Sulfasalazine or Methotrexate

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cavangirl
cavangirl Member Posts: 2
edited 17. Dec 2008, 13:15 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi am only new to this site, i am 26 and recently been diagnosed with having Rheumatoid Arthritis, i was giving two choices of medication that i have to start taking in January. I have read up on both treatments and both seem to have side effects. i was hoping by posting on this site that i could get advise from people in the same situtation as myself, am getting married next Aug and hope to have children in a few years, am really worried about some side effects these tablets have eg, hair loss, infertility, sickness, etc etc. Which treatment would you advise me to take? My worse effected joints are my hands and feet. :cry:

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  • annic4363
    annic4363 Member Posts: 67
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    cavangirl wrote:
    Hi am only new to this site, i am 26 and recently been diagnosed with having Rheumatoid Arthritis, i was giving two choices of medication that i have to start taking in January. I have read up on both treatments and both seem to have side effects. i was hoping by posting on this sight that i could get advise from people in the same situtation as myself, am getting married next Aug and hope to have children in a few years, am really worried about some side effects these tablets have eg, hair loss, infertility, sickness, etc etc. Which treatment would you advise me to take? My worse effected joints are my hands and feet. :cry:

    Welcome! Although I am sorry you need us!

    There are quite a range of treatment option available to RA patients. All seem to have side effects so it is a constant juggling act to balance the effect the drugs are having on your RA with the effects on your general health. Also no two people seem to get the same side effects.

    If you can tell us the drug treatment plans you are being offered I know folk here will offer you lots of advice but it is a bit hard without knowing your choices.

    Chat soon

    Annie
    x
    x
  • jaspercat
    jaspercat Member Posts: 1,238
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hi Cavangirl, welcome to the forum, everyone is really friendly, my advice is to try the Sulphasalazine first, on Methotrexate you are not advised to become pregnant, not for your sake but for the baby's sake.

    With regard to side effects, they are there for every drugs you take, some people get them badly and some not alot, it all depends really, either way you will need alot of blood tests, to monitor how the drug is doing and whether your body is coping I hope this helps love Jaspercatxxx
  • debsmartin
    debsmartin Member Posts: 209
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hello and welcome to the forum, I think you will get a lot of posts on this one I'm on Methorexate with no problems at all, unlike when I was started on sulphazaline - that made me really ill without helping me at all but I think its really a case of seeing which one agrees with you I know you will be well monitored which ever one you go on.

    debs
  • ichabod6
    ichabod6 Member Posts: 843
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    I take a cocktail of sulpasalazine and methotrexate
    plus others and it does fine for me, but I'm a gently
    ageing grandad and fertility problems are no longer
    an issue.
  • Wonkylegs
    Wonkylegs Member Posts: 3,504
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    HI - from person experience I know that having active RA is as much (if not more) of a problem for infertility than a lot of the drugs.

    You are much less likely (according to my gynaecologist) of being able to become pregnant when your disease is active, so from that point of view getting it under control is a good thing, whatever you decided to take.

    Personally I tried to stay of Methotrexate for a long time, and I did use Sulphasalazine. Unfortunately this did not work as well at controlling my disease as the methotrexate has, but it was the right choice at the time.

    What I suppose I'm getting at is that you make the best choice for you at the time, and see how things go. My GP was very good at getting additional info re: drugs v fertility, so it may help to chat with your GP (If you have a good relationship with you GP it does help).

    Whatever you decide, you are much better getting treatment as early as possible .... you will be living with RA for a long time - don't let it have an eay ride! attack it with whatever you can to avoid joint damage - the longer you can stave off joint damage the better quality of life you will have - and the side effects vary so considerably for each person that it is really a case of try it and see if it works for you.

    take care & good luck!
  • eugeneg
    eugeneg Member Posts: 36
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    cavangirl wrote:
    Hi am only new to this site, i am 26 and recently been diagnosed with having Rheumatoid Arthritis, i was giving two choices of medication that i have to start taking in January. I have read up on both treatments and both seem to have side effects. i was hoping by posting on this site that i could get advise from people in the same situtation as myself, am getting married next Aug and hope to have children in a few years, am really worried about some side effects these tablets have eg, hair loss, infertility, sickness, etc etc. Which treatment would you advise me to take? My worse effected joints are my hands and feet. :cry:

    Hi There,

    Unfortunately I didn't get on with either! Sorry, you don't need to hear that! If I had the choice over again I'd start with Sulpha. With MXT I was feeling sick (and being) for 48hrs every week. In the end it affected my liver/blood count. Sulpha also caught up with me eventually (I was put on this after MXT). I have become a Father twice since being diagnosed with RA, luckily we fell with our Daughter just before they put me on MXT. If you do want to start a family stay away from that otherwise you will have to come off it for 6 months before trying, that was the ultimateum I was given.

    Good luck with your decision making and best of luck with your wedding & future.

    Take care,

    Eugene.
  • coralbangle
    coralbangle Member Posts: 18
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hi cavangirl,

    I agree with jaspercat. Because of trying for a baby I was but on salasalazine, it's a definate no no with the other one.

    Coral x
  • jimmy77
    jimmy77 Member Posts: 71
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    cavangirl wrote:
    Hi am only new to this site, i am 26 and recently been diagnosed with having Rheumatoid Arthritis, i was giving two choices of medication that i have to start taking in January. I have read up on both treatments and both seem to have side effects. i was hoping by posting on this site that i could get advise from people in the same situtation as myself, am getting married next Aug and hope to have children in a few years, am really worried about some side effects these tablets have eg, hair loss, infertility, sickness, etc etc. Which treatment would you advise me to take? My worse effected joints are my hands and feet. :cry:

    Hi,

    Check out homeopathic treatments and diet before making your decisions. I hope you will experience success and avoid the drudgeryof current and past drug treatments for RA that are so obviously in-effective around the globe.

    Jimmy77
  • daynas
    daynas Member Posts: 7
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    cavangirl wrote:
    Hi am only new to this site, i am 26 and recently been diagnosed with having Rheumatoid Arthritis, i was giving two choices of medication that i have to start taking in January. I have read up on both treatments and both seem to have side effects. i was hoping by posting on this site that i could get advise from people in the same situtation as myself, am getting married next Aug and hope to have children in a few years, am really worried about some side effects these tablets have eg, hair loss, infertility, sickness, etc etc. Which treatment would you advise me to take? My worse effected joints are my hands and feet. :cry:
    [b

    :o Hello cavingirl, i am also new to this site.
    As you are only 26 you have a few years to get your body sorted out first lol, i mean the RA, it can take up to 12 months just to sort the right medication out and dosage, i have been on Methotrexate for 12 months, i am on 20mg, im also on Sulphazate, my RA is very aggressive iv now been told that i have Osteritis.............so my advice is to get your inflamation down before you consider trying for a baby, lets face it the pain and feeling ill all the time is enough to cope with, if you do not start medication as soon as possible it the RA could get even worse, i have been fine on Methotrexate and the Sulphazine.
    Don`t forget the RA could effect you pelvic bone.
    I wish you all the best.[/b]
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