Sulfasalazine is this enough | Arthritis Information

Hi Everyone

This is my update. I went to my rheumy this week to discuss starting treatment. Just a reminder I am on Arthrotec 2X a day for approx. 2 mo. He has decided to start me on 2X a day Sulfasalazine 500mg added on to the Arthrotec. Does this sound right? Everything I have been reading talks about Mex etc. Not that I want any drugs at all but just wondering is this considered aggressive enough? Anyone else on just this med?

Also another question I have noticed that some people on these forums seem to be only taking anti-inflammatories as their meds. Why is that?

Thanks in advance.

Have a Good Day!

For me, sulfasalazine would do nothing on it's own. The same goes for plaquenil. But when added to methtrexate, they seem to work better. That's been my experience. It's really hard to say what's right for you. As far as being aggressive enough...in my opinion, I would say no.

Maybe you should ask your doctor if he/she thinks this is aggressive enough when u see him/her next...especially if you're still having pain.

Good luck! Maybe it will work for you on it's own!
Kelly

Vitamins,

My first DMARD was Plaquenil, it's also considered a mild DMARD. It worked well for me for about 2 years by itself. I eventually needed to add other drugs to my regimen, but in the beginning, it was enough. When the Plaquenil quit working, we did try to add Sulfasalazine, but it did nothing for me. Neither did Methotrexate. Everyone is different, so give it a shot. If it doesn't work, you can try something else.

good luck with the new med...I hope it does the trick.. and in a reasonable period of time, if not, perhaps your RD will want to get you moving on something else.

the strange thing is there are many different ways to attack RA.... and we dont' know what will work til we try it.. good luck!!
Ask your doctor why he/she chose this route. Perhaps you have other medical conditions that are not compatible with methotrexate, the various biologics, etc. No one here is qualified to say whether or not your treatment plan is adequate. Your doctor may add something else later. Alot of times doctors do not like to start you on more than one med at the same time. This way you know if you have a problem which med may have caused it.

I hope this medicine and this doctor work well for you.

Jas is right we are not doctors. On the other hand everyone that is new to RA asks these sort of questions.

LOL Usually people complain about being put on MTX because they can not have alchohol with it. Alot of people have sulfa allergies and can not take what you are taking.

I read some where once that MTX was not the best medicine and the article questioned why so many doctors started people on it most of the time any way. Both meds are in the same catagory so I would not be too concerned about what you start on.

It is new and scary and it is alright to ask questions as long as you remember we are just people. All of us different ideas and different allergies and other problems. Some of us respond well to a medicine and some of us do not respond well to anything no matter how hard we may try.

Some people do take what you are taking and do well with it. Others may take multiple meds because that is what is needed and works for them. We all have to start somewhere.

It takes awhile for all meds to start working so be patient. Keep your doctor informed to what side effects you have if any. Hopfully you have none and all goes wonderful. That is the plan.

You can continue to ask us our experiences and remember all of our experiences are different. I do not care how strong a medicine is or how many people take it and have success. There are some of us that will fail to improve on it.

I think many people that had success on a medicine believe it will work for everyone just because it worked for them. That is just not always the case. People may preach and get others hopes up and they do not realize that they were just the lucky ones.

I did the best so far on chloriquin Phosphate. I became allergic to it after several months. It was a disease modifying drug not a biologic. Also hardly anyone ever takes it. I was just given it because I was allergic to Arava, Mtx and plaquinil. I am allergic to sulfa so I was never given the med you are taking. So for me MTX was the second medicine they put me on not the first.

Let us know how you do. We do certainly care and hope that you get some relief.