I was surfing a website which listed the arthritis medications which are currently in use and it listed a few that are no longer in use - in particular Gold Injections caught my eye. I was on Gold Injections back in the day - way back in 1991 - 1992. And now they discover they are not effective in the treatment of RA. Hmmm.
I went to my GP's office twice a week for over a year I would go to give a urine sample one day - they would rush it to the lab. The next day I showed up, and after a quick scan of my labs, I would get my shot. It was a pain in the butt (haha, it was an IM injection - typically in my glute). I was taking the injections in combination with another DMARD (can't remember which one, see extensive list below). Clearly the gold wasn't pulling its weight, as it is now found that Gold is ineffective in the treatment of RA.
Thinking back on all of my drugs over the past 18+ years, I seem to have been around the block once or twice. Sulphasalazine, Methotrexate, Arava (only a short time, the side effects and time I needed to be off it before conceiving scared me), Plaquenil (the most bitter tasting drug - ever), Imuran, Naproxen, Prednisone, Enbrel. Hmmm. Quite the list.
My current combo of Enbrel, Voltaren, Methotrexate and 1 mg of Prednisone seems to be ok for now. Writing this entry was like taking a trip down memory lane - revisiting old friends I met along my RA path. Whew, there are a lot of them...
3 comments:
I took oral gold back in 1988 -- it did nothing for my RA (I took it for 11 months) and reading your post, I'm not surprised to learn that they've decided it's useless. But then, everything I took in the bad old days seemed not to touch my RA. That was the main reason that I finally stopped seeing doctors about it or taking anything other than ibuprofen. Nothing worked, they all had potentially serious side-effects, and I got very discouraged.
Today, it's different. While the meds I'm taking (sulfasalazine, Arava and diclophenac) don't seem to be doing much, my RA is much milder than it used to be and appears to be under control. I'm glad that the treatments for it have progressed and hold out the hope of less pain and disability.
Be well. Thanks for posting. :o)
-Wren
All I can say is, I'm so glad for the drugs! Bring on the drugs! Both for treating RA and migraines, I am so thankful – I can't imagine what my life would be like without them...
:) Laurie
Interesting post!
Over the past 24 years I've taken Motrin, Naproxen, Mtx, Sulfasalazine, Plaquenil, Vioxx, Celebrex, and Enbrel.
Things are certainly moving forward.
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