You're welcome.
We do all need to come to decisions for ourselves, but I've found a pushy doctor will make me too scared to try something and a doctor who kindly explains things to me makes it seem less scary.
One thing I do is look at the percentage of people on a drug that get a certain side effect compared to those on placebo. If the side effect is minor, I might try it even if the percentage is high. If the side effect is major, I'll consider the drug if the percentage is low. As far as I can tell, the bad side effects of TNF inhibitors is pretty low. Too, it can depend on family background (i.e. MS risk, cancer risk), but that's the kind of conversation a good doctor will have with the patient.
And some of what you say, like MS…if you are aware and pay attention, soon as you get new symptoms that seem MS like, you can stop the drug before it progresses too far….that's my understanding though I might be wrong.
And from someone who has / had NAFLD, if one monitors the liver enzymes, one can tell when the liver starts to get a little unhappy and if the culprit is removed right away, the liver can repair itself in those initial stages. I had NAFLD from diabetes (fatty infiltration due to carbs being converted to fats due to the diabetes), but we caught it early with blood work and the pravastatin that I started taking for my lipids / cholesterol has really improved my liver. So I have experience fixing a liver at the beginning stages of damage.
My aunt developed some cirrhosis of the liver due to the diabetes. She lost a lot of weight and improved her diet tremendously (while I've always eaten healthy, she ate terribly (she's the first to admit that…she was a bus dispatcher and so ate a lot of fast food, donuts, things on the run)) and was able to stop any further liver damage.
But you must weigh the risks and advantages for yourself. It was a risk I was willing to take.
I've read books / articles that talk about how we can often be most afraid of the things with the lowest risks and not afraid of the things with the highest risks, depending on what we are used to, depending on the news we hear, etc. Often our fears do not correlate with the risks….I try to remember that whenever I'm trying to evaluate something.
Talk to your doctor about your fears. With his or her knowledge, maybe you can come to an informed decision. Ask to look at the paperwork that comes with the various biologics or get it on-line. Look at the percentage of people that get the things you're worried about.
These discussions do help as well. They definitely helped me.
I just kept remembering those who said "it changed my life" in regards to the biologics…I wanted to be able to say that.
But again, you have to decide for yourself.
