I took my first dose of my DMARDS today... Its SULFASALIZINE OR (AZULFIDINE)... I got my paper in front of me this time so i dont misspell it. Ok, so it made me sooo sick.. It felt like a gallbladder attack... I had my gallbladder removed in January. My stomach hurt so bad in the pit of my stomach and then I got so nauseaus... I threw up twice..sorry if thats TMI !! Ok so the paper said its common to have stomach upset and nausea until your body adjusts... that was rediculous though... once I got all of it off my stomach im fine now... Ok... so what should I do???? Is this normal??? Should I not take another til I talk to my dr??? Will it hurt to stop after just 1??? Advise Please!!!!
Linda
I don't know. You know your body. That does sound pretty bad as far as
intolerance. I would probably call the pharmacist and run it by them.
They could point you in the right direction since they know more about
drugs than the dr.
Sounds miserable...blechI'm sorry you had such a terrible experience! I'm afraid I don't have any advice for you -- I haven't tried this drug.
I did eat and I drank ALOT of water with it someone one here told me I should drink lots of water cause it can dehydrate you... Im also taking Celebrex (pain), hydrocodine (pain), Baby Asprin (pain), nexium (stomach) Lexapro (antidepressant) and occasionally zanax for panic attacks... and now the sulfasalazine. I had like a deep pain in the middle of my ribcage... burned and hurt... and i felt like i had a lump in my throat then a bad taste in my mouth then I got nauseaus and started throwin up....
Linda
Who do you get your prescriptions filled by? Is your pharmacy open
24hrs? I took that med. for years and the only side effect I had was that
everything tasted like metal. Also, does you RD have an on-call dr?
I also had my gallbladder out so I know how painful that is. That is alot
of pain from a pill. I wouldn't take it again without asking someone. You
should be fine now since it is out of your system.
You should call your doctor tomorrow and let him/her know what happened and ask if you should continue with it.
I've only had headaches with sulfasalazine...nothing like what happened with you. If that had happened with me, I'd not take it until talking with my doctor.
Kelly
I use our hometown pharmacy and no they close at 6pm... I have only seen this dr. twice but I dont think there is another one in his office... I will call first thing in the morn. See... i cant take sulfer based antibiotics either and I told him that, they make me sick too but this was way worse...He said he wanted to try me out on this anyway because its the least "toxic" of all the DMARDS. Do any of yall have that kinda reaction to other DMARDS can I just expect them to make me feel icky? I really hope not I cant see me functioning that way.. I do good to get along w/ just the joint pain and tirdness....Call your doctor. That seems like a significant reaction to the medication. It is better to be safe than sorry. I wouldn't take it again until you speak with your dr.
Keep us posted
Phats
JoJo:
I just reread your post. How much water did you drink? You said a lot? I'm wondering if the vomiting was from too much water? I would still check with my dr. before taking it again. Maybe you ate and drank too much? I'm not sure, but I would clarify that too.
Phats
I drank 8 oz of water and a cup of coffee and ate 2 pecan cinnomon rolls... pretty normal for me...PRESCRIBED FOR: Sulfasalazine is used for the treatment of mild to moderate ulcerative colitis; as adjunctive therapy (i.e. with other medications) in the treatment of severe ulcerative colitis; for the treatment of Crohn's disease; for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis.
DOSING: Doses range from 500mg to 2000mg, and dosing intervals range from every 6 hours to every 12 hours, depending on the clinical condition of the patient. Higher doses have also been used. Sulfasalazine should be taken with a full glass of water after meals or with food to minimize stomach upset. Patients with kidney diseases may need to use lower doses of sulfasalazine.
DRUG INTERACTIONS: Sulfasalazine may cause reduced absorption of folic acid and of digoxin.
PREGNANCY: In hundreds of pregnant women with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease treated with sulfasalazine, there has been no increase in the risk of fetal malformations relative to other women with these illnesses who have not been treated with sulfasalazine. Additionally, there have not been ill effects on pregnant animals given high doses of sulfasalazine. Thus, sulfasalazine may be used during pregnancy if the physician feels the benefit outweighs the possible risk.
It should also be noted, however, that sulfasalazine may reduce sperm count and sperm function in men taking the medication. These effects are reversible upon stopping the medication.
NURSING MOTHERS: Caution should be exercised by women who are nursing their infants. Sulfasalazine and its constituents penetrate into breast milk and may displace bilirubin in the newborn. This can cause jaundice.
SIDE EFFECTS: Gastrointestinal disturbances frequently occur in patients taking sulfasalazine. Nausea, vomiting, gastric distress, and anorexia (loss of appetite) occur in about 1 of every 3 patients receiving the drug. Dizziness can occur during sulfasalazine therapy but does not require medical attention unless it is persistent. Sulfasalazine frequently causes the skin or the urine to change color. Development of an orange-yellow coloration is of no cause for concern.
Several potentially dangerous side effects have been rarely reported with sulfasalazine. A drop in white blood cell count or a type of anemia in which red blood cells are disrupted (hemolyzed) occur more frequently in patients with arthritis who are treated with sulfasalazine (about 6 per 1,000) than in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease who are treated with sulfasalazine (about 6 per 10,000). These effects are characterized by fever, pale skin, sore throat, fatigue, and unusual bleeding and bruising, and require discontinuation of the drug.
Continuing headache, allergic reactions, and photosensitivity may develop during sulfasalazine therapy and require medical attention. Some of the allergic reactions may progress from a rash to difficulty in swallowing, blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin, aching joints and muscles, and unusual tiredness or weakness. It may be accompanied by fever. The more severe allergic reactions are rare.
Oh hunny I am so sorry you had such a bad reaction to this med. I was never prescribed that med because I have such a severe allergy to sulfa based medications. I was surprised that it was prescribed to you considering your allergy to sulfa based meds. Please check with your doc before taking that again. Your body really did not like that med at all.
I have been in remission before. Once a med free remission and once a remission that was meds induced. My med free remission lasted a few years. My meds remission ended because I had to go off my humira and mtx due to pnuemonia and then a virus and a sinus infection and another virus followed the pnuemonia. Yeah last fall and winter sucked big time lol. However, I am thisclose to a meds remission again. I go into long lasting remissions as long as I do not have to stop my ra meds. I do have mild flare ups with the weather and my rd said that is to be expected even in remission. Please keep in mind that this is different for everyone as ra does different things to different people and meds all work differently for everyone too.
Please let us know what the doc said and please let us know how you are feeling.
Thats a nasty reaction! If you're allergic to sulpher based antibiotics then you could definately be allergic to sulfasalazine. What dose did you start on? I had to start taking one pill a day for a week and add one every week 'til I was taking 4 a day - this was done to avoid such an upset stomach and harsh reaction.
Call your doc: I hope things improve soon!
So sorry you got so sick.
I have been on sulfasalazine for about 4 months now. My RD started me on a low dose and waited until my body adjusted to that before increasing the dose.
But, it sounds to me as if you are allergic to sulfa drugs so I would certainly call him before taking anymore.
You never know about these drugs. The mildest one, Plaquinil made me very sick to my stomach and have really bad rashes. Hope you feel better today.
Let us know what happensHow are you feeling now? I take it but I started really slow. The first 10
days I took one (500mg) a day, in the morning. They took my blood,
which was ok and then I took 2 a day, one in morning and one at night.
After another 10 days, I did the same until I was taking 4 tabs a day. 2 in
the morning and 2 in the evening.
Also mine had EN after it, which means it is coated so it doesn't digest in
your stomach but does in your intestines.
My instructions read, take after a full meal and with a 8 oz glass of water.
My skin hasn't changed and I am in the sun all the time, I do wear PF 45
though daily.
Hope you are feeling better. BeeHi Jojo, so sorry about your reaction, I have never reacted like that to that drug but I had a similar but more severe reaction to Azathioprine aka Imuran, ended up calling the ambos and having a drip for dehydration and stematil to stop the vomiting that had been going on for 3 hours, don't take it again, phone your Dr. Regards Janie.
JO JO BABY:
You are allergic to sulfa drugs but your doc wanted you to try it anyway????That's just crazy.
I was allergic to sulfasalizine too. Stomach cramps, vomiting and a rash all over. My dr told me to stop taking it and never to take any drugs containing sulfa again. I have been on humira injected every other week now for a bout a few months and I find I am doing much better especially with my fatique. I hope you can find something soon to help you feel better. But lay off the sulfa. Call your dr and tell him to get his head out of his @ss! LOL
Welp its been 2 days now, my dr. WONT call me back...Im not takin that crap again...im still not feeling right... I have heartburn and indigestion still!!!! GRRRRRR..... I aint had problems w/ my stomach since January and this SUCKS!! This lil stunt w/ him not callin me back is makin me kinda weary of him... Hes supposed to be awesome, but I need a lil more from him I think... like to CALL BACK... ticks me off... They quit accepting calls at 10:30 this am... WTF! Anyways im gonna get on the horn first thing and wont stop til i talk to a HUMAN!Oh man I am so sorry you are still not feeling well. you are right...don't take that stuff again!!! If you can't get in touch with your rd, what about your PCP?
You have the right attitude. Keep going until you get an answer!!!! Please keep us updated!!!