Question: aggressive treatment

[Guest guest]

Tom,

If your wife's diagnosis is still in question, I would not recommend

aggressive treatment.

On the other hand, if it becomes clear that she does indeed have RA,

then early treatment with DMARDs (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs)

is advisable.

[ ] Question: aggressive treatment

> When is aggressive treatment advisable? My wife's in

> very early stages -- so early that nobody wants to say

> it is RA. She suffers relatively little. So all

> doctors -- so far -- " say just take celebrex because

> all other available treatments have side effects and

> eventually lose effectiveness; better delay that

> until you really need it " . Makes sense? Anyone

> disagree?

> Thank you all! (And thanks for the welcomes!)

> tom

[Guest guest]

Hi Tom,

By the time I was correctly diagnosed, my RA was completely out of control.

Extremely aggressive treatment was needed to try to get it to a point where

it could be controlled. So my experience in this area is somewhat isolated.

But I think that if the Celebrex is helping your wife, I would stick to it

for now. The more aggressive drugs have horrible side effects and the

effectiveness tends to wear off after a while. If it were me, I would use

the milder meds as long as it is controlling the pain and joint damage and

save the stronger ones for when they are really needed. Of course, this is

only my opinion and you and your wife should do what you are comfortable

with.

Love and Hugs

Stacey in PA