I've never heard of that one, but that's interesting to know there may possibly be other options out there since not everyone seems to get good results from methotrexate or imuran.

Zzz1 knows so much about this kind of thing hopefully she can give you some good information. Otherwise you'll have to let us know how it works for you. Hopefully you'll see good improvement with the new medication. :)

Hey guys, check out your drug interactions, side effects, etc. using this website. I use it to learn about all of my drugs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leflunomide

Awwww...thanks for thinking I know stuff Hopefull, but I have to say that I'm not that familiar with Arava. not that common in my daily practice. Looked it up though and it seems to have the same warnings as other DMARDs. Used mostly in Arthritis..some in lupus. Biggest thing to watch for is liver toxicity and eye problems. PLUS...you look pretty young and not that methotrexate is any better but the NIH page I saw said it had a really long half life (that means how long it take the concentration in your body to fall by 1/2) and could take as long as 2 years to completely out of your system. Reason I mention it...don't get pregnant ANYTIME in the 2 years after you stop.

Good luck with it. let us know how it works. :-)

Yes unfortunatly i read the same thing about having to wait 2 years for it to be out of your system...it about killed me i wish my doctor would have told me that because I definetly would have refused to take it....

Hopefully it will help though; that would be worth it.

Just wanted to update...got the one side effect of Leflunomide very unpleasant...now i have switched to Imuran I pray I dont get any unwanted side effects from it..i wanted to go back to methotrexate pills but doc says they weren't workin well..i hate switching medicines the side effects of these medicines are crazy

I'm on imuran taking 100mg per day. My doctor told me to take 50mg with breakfast and 50mg with dinner so I wouldn't feel so sick. I got fairly sick with it the first 2 weeks. Really bad the first week & slightly better the 2nd and then just better from there. The only time it makes me feel sick is if I don't eat enough and drink enough water when I take it. Otherwise that's the only side effect I've had with it.

I hope you do as well with it as I have. I'm scared to change to anything else because usually I'm really sensitive to drugs, but the imuran has been the easiest to tolerate so far.

I'm sorry you didn't do well with the arava, but maybe that's for the best.I hope you do better with the imuran. Just don't be surprised if you feel pretty sick in the beginning. Hopefully your stomach is stronger than mine.