Sulfasalazine | Arthritis Information

I'm interested to hear if anyone here is on sulfasalazine and it's working for you. I know it's supposedly not as fast-acting as MTX, but I'd love some feedback.

Many thanks!

(Edited for spelling!)

drmalcolm39337.6449074074I just started taking it as well 1 week ago today. I have to say after only 1 week it is helping things a little so far (I have Crohn's as well so it's helping that) but I was told to give it a month or so to know for sure. I am interested to hear others imput too. Sorry I can't help with more info. Good luckIt is one of the most effective drugs I have been on once they built it up to six per day but not effective enough for me to stay on long term. Only side effects were dizziness, that did settle and hair breakage.

I hope it does the job for you quickly, Christina. Thanks so much for responding, Sarah, and good luck!

Cordelia, we must have been posting at the same time, I'm sorry!

So was it that your damage was getting worse as shown by x-rays and such? Is that how doctors adjust medication, or is it more of how it makes you feel from the pain?

And, Sarah, is there a reason that your doctor chose sulfasalazine over MTX?

I've not been prescribed anything so far, just researching. Ah, if there were a career where researching meds and conditions (and self-diagnosing, LOL) made the big bucks, I'd be rolling in the dough! I have always had a joke about my pain levels...high was 15 out of 10, 7 out of 10...my life was manageable and 17 out of ten was...give me morphine now.

DrMalcolm - she choose sulfasalazine because it is used for Crohn's as well as RA and I have both, so hopefully it works!

Good luck making the right choice :)

Christina

Sulfasalazine worked very well for me for 8/9 years from initial R.A. diagnosis. Took some time to work when first started it, as I was very inflammed all over due to not being diagnosed for a year. Then after two months it just got better and better. Then it stopped working a couple of years back, as my condition got really out of control with flares and I switched to MTX in 2006.

I never noticed any side effects from Sulfasalazine so I was lucky. I was told it seldom gives many problems as such. Other than a slight tummy feeling in the first few weeks, the only thing I noticed was a change in colour of urine (slightly orange - this happens to everyone I was told) but if you drink a lot of wter, etc, that's going to dilute it anyhow.

Cordelia - I send you (gentle) hugs! You really sound up against it. I too am an all over RA deal, sad to say. I do agree that as the patient, we often know more than our GP as we have the experience our bodies give us and we read up and research/exchange info on places like here. When I ask my GP he says "you know better than I" which is frustrating but at least he acknowledges I am informed. You certainly have a sense of humour and that's what keeps us from going ga-ga - being able to smile when it's not easy.

Joolie

Christina

Sulfasalazine. Yes, I agree with Cordelia... one of the most effective anti r/a drugs around. In fact the only one that worked for me. My rheumatologist put me on 6x500 mg a day and said "wait 10 weeks." Almost 10 weeks to the day, the inflammation started to subside. There have been a few studies written on sulfasalazine and its efficacy which you could probably find by googling. It made a huge difference to me for several years. Good luck!

I was in hospital in 2002 when i started Sulfasalizine i had ESR results of a 117 after around 12 to 14 weeks i felt much better and my ESR went down to around 35 . I think its agreat drug for RA it realy did me good no side effects just a little headache at first

Recently i have had a few problems and Sulfasalizine is not working as well and i am having MTX added

Does any one know why it starts to be less effective ?

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate all of the personal experiences. It's just nice to know everything possible about any drug a doctor might (or might not!) recommend.