is okay.
You may be at a higher risk of developing shingles (herpes zoster).
Before starting SOTYKTU, tell your healthcare provider if you:
- are being treated for an infection, or have had an infection that does not go away or keeps coming back
- have TB or have been in close contact with someone with TB
- have or have had hepatitis B or C
- think you have an infection or have symptoms of an infection such as:
-
- fever, sweats, or chills
- muscle aches
- weight loss
- cough
- shortness of breath
- blood in your phlegm (mucus)
- warm, red, or painful skin or sores on your body different from your psoriasis
- diarrhea or stomach pain
- burning when you urinate or urinating more often than normal
- feeling very tired
After you start taking SOTYKTU, call your healthcare provider right away if you have an infection or have symptoms of an infection.
SOTYKTU can make you more likely to get infections or make any infections you have worse.
Cancer. Certain kinds of cancer including lymphoma have been reported in people taking SOTYKTU. Tell your healthcare provider if you have ever had any type of cancer.
Muscle problems (rhabdomyolysis). SOTYKTU can cause muscle problems that can be severe. Treatment with SOTYKTU may increase the level of an enzyme in your blood called creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and can be a sign of muscle damage. Increased CPK is common in people taking SOTYKTU. Your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking SOTYKTU if the amount of CPK in your blood gets too high or if you have signs and symptoms of severe muscle problems. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these signs or symptoms of severe muscle problems: unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, feeling very tired, fever, or dark-colored urine.
Do not take SOTYKTU if you are allergic to deucravacitinib or any of the ingredients in SOTYKTU.
Before taking SOTYKTU, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you: have liver problems or kidney problems, have high levels of fat in your blood (triglycerides), or have recently received or are scheduled to receive an immunization (vaccine), as you should avoid receiving live vaccines during treatment with SOTYKTU.
Tell your healthcare provider if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if SOTYKTU can harm your unborn baby or if SOTYKTU passes into your breast milk.
- Report pregnancies to the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s Adverse Event reporting line at 1-800-721-5072
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Keep a list of them to show your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.
Take SOTYKTU exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it. Take SOTYKTU 1 time every day, with or without food. Do not crush, cut, or chew the SOTYKTU tablets.
SOTYKTU may cause serious side effects, including:
- Changes in certain laboratory test results. Changes in laboratory tests have happened in some people taking SOTYKTU. Your healthcare provider may do blood tests before you start taking SOTYKTU and during treatment with SOTYKTU to check for the following:
-
- Increased triglycerides. Too much fat in your blood can cause problems with your heart.
- Increased liver enzymes. If your liver enzymes increase too much, your healthcare provider may need to do additional tests on your liver and may tell you to stop taking SOTYKTU if they think that SOTYKTU is harming your liver.
- Potential risks from Janus kinase (JAK) inhibition. SOTYKTU is a tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor. TYK2 is in the JAK family. It is not known whether taking SOTYKTU has the same risks as taking JAK inhibitors. Increased risk of death (all causes) has happened in people who were 50 years of age and older with at least 1 heart disease (cardiovascular) risk factor who were taking a JAK inhibitor used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to people taking another medicine in a class of medicines called TNF blockers. SOTYKTU is not for use in people with RA.
The most common side effects of SOTYKTU include: common cold, sore throat and sinus infection (upper respiratory infections), cold sores (herpes simplex), sores on inner lips, gums, tongue, or roof of the mouth (canker sores), inflamed hair pores (folliculitis) and acne.
These are not all of the possible side effects of SOTYKTU.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Please see Full Prescribing Information, including Medication Guide, available on SOTYKTU.com
Al is currently taking SOTYKTUTM (deucravacitinib), a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who may benefit from taking injections or pills (systemic therapy) or treatment using ultraviolet or UV light (phototherapy).
Nitika’s Clear
Understanding
Nitika understands, more than most, how to advocate for those with chronic illness.
For decades, she has had to learn how to cope with the realities
of living with
moderate to severe plaque psoriasis and has publicly
shared her journey with the
disease. As the founder of Chronicon, an
organization with a mission to elevate the
visibility of those living
with chronic illness like plaque psoriasis, Nitika aims to help
this
community find strength beyond their symptoms and break the cycle of isolation
that often accompanies feeling at odds with their bodies. She
wants to continue
sharing her story and giving others the chance to find
the Clear Understanding she
has about
her disease.
I'm Nitika, I live in Brooklyn, New York. I'm a host, a wellness entrepreneur, and a chronic illness advocate. And I have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.
When I got psoriasis, it honestly became such a huge part of my identity. And a lot of that was because I was covered from head to toe for like 17 years of my life with plaque psoriasis. I was so distracted, honestly, because, like my physical symptoms were so challenging that I was also like, scratching and like, itching my skin. And I would get up from my seat and there would be so many flakes everywhere. I was afraid to wear dark clothing. It was everywhere. It was all the time. It dictated how people reacted to me. It dictated how confident I felt.
I thought that I was my disease because it really just took over so much of my life. The impact that psoriasis had on my life and my self-esteem honestly just kept evolving as time went on. I missed out on a lot of opportunities.
I've loved to sing my whole life and I had this voice teacher that I would see, and she called me and she was like, “Nitika, there's this audition, like this open call on Broadway,” and we'd been practicing one of the songs for this musical. “You should totally go audition and just like, put yourself out there.” And I got off the phone with her and I just started crying because I looked at my skin and I felt such discomfort because I was so itchy and flaky and my skin was, you know, bleeding from spots that I had really scratched. And I couldn't show up to an audition like that.
It took me so many years to even get the courage to believe that I was allowed to have big dreams and want more things for myself while my body was going through so much. Because what my body was showing me constantly was that I needed to just be in bed. I needed to be alone, and I kind of didn't really like need or could expect more from myself than that.
So after I realized that and after I sort of took some time and saw like, how far away I was from living the life that I wanted for myself, I called my mom, becuase that's what I always do. And I had to say, you know, can you come visit and like, take me to some doctors and let's figure this out. Let's get on the right course of treatment that's going to work for me.
I think the number one thing that I wish more people understood about psoriasis is that it's not just a skin disease. And I wish that more people asked folks who are living with psoriasis how it impacts them, how it has had an effect on them, because I think you'll see that there's so many ways psoriasis can impact one person. I think it's important to speak up and use your voice. It's just like a part of who I am.
Over time, I saw, oh wait, there's actually this population of people that are just like me. I started to meet people who are going through their own health struggles and I just was like, why aren't we talking about this? Why? Why does it feel like I am the only person on the planet with psoriasis, which could not be farther from the truth?
I now have a clear understanding that the more I talk about my psoriasis and I'm really open about it and let people into my journey, the more I can have compassion for myself and get through this condition with ease and a lot more grace.
Nitika is not taking SOTYKTU.
Portia’s Clear
Understanding
Portia has lived with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis for over half of her life. Like
many living with psoriasis, it took her a while to get diagnosed, and after she was, she felt
relieved to have an answer about what was causing her symptoms. Following her
diagnosis, she was able to learn more about plaque psoriasis, get a Clear Understanding
of her condition, and find ways to cope in her daily life.
I remember going on a date and literally taking everything out of my closet, putting on every long sleeve shirt that I could, trying to feel my best and feel like myself, but also make a good first impression and cover some of the issues I was having with my skin.
My name is Portia. This is the plain truth of living with plaque psoriasis. The first time I noticed anything going on with my skin I, of course, didn't know what it was at the time. I remember showing my mom and she just told me to wash my hair like it's probably just a random dry patch and it ended up being way more than that.
One day I go to see my dermatologist and I finally learned that I have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis and there was a part of me that felt relieved to have a diagnosis and to have some options in terms of treatment and moving forward. And then there was also a part of me that felt down because I knew there is no cure.
It was really hard to deal with emotionally, especially when it was such a crucial time in my life where I was working on figuring out who I am and building my own confidence and learning about my identity. In some ways I would say having psoriasis has shaped who I am in a way.
After I was diagnosed, I did experience actually more symptoms. I experienced more breakouts on my scalp. It also came down onto my forehead and my face, which is still something I battle to this day. No one actually knew that I had plaque psoriasis because I spent so much time, energy, resources towards covering my skin as best as I could.
I've come a long way. I realized that I was holding back in social situations. I realized that I was altering the way that I dressed. I realized I was wearing way more makeup than I wanted to. I was hiding effectively, right?
I was presented with several options for treatment. I went home and sat with it all and thought about what it is that I wanted to do, what felt feasible and aligned with my lifestyle, and then we moved forward from there. From that point, I decided I was going to live out loud.
So, if you're someone that is dealing with this and feels the need to hide, feels the need to conceal this part of yourself, try to find as many people with a common experience as you can. The number one thing that has made me more comfortable with my psoriasis, with talking about it is finding community. Community means safety. Community means that you are supported, and it makes you feel more likely and more comfortable sharing your experience, which normalizes what you're going through.
You're definitely not alone. So many people deal with this condition and it's okay to be upset about it. It's okay to be insecure sometimes, but you have to know that it doesn't define who you are.
My name is Portia, and I now have a clear understanding of my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.
Portia is not taking SOTYKTU.
IS MODERATE TO SEVERE PLAQUE PSORIASIS CAUSING YOU TO MAKE COMPROMISES?
Take this quiz to help uncover which relationships in your life are most impacted by plaque psoriasis
and hear from others about how they’ve navigated conversations to help others get a Clear
Understanding of what life is like with the disease.
It can be uncomfortable to uncover the compromises you make and the stigmas you face because of your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. However, recognizing the plain truth and getting a Clear Understanding of your disease can help you find a path forward, which may include exploring a new treatment option.
If you’d like help starting a conversation with your dermatologist about your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, download this doctor discussion guide. If you want to learn more about moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, click here.
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