I have just started ( 6 weeks ago) on sulphasalazine taking 3 per day at the moment .
However , since taking it I’ve noticed a chaa as he in my mood . I’m getting irritated easily and feeling unsociable and depressed.
This is not like me at all and I’m wondering if it’s the drug.
Has anyone else had this reaction to this drug, and if so , did it wear off?
I was hoping it would work as I’m not happy trying anything else . Thanks
Hi LinaM, yes it did and no it didn’t! You start to think it’s all in your mind don’t you? It’s not. Someone who has been on it longer may tell you if it wears off. But don’t suffer in silence.
Sulfasalazine made me feel very down. I only really realised it once I stopped taking it and it felt like a cloud had lifted from me.
Hello LinaM, I take three Sulfasazine per day just as you do and I am grateful to you for telling us you suffer from irritability and depression. I, too, have mild depression and irritability but it's feeling unsociable that strikes the most chords with me! I go out of my way to avoid social contact (having been a extrovert all my 'normal' life) and can't be bothered to meet my friends .. I, at first, blamed the shielding we have to practise for the change in my outgoing personality but since you have raised the subject of Sulfasalazine being the culprit I am reconsidering! It would be of great interest to discover if others on this marvellous site are suffering this side-effect.
The other problem with sorting out side effects when you first start on medication is that you are also having to make a big psychological adjustment to viewing your self as having a long-term (chronic) illness. This makes you depressed, irritable and forgetful as your body is trying to come to terms with a bereavement (the loss of health). There is a tendency to blame everything on the medication!
I understand where you’re coming from , but it’s definitely not what’s causing this . I’ve been on methotrexate before and although I had to come off it for other side effects , it did not make me feel this way.
Yes I had this problem also when starting sulfasalazine including extreme tiredness and a few stomach cramps. I think it lasted a few weeks until my body adjusted to the new meds. I'm pleased to say I now take it with no side effects at all.
If you have been on two different meds that didn't suit you maybe you will be allowed to go on Adalimumad injections that have been fantastic for me for the last 10 years. No pain. Although I believe the meds you were on had to have stops working or not work at all. When I was on sulphasaladine for around 16 years I still had pain and got fusings. I felt the R/A was the problem because I felt in degrees of pain rather than it being Sulphasalazine. It may be worth googling. X
Hydroxychloroquine & Sulphasalazine EC
Sulphasalazine and Tummy problems !
Nasty side effect?
Rare side effect 
Baricitinib side effects
