Inflammation

klynn

Hi all, hope you're all as well as can be expected.
Just wondered...when I had my first appointment at rheumatologist,
I was given a steroid injection.

A few weeks later my inflammation had returned to normal before I started any DMARD...so why do I need to keep taking DMARDS.

The steroid injection sorted the inflammation.

Just seems like overkill to me. :!:

stickywicket

The steroids are just to help out until the DMARDS kick in. The beneficial effects of steroids last anything between zero and three months. Theoretically we could all stay on steroids rather than DMARDS but the problem with that is that steroids don't just thin inflamed tissue. They thin all tissue including heart, lungs and bones. They are a very useful short term measure but that's all.

dreamdaisy

Steroids are effective at reducing inflammation but they do not address the underlying cause of the inflammation, viz. your over-active immune system. That is why DMARDs are used in our treatment, they suppress the immune system thus controlling disease activity.

I think that people expect medication to be able to treat specific areas, pain relief ads all suggest that wherever the pain their pills will target that area. As if. :roll: Medication affects the whole body which is why us auto-immuners have to have regular blood tests to check that all is well with our kidneys, liver, blood count etc. Steroids happily thin every tissue in the body, inflamed or otherwise, it's a shame that this is the case because when they work they can make us feel fantastic but it's one of the best medical confidence tricks ever. DD