Taking plaquenil and sulfasalazine | Arthritis Information

I'm new on here but thought it would be a good idea to join a msg board and talk to ppl who are going through the same thing!!! Friends and family help but they really just dont get it! Does everyone agree? Anyways- been diagnosed and have been taking plaquenil since around October- it was helping but my wrists and fingers were still in so much pain that I couldn't even get dressed in the mornings! So I was taking dose packs to help w the pain and my rheumatology finally put me on prednisone- TERRIBLE. I hate prednisone. I couldnt sleep at night, had awful night sweats, weight gain....hate it. Being a 23 yr old female who is getting married in July- weight gain feels like the worst thing that could happen to you. So my doctor wanted to put me on methotrexate and I read sooo many terrible things about it that I begged her to let me try something else first before going to the extreme w the methotrexate. So she is having me start sulfasalazine---- do any of you take this and even better do any of you take this along with plaquenil and/or prednisone because until I can wean myself off the awful prednisone I will be taking all three medicines. I haven't read too many negative side effects of the sulfa- just nausea, upset stomach, loss of appetite- Just wondering what kind of side effects any of you are experiencing- esp if you are taking plaquenil and/or prednisone along with it. I really hope after I'm through w the prednisone that my puffy face will go away Hello!

I'm new here to and new to the Methotrexate. I was as scared as you are but my doc assured me that if it doesn't work for me we can switch to something else and whatever side effects there had been would go back to normal.

I also got a lot of positive feedback from people here at the forum about the MTX which made me a little more brave so I'm going for it now to see what happens. I've only taken two doses so far.

The first one gave me stomach cramps and diarreah but I took all 3 pills at the same time. Doc told me then to try 1 at breakfast, one at lunch and one at dinner. I did that the second time and it worked fine. This weekend will be my 3rd round and I will do the same split and hope it works.

Yesterday I also bought Biotin as many here has suggested as I'm scared of loosing any hair. I understand the doses are so small that we wouldn't go bald or anything but I'd rather not loose any hair!!

The only thing I'm on right now is Sulindac (is a NSAID) and the MTX and I am much better than I was (the Sulindac seems to be great for me). However the follow-up yesterday with the RA doc said that I still have active RA, which I can feel in hands and feet but compared to where I was some weeks ago this is very good.

He have me coming back and see him once a month right now and doing blood works etc which is great.

I hope you will feel better soon and keep your spirit up! There are a lot of great people here who understand what you are going through!

Hi Jenn...welcome!

I've been taking plaquenil, methotrexate and sulfasalazine for many years now.

I was terrified to take mtx in the beginning, so I understand why you'd like to put that off for now. I did the same thing and tried plaquenil first. It did nothing really on it's own for me. Eventually I couldn't even move so I knew I had to give mtx a try. I've been taking it for 18 yrs now and it's REALLY helped me. I've not had any problems with it. Sulfasalazine was added to the mix later on and the only thing I can think of was that I had headaches in the beginning...but increasing my water intake helped with that.

I don't really think that the sulfasalazine would have helped me on it's own or with just the plaquenil. The methotrexate is what really helped me.

If the time comes where you need to give it a try...try not to worry too much about it...it just may be the right med for you. There are many who never have any problems with it.

Good Luck!

Hi Jenn, welcome! I take sulfasalazine along with pred and Humira (I was just approved for Cimzia, so will start that next week). When sulfasalazine was added, I initially took 1 500mg. tab 2x daily and was to go to 2 tabs 2x daily. It made me a little nauseated and caused some abdominal pain initially, so it took a bit longer to work up to the optimal dose, but I got there and I do think it helps. Make sure you drink plenty, like Kel says, and I take it after I have eaten.

Jenn, young or old, we all go through worrying about what we put in our bodies to fight this disease; I just went through a huge struggle with what to take next because the Humira is not working for me. I will start Cimzia next week and I am looking forward to finding some relief and getting my life back on track and I hope this drug does it for me! I hope you find what fits you best and works well to keep your disease in check... or better yet, remission. Research shows, the earlier and the more aggressive you treat this disease, the better off you will be.

All the best to you, and you will be absolutely lovely on your wedding day, I have no doubt! Thank you everybody for being so welcoming and making me feel better about things!!! Well I started the sulfa today.......took it with food and still got really sick. Dry heaving and diarrhea- not fun. But we'll see what happens after I take it a few more times I guess. I hope you all find relief from this as well- nobody deserves this but I guess we just have to deal with the situation that was handed to us and be as positive as possible. Which is not always easy. Hi Jenn, what you describe is just about what happen to me. I dropped to 1 tab a day, then went to 1 tab 2x daily, and as I adjusted to that, on up. You might want to talk to your doctor or pharmacist to see if this is okay. I find my pharmacist to be a great help in talking to me about drug reactions and how I might deal with them, or if I should be dealing with them at all!

Good luck, girl, and I hope you find relief!

Waddie I have to go on sulfa and plaquenil with my MTX. Is it helping any of you? Enbrel isn't working for me because of infections. My dx wanted to try Humira but I didn't want to continue on biologics, I just want a break. Aleva...the combination of mtx, plaquenil and sulfasalazine has helped me quite a bit over the yrs. It certainly is worth as try. I still have bad days, but overall I'm happy with the results of this combo.

Good Luck!

Jennm45 and Aleva....I have been on a Plaquenil/Sulfasalazine mix for the past two years with no side effects at all and my RA is now in clinical remission. Also took Prednisone for 1 year in combo with the other two drugs and that helped immensely.

As Waddie has stated, you must start taking the Sulfa in a low dose and build up, and I am assuming you are doing that? Your Doctor should have given you instructions re dosage.

Another thing to bear in mind is that it can take up to 6 months with both Plaq and Sulfa to notice a difference so do hang in there with it if you can. I had the Pred during that 6 months and felt as normal as I was pre RA.

Good luck to you both in getting the right mix for you sorted very soon.

LyndeeNZ- yea for the first week I am taking sulfa twice a day- each time only taking one pil. After 7 days I bump it up to 3 a day, and then in another 7 days I bump it up to 4 a day. The first time I took the sulfa I got really sick but it must have been because I hadn't ate very much. Now if I take it on a full stomach I seem to be okay just have a few cramps but nothing that I can't deal with!!! I am slowly weaning off of prednisone and cant wait to be off it totally!!! I feel like its made my stomach and face puffy (even though everyone else says they dont see it). I can def tell that it has!!! Very frustrating esp w a wedding 4 months away!!! So hopefully in about a month or so I will be on just Plaquenil and sulfa and I really hope that works for me so that I dont have to keep swithing medicines or start on Methotrexate.

I've never taken sulfasalazine, but I've been on plaquenil for a couple years now. I had problems with nausea for the first month or so, and even lost a few pounds because of it. Finally after a couple months, it started working and the nausea went away. It wasn't a huge deal, more of an annoyance than anything. I found that taking it at night before bedtime with a benadryl reduced the nausea. UPDATE!!! Been on the sulfa, plaquenil and weaning off the prednisone for a week or so now (almost 2) and things seem to be going well!!! Sulfa def made me sick the first few times I took it- was dry heaving and was very nauseous but quickly figured out that I need to have a pretty full stomach before I take it or that will happen every time!!! I cant WAIT to be totally off prednisone!!! I hurt a little bit without the full 2 but I'd rather deal with the little bit of pain then the puffy face!! I'm down to a pill and a half a day and my puffiness has already gone away on my face!! YAYY!!! Can't wait to cut it down to 1 pill a day and so on!!! Hopefully the sulfa will work well with the plaquenil and I wont ever have to be on methotrexate or any other medicines!!! Hi Im a newbie to this forum from the UK but have so far been reading, reading and re-reading posts here and have found them invaluable. Thank you all for helping to keep me positive and to stem the fear of the unknown. I started on Mex first gradually upping the dose then added Plaquenil - had a half reduction in Mex due to high LFT's and now ive been asked to try Sulfasalazine on top of it all. Rheumatologist told me it could make me feel sick but try it anyway, just stop if I am sick. Fingers crossed, as its been a bit hit and miss for the last 2 years of having this. Im hoping something will lay this relatively dormant soon. Can I ask, do you all manage to work? I am an Administrator and even though my hands have been very painful and wrists and feet feeling like they'd been borrowed from someone else, ive managed to stave off sick days......well all except for the 2 days I woke and thought id been made into a manequin and couldnt move from the neck down
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