RA treatment

[Roxy29]

Hi ! I have RA and my doctor prescribed me sulfasalazine (4 a day). I have been following the treatment for 12 weeks but I do not see any results. Any advice please!

[bubblyalex]

This is the same I’m on but only one week and a small bit in... I’d ring your rheumy nurse and ask for a consult. They said up to 3 months so ought to have had some effect by now?

[KittyJ]

How was it left with your rheumy, do you have a follow up appointment? You should start to notice some improvements, have there been none at all? If you don’t have a follow up appointment I’d give the rheumy nurse a call to let them know.

[Boxerlady in reply to KittyJ]

I'd definitely ring the nurse helpline; I was in a similar position - changed to Methotrexate injections from tablets and still having issues 11 weeks in and the nurse is speaking to the consultant recommending a dose increase.

Is this your first lot of medication? It's probably only because of the current situation that you haven't had a review already; initially my medication dosage was increased regularly until some real progress had been made.

[nomoreheels]

I think you need to contact your Rheumy team Roxy. The 12 weeks often mentioned is an approximation, any DMARD can take longer to work fully, if it's going to at all, but I would have thought you'd have noticed some improvement by now. Your circumstances may differ with breastfeeding, the dose may need to be lower but the guidance for dosing SSZ here in the UK recommends Initially 500 mg daily, increased in steps of 500 mg every week, increased to 2–3 g daily in divided doses bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/sulfas... I don't know if that is the same in Romania? Did your Rheumy suggest you contact him/her if the SSZ wasn’t helping at all, because I think that's the best thing. It must be so difficult for you so do please seek help from the one that can help.

[allanah]

Hi. You must be fed up. I would like the others say call your doctor. My rheumatologist gave me a course of steroids to get me through the first few weeks until the tablets kicked in and my GP gave me pain killers .

Do look up NRAS.org.uk who have lots of info on being newly diagnosed .

Good luck

[Mollieharry]

My first dmard was sulfasalazine,but I was increased In steps to a dose of 6 pills a day.i was given oral steroids till they kicked in.think you should speak to your rhuemo for advice if you haven’t had any relief at all by now.

[pepecat]

Hi Roxy, this my experience. I have seronegative RD and started on sulphasalazine in 2009. It took about 5 months to work and made me feel really nauseous, but I stuck with it, as I was quite desperate.

Eventually it worked well and the nausea stopped. I started on 6 pills a day, then later it was increased to 9. It worked well for me for 8-9 years, then MTX was added.

Definitely stick with it a while longer, but try to speak to your nurse too. We are all so different.

[Ruffles13]

I take 6 sulfasalazine a day. Plus I now inject weekly. And have never felt better. One and a half years ago I was in so much pain and my rheumatologist never helped me at Darenth Valley. So I moved to the Medway hospital and they was so helpful, I havnt looked back. It is wonderful to have no pain . Wishing you well and pain free.