Sulfasalazine

Hi everyone ☺️ well after a few very rocky weeks on Methotrexate & getting rashes & bad swelling on ankles & blisters & bumps on my fingers & it being stopped for couple of weeks & started again last Saturday & them coming straight back I got called into RA by my consultant today who agreed to take me off them for good....

I was given a steroid injection in my butt & put on Sulfasalazine starting tomorrow

1 X 500mg for 7 days then 2 a day for 7 days then 3 & then 4 a day for 7 days & continue that if no reaction

Just wondering how other people have got on with them & hopefully looking forward to some pain & swelling relief 🤞

Comments

  • Cazm50
    Cazm50 Member Posts: 12

    Hi Angela,i have reactive arthritis,had it since March.I've had bloods and xrays.Along with this two rounds of prednisolone,and two injections one in my bottom and one in my right elbow.I started sulfasalazine 6 weeks ago.so far i have felt sick and had diarrhoea on them hopefully it will pass.At the 3 month stage they are meant to help,i will see x

  • Angel666
    Angel666 Member Posts: 47

    Hi @Cazm50 thanks for taking the time to reply ☺️ I hope they start working for you soon, it's quite a journey finding the one that both suits & works for you isn't it....let's hope we both find some relief soon 🤞☺️ X

  • Hi Angela and Cazm,

    I've had the Psoriatic variety for about 5 years. Took ages to get diagnosed but then a great RA team got on the case:

    First off (after some steroids) was Metatrexate with Sulphasalazine and they have upped my dose of that to 150mg twice per day so I really get through them now! That worked ok for a while but after 18 moths I started to react badly to Metatrexate auto injections - feeling sick and generally poisoned! I was tied over by steroids, then whilst still on the high does Sulpha they tried something that didn't work for long and I then, at last, was moved onto the Biosimilar Adulimamab (Imraldi brand). They won't go to that expense without trying cheaper stuff first. That worked great for about 18 months but I'm now getting Psoriasis and other inflammatory issues as well as joint pain building into winter again. Still popping 300mg Sulpha a day though! Looking for another review now but cuts have removed the "great team" and I now exchange phone calls with an excess of administrators telling me that the few clinicians left are too busy to see me?

    Moral of this story is that some drugs seem to work for a while but you need to keep moving as the condition keeps moving and/or the drugs change your immune chemistry and the body shifts the attack mode. So I suggest you keep pressing for something that works - then stick with it till it doesn't - then move on. Also having Sulpha in the mix has worked for me but not on its own.

  • Cazm50
    Cazm50 Member Posts: 12

    Just an update i have come off sulfasalzine terrible side effects and bloods that are not right.I have decided enough is enough and i will not be taking another drug.After steroids in tablet form and injections that have put weight on me as well,i don't need anymore poison in my body! Exercise,diet and a tens machine along with painkillers i can take are the way to go for me now,and hopefully this reactive arthritis will clear off and do one!