Sulfasalazine Alternative Drugs

[VegasLane]

I have the best Rhumatalogist in Las Vegas. He stopped my pain 💯 percent with 2 injections that lasted 4 months. I see him on Tuesday & will get the names of the injectable drugs (goes into your hip and treats your whole body)& write you back. Sulfasalazine is no miracle drug. Stops 40 pct of my pain. My pharmacist says she has over 100 drugs for RA. You need a good doctor!

Seriously, My former Rheumatologist was injecting my hands and knees with steroids. My pharmacist told me to stop doing that and find a good doctor. I did. On my first visit I had the good fortune of meeting with his patient with advanced RA, now requiring surgery. She told me that my new doctor has treatments unknown to the average doctor including IV drugs that he administers every 6 weeks. My best advice is to find a clinic like Mayo or one of the big medical center doctor groups who treat vast numbers of RA patients. With your background of being highly sensitive to RX drugs, they can take your case to the Medical Board of a major doctor group and you will benefit by having many doctors reviewing your case. I have RA, OSTEO and INFLAMMATORY arthritis, all autoimmune related. If you haven't had an autoimmune blood panel, please do so as it scans for 100 autoimmune diseases.

You need the best doctors. I think that is your first priority. If your doctor can't fix your problem, it's time to find a doctor who can help.

[helixhelix]

I guess you are in the United States where things work very differently from here. Rather than all encompassing blood panels, which are very expensive, we are usually give things like ANA tests which are more specific. It would be good to have IVIg or Vectra tests used more, but it is also extremely good to have free healthcare available to all - so I know which I choose.

But were you answering a post from a specific person?

And yes there probably well over 50 specific drugs for RA now, which are well known by proper rheumatologists. So I would be very nervous about being given a drug that which I didn’t even know the name of and which was “a treatment unknown to the average doctor”. I am not a guinea pig.

Sulphasalazine is one of the mildest of the drugs, and generally used for people with early inflammatory arthritis or currently mild RA. Anyone who has more aggressive disease will probably find it is not enough.

[nomoreheels]

I agree with all helix has said but will refrain from adding more until you have chance to find out the names of the two meds. I'm pleased you've found a good Rheumy but yes, here in the UK it's quite different the way our health system works, unless you’re in a position to access private health. We don't have the Mayo clinics here but your info may be helpful for others in the US. We welcome visitors from overseas, like yourself, but protocols vary so here we do have to be aware that costs can be prohibitive, only licensed meds are used unless you're enrolled in a trial. Some of the biologic meds here are given by infusion, some every 6 weeks I believe, so maybe this is the class you are given.

Anyway, let us know what it is you're receiving. I'm sure if anyone has heard of them they'll be along to share their experiences, or knowledge of them if not licensed for use here. 😊