Sulfasalazine | Arthritis Information

Hi, I'm new here please be nice

I cannot help ya out with the sulfasalazine, as I found out the hard way that I was allergic to sulfa after taking it for a couple of days.

I just wanted to say Welcome to AI and hope to get to know you better!Thank you for the welcome

Hi and welcome,

I took sulfasalazine for several months with no adverse effects, it just didn't help me. I was taken off mtx because of the side effects,too. I hope you're able to find some relief with it

I tried once, but couldn't tolerate the abdominal swelling and cramping.

Thanks again for the welcome :)

I'm sorry to hear it didn't help you. My situation is basically this; my rheum wants to apply for funding for Humira but it can takes ages to come through over here (I'm in the UK) so in the meantime he wants to start me on the sulfasalazine.

I'm just nervous about being on something thats not going to work too well (even the rheum said it probably wouldnt work too well with me)...when I first had the athritis the pain was awful, and the thought of going back to a situation like that makes me wary. I know with my body i have no choice but to put up with what it throws at me! But still. I guess I'm trying to get as much feedback from everyone so I can mentally prep myself for the pain if its likely to happen.

Edit thanks for replying kweenb. You got abdominal swelling?! I knnow this sounds vain, but I was hoping the sulfa would actually help with weight loss as it can suppress appetite. (Ive been on steroid far too long and have put on far too much weight with them!) I lost 2 stone when I was on metho.
Orion739253.6406481481I was on sulfasalize for ulcerative colitis a few years ago (before RA). It worked well for me and I didn't have any side effects. No weight gain or belly swelling. I hope it works for you! Love, JOrion--Did you try the injectable methotrexate? Sometimes those that cannot tollerate the pills often have good results w/ the injectable form. Thanks Julia, that sounds promising :)

Kelsaysmommy...I haven't tried injectable metho. I've just been doing whateever my rheumatologist tells me to do, and he didn't mention that would be an option! I'll ask him about it next time I see him. Liek I said, the metho did work very well for my joints.

The thing is, my side effects weren't sickness etc (well, I did get that but could tolerate it) they were neurological (dizziness, confusion, shakiness, eye problems, numbness etc which are apparantly more rare) Do you know if injecting would get around those as well? Part of me wonders whether it was just because I wasnt getting enough folic acid, or b12, but upping the dose of folic acid still didn't help much.

Argh! Sorry, i'm rambling now. I'm just trying to get my head around this condition, and this is the first time I've found somewhere I can talk about it with other sufferers; my rheumatologist doesn't really have time to sit around and chat about these things.
Hi and welcome,

It was one of the first drugs I was put on, not much effect but I am still on it (and several others including MTX). I feel better after a year, but not great. Good to have you aboard!

Mary B
Just a thought, but if the Sulfasalazine isn't enough, maybe you could take a combo of Sulfasalazine and Plaquenil? Or maybe Arava?

Being on any kind of RA med while waiting for humira will help with the progression to an extent. If you take something it might help with not causing anymore joint damage. Where as if you are not taking anything except pred, you have a greater chance of joint damage being caused. I think joint damage might happen either way, just depends on the severity of your RA.

Thanks for the replies everyone They are both DMARDs. I take Plaquenil which is hydroxychloroquine. I think Arava is leflunomide. Do those sound familiar?Ah yes lefluonamide. I've heard of hydroxychloroquinine but not as much a lefluonamide. My rheumatologist also mentioned cyclosporine and gold injections.

Thanks for suggesting that, I'll ask my rheum next time I see him (4 weeks). AS has been mentioned, I'm keen to keep the joint damage to a minimum, so I'm happy to take a cocktail of drugs if it works!

Hi and welcome! I've never taken Sulfasalazine myself, but a co-worker of mine was on it for over a year with no response. I have been on Methotrexate before, a little over 2 years I believe, but I started having nausea and abdominal pain so I was switched to Arava. I've been on the Arava for almost 6 months, but I'm still having occasional nausea and abdominal/epigastric pain, so not sure if it was the Methotrexate after all. Arava might be something to consider while you wait for the funding for the Humira.

Gale

I found out I was allergic to sulfasalzine. I have been allergic to several drugs. I currently am on Humira injections every two weeks 40mgs. I also broke out in hives with it. My dr has me take benedryl about a half hour before my injections and I take it every 4 hours for 3 days after. It got rid of the hives and itching. People are so different and what works for someone maynot work for someone else. Good luck and welcome to AI> I hope you get some good results very soon.

Take care

It was the first drug I was on and it put me into remission but only lasted for 4 years. Since then I've been on gold, methotrexate, arava and humira. Arava and gold worked the others did not. Different drugs work on different people so its worth trying. I had no side effects except that I turned a bit yellow.Coral, are you still a bit yellow? The gold therapy always seems so freaky to
me, for some reason. But if I had to do it I would.No it was only the salazopyrin that made me yellow. It went when I stopped taking it. I was on 25mg of methotrexate and it nothing then as a last resort they tried gold and my ESR went from 135 to 20 within a couple of weeks. It was like a magic bullet but it wore off after 9 years. They added Arava and my RA was kept under control but I got really bad bowel problems so stopped it. Then I tried Humira which did nothing. My point is gold was by far the best drug for me even though its probably the last one they would try. I've had no side effects. Have just gone back on it to try with different combinations so all in all have been on it 12 years and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

hi - I've been on sulphasalasine for 15 years with no side effects at all except yellow urine! It was the drug I was started on and doesn't do much for me now so I'm now also on methetrexolate, but it did work for quite a while. I'm on top dose of 6x 500mg per day. I was told that sulphasalasine has been around for years and is considered very safe.

I'm also taking 6 500mg pills a day. I'm taking the sulfasalazine along with plaquenil and mtx. On it's own I don't think it would do much for me.Thank you everyone for all your information.

that's exactly why I come here first before taking any new drugs. I do trust my MD, but,...... first hand testimonials is what I need to hear.

I too have taken Sulfazine, for just over a year and had to stop. It did help w/ my inflamation #'s & pain. I just couldn't handle what it did to my skin. I spend way too much time out in the sun to be on that kind of drug. I broke out all the time. I am supposed to be on mtx, but the first dose of that sent me reeling. So I've been off both for about a month and so far, so good. I need to go have my blood work done and see what the numbers say.

Good luck.

Peace