Of these two DMARDS, which of these two are easier to tolerate and/or more effective? I am being taken off of methotrexate due to side effects, and am wondering from those of you who have been through this which works better. Please advise.
10/ 5/10 2:06pm
The difference is that sulfasalzine is not a DMARD. it is an anti inflammatory. Imuran is an immunosuppressant and antimetabolic like mtx.
I personally had very bad side effects from the sulfa drugs. They were very hard on my stomach. But I cannot stomach aspirin, ibruprofen or naproxen (aleve). If given my chose, I would suffer through the tummy issues with naproxen before I put any other anti inflammatory to my lips besides my beloved prednisone.
10/ 8/10 11:24am
Let me think on this for a second. What did I do for those years when I didn't have meds or insurance.
To be honest, you NEED both. The anti inflammatory will get you through the day. It will not work miracles. But please do not forget one thing about the DMARD's, the were invented for a reason. Arthritis (whether it is RA or IA or OA) can do damage when uncontrolled. The DMARD's help to suppress this unseen activity. Taking DMARD's are like taking blood pressure meds. We ask ourselves everyday whether we need to take them but go a couple days without.
I know you say everyday that you can't stand to take these meds all the time. But please remember one simple fact, the chemistry of our brains/bodies has malfunctioned. It takes another chemical to fix the malfunction.
As for the pain until your doc decides what he is going to do. For me, my heating pad does wonders to calm the pain when it becomes pulsing, or throbbing. I also have every brace known to man. Stretch, rub, massage, exercise, alternate heat and cold, elevate. I can suggest all of this as will anyone else. Only you know what works in order to get ya through the pain at the moment. it can be a combination of them all.
I went over 2 years without meds. I know that there was so much pain I couldn't tell you what hurt, when. Everything from my hair to my toenails. Some days even my eyeballs were screaming. So on those days when it all slowed down enough for me to say my hands or my left knee hurt, those I would consider good days. I rubbed my achy joints constantly. I lived on tylenol.
Ya know, "I ain't no Sain't." But I can tell ya that somedays, pure willpower and instinct pulls me through. Even with my meds now, things are not completely under control every day. I don't have the false expectation that they ever will be. I cannot explain to you how I push past pain. Sometimes I believe it is my mother and Grandma's spirits that help me. But if believing that, gets me through the chores and responsibilites I have, then dang it, that is how I am going to do it. And on those days when I just can't find the strenghth.... well, it has and is taking me a lot of energy (mentally, physically and spiritually) to just sit my butt down.
2/14/11 1:00am
Hi
My heart goes out to you I know the pain you are talking about. Solution, you need pain pills, they change your quality of life, helps a whole lot.
I take norco, makes a big difference.
I also take methotrexate, and predisone. I am trying sulfasalazine, but it is making me sweat, it winter and I put the air conditioner on.
10/ 5/10 8:12am
Imuran is a harder hitter than Sulfalsalazine, with consquential harder side effects for some. But you may be ok - many people get away with manageable side effects. What follows is my personal experience, but I know I tend to get stronger reactions to DMARDs than most!
I was on Sulfasalazine after Methotrexate caused me problems. Apart from initial feeling of being unwell for a couple of weeks that I seem to get with any drug, I found it ok to tolerate, but it did give me diarrhea for most of the time I was on it. Unfortunately it didn't do anything for my RA, and I was taken off it after about 6 months.
I've been on Imuran for a year now, on a very slowly increasing dose, and it's been harder. As the dose got to 175 mg pd in July, my liver enzymes have been badly affected, and because of the inflamed liver, I have also got problems with sickness, constipation. I've also had bad headaches for the whole year. At the start I lost some hair - just very minor thinning - but that stopped, and the hair has regrown. The balance for me is that Imuran has definitely been helping my joints, which is why I've been persevering with it.
Funny side to Imuran was having to cover myself when in the sun because it reduces your capacity to tolerate UV light: swimming in my pyjamas at my mother in law's house in the South of France caused much amusement and sympathy this summer!
I'm back at hospital next week, and expect to be taken off it if the liver enzymes are still too high.
Good luck, and I'd listen carefully to your Rheumy for his/her advice about what next.
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By Momorris— Last Modified: 02/14/11, First Published: 10/04/10
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Thanks Ronie! I feel like I NEED more anti-inflammatory than dmard at this time...even 8 days past last dose of MTX, I am having more aches esp in the wrists, ankles, hands, shoulders, but didn't like the mtx side effects. Other than upping my prednisone by 5 mgs, what else can I use for pain?