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...
Hi everyone,
l have been on sulfalazine for nearly 3 months and plaquenil for 2 months .Also currently on 10mg of pred.
How long before these drugs start to kick in?
My hands are still swollen and i have been getting increasing pain in my ankles.feet ,elbows and hands.
I am not sure if my symptoms are worse because l have gone back to work as a nurse and its a physical job or that i am just having a flare up
Should l be seeing an improvement by now? How will know that the DMARDS are working ?
I feel confused should i be seeing my RA doc about changing meds ?
I have also been on MTX but had horrible side effects so had to stop it!
If l was on the right cocktail of meds should i not have pain or am l been totally unrealistic
Would really appreciate some advice as i dont know what to do and its really getting me down.I am not even working fulltime yet and iam struggling
Hope your all having a good weekend
Izzymimi x
l have been on sulfalazine for nearly 3 months and plaquenil for 2 months .Also currently on 10mg of pred.
How long before these drugs start to kick in?
My hands are still swollen and i have been getting increasing pain in my ankles.feet ,elbows and hands.
I am not sure if my symptoms are worse because l have gone back to work as a nurse and its a physical job or that i am just having a flare up
Should l be seeing an improvement by now? How will know that the DMARDS are working ?
I feel confused should i be seeing my RA doc about changing meds ?
I have also been on MTX but had horrible side effects so had to stop it!
If l was on the right cocktail of meds should i not have pain or am l been totally unrealistic
Would really appreciate some advice as i dont know what to do and its really getting me down.I am not even working fulltime yet and iam struggling
Hope your all having a good weekend
Izzymimi x
I will say that even with the right meds, you can still flare. I do if I'm overstressed or have simply pushed myself to far. You should have a heck of a lot more good days then bad though. If 9 out of 10 of your days symptomatic, talk about changing RX's.
Hope this helps. It would be amazing if RA was an easy fix. Unfortunately, for most of us, it's a very long and complicated ride.
Good luck, and stay with it, even if it takes a while. The plaquenil is a long-standing and very effective drug. with limited side effects, which is why my rheumy wanted to use it first.