Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
Here's a pretty good article in the NY Times, listing most of the RA drugs we know, and some of the side effects of these drugs.
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/rheumatoid-arthritis/medications.html
My brother, who's researching his next step in the drug progression (he's gone thru Plaquenil and sulfasalazine) found this. It's interesting to note that EVERY drug prsents problems for SOME group of people, and that drugs lose their effectiveness on an average of 2 years.
For those of you looking to change to something more effective, use this as a guide, but don't stop here. And, always remember that each of us reacts differently to a drug or combination of drugs.
As an aside, my brother happened upon an article that discusses a prorocol that's commonly used in Europe. If anybody can comment on this, I'd appreciate it. The article he read said that people are started on 15 mg methotrexate, and if that doesn't work, the dose is increased to 25 mg. If that still doesn't work, 2 grams of sulfasalazine is added, then 3 grams, and finally, if all that has failed, Humira is added to the mix. I've asked him to tell me what the waiting time is, to determine efficacy at each step, and I'll post that info as a comment.
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/rheumatoid-arthritis/medications.html
My brother, who's researching his next step in the drug progression (he's gone thru Plaquenil and sulfasalazine) found this. It's interesting to note that EVERY drug prsents problems for SOME group of people, and that drugs lose their effectiveness on an average of 2 years.
For those of you looking to change to something more effective, use this as a guide, but don't stop here. And, always remember that each of us reacts differently to a drug or combination of drugs.
As an aside, my brother happened upon an article that discusses a prorocol that's commonly used in Europe. If anybody can comment on this, I'd appreciate it. The article he read said that people are started on 15 mg methotrexate, and if that doesn't work, the dose is increased to 25 mg. If that still doesn't work, 2 grams of sulfasalazine is added, then 3 grams, and finally, if all that has failed, Humira is added to the mix. I've asked him to tell me what the waiting time is, to determine efficacy at each step, and I'll post that info as a comment.
Started on Plaquenil and MTX, worked up to 25mg MTX. Added Sulfasalazine, then ultimately added Humira. From diagnosis to adding Humira was about 5 or 6 months. If memory serves (and that's a BIG RA "if"!), I was on Plaquenil and MTX only for about 3 months, then added Sulfasalazine and 3 months later Humira. Then doc said give Humira 4 full months (without having to stop for sickness or whatever) before we decide the next step. And I think I'm at that 4 month marker.
I'll be curious to hear what your bro says about it!
Tort
Hugs