Guest guest Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 hi lou.... i've been using sulfasalazine (azulfidine) for the past 10-12 years now and my joint problems have stabilized in that time. meaning not much deterioration, so i'm pleased with that. the advantage to sulfasalazine is that its a lot easier on the stomach than other medications, and for that reason doctors dont mind prescribing it over the long term. as to your comment on your doctor only reserving that medication for people with more severe problems, i would dispute that. my problems are far from severe and my rheumatologist (in canada who i see once every year or two) had no hesitation in using it, and i see other specialists in thailand on occasion (i live in china right now) and they agree that sulfasalazine is the right choice for me if its working. take care ~ james ljmach <ljmacho@...> wrote: My rheumatologist has offered to put me on azulfidine, but says that he usually reserves that type of drug to people with more extreme inflammatory joint disease. If I took it, is it reasonable to expect my entire situation to improve? Would my prostatitis improve? Would I be at lower risk to more iritis? Or would this drug only improve my joint problems, which are not terrible? Any insight would be welcome. Lou __._,_._ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Lou, I took azulfadine for four years to treat my arthritis symptoms, but it didn't help the arthritis much, and after four years, I came down with a terrible allergic reaction to the meds. Now I can't take any Sulfa-based medications. Azulfadine didn't work for me, but it has helped some others in this group. If you decide to take azulfadine, especially for the long term, just make sure you are well-informed and aware of any drug allergy symptoms. This is good advice for any new drug you decide to take, but it's a lesson I unfortunately had to learn the hard way. Unfortunately, I can't answer any of your questions regarding your prostatitis but maybe someone else here can help. Good luck. ljmach <ljmacho@...> wrote: My rheumatologist has offered to put me on azulfidine, but says that he usually reserves that type of drug to people with more extreme inflammatory joint disease. If I took it, is it reasonable to expect my entire situation to improve? Would my prostatitis improve? Would I be at lower risk to more iritis? Or would this drug only improve my joint problems, which are not terrible? I've usually associated my prostatitis with the other problems. Does anyone have any insight about which is primary, a urological problem or an immune problem? Is my prostatitis causing an immune response in other areas (joints, eyes), or do I have an immune problem that has a prostatitis as one of it's manifestations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Dear Lou, My 21-yr-old son has just seen the first rheumatologist who is familiar with Reiters. We had been working with a urologist (without much luck to date) because since age 13 my son's primary symptom shifted from hip problems to urethritis. We went back to a prominent East Coast pediatric rheum. who first diagnosed my son when he was 11 & this new dr is one of only 2 she recommends so I believe he is very good. Anyway, he says no question it's a continuation of the Reiters but it's unusual to have the primary symptom be the urethritis (which after yrs has radiated out into prostatitis & bladder pain). So he says treatment is going to be a bit " hit or miss " compared to someone who's primary symptoms are tendon/joint. The first thing he's put him on is the drug you are on, sulfasalazine. Far from being a drug for more serious cases, it is the lesser of the " Big Guns " down the road if this doesn't work, such as Humira. Best of Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Lou-- are you still out there, reading the threads? Just wondered what happened with the sulfasalazine for you. My son had to go off it almost immediately. Within 48 hrs of starting it, he had a return of the hip inflammation/pain which he hadn't had in 8 yrs! The doc had him stop the drug for 4 days & report back. The hip pain faded away over 24 hrs of stopping. That's not a common thing to have happen, but I have come across it on another spondy forum, where azulfazine caused additional spondy symptoms to come out like pain/swelling of fingers/toes, & psoriasis eruption. Now the doc has moved on to the next level of drugs same class of drugs used for many yrs as chemotherapy on cancer patients: imuran. (The others in this class reportedly used for arthritis are methotrexate and cyclosphorodine(Sp?)). If those are not helpful I'm hoping he'll recommend the TNF-a drugs (humira, enbrel, remicade). Any positive results for you yet? By the way, one word of advice: your doctor seemed to be minimizing your level of inflammation. Perhaps he's right, but I sensed you came to a forum because you weren't entirely satisfied. Just wanted to say that my son has had much better luck-- swifter reaction from docs, more aggressive treatment-- by being very specific about his level of pain, in terms of how it's affecting daily life. Men don't like to whine, maybe that's part of it. But when he finally explained that pain to his entire pelvic region (including prostate) was such that he couldn't bear to have even loose undergarments around his waist-- & therefore didn't feel comfortable going out of the house-- the doc " got it. " Good luck bethree5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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