Other treatments for RA besides MTX and Remicade

 

Question  My mother is 76 years old. She has a SEVERELY bad heart along with bad arteries and veins all over. She is currently being treated with Methotrexate and Remicade for her arthritis. It will be 2 years in February since she suffered a CVA. The arthritis treatment isn't doing the job. An MRI showed degeneration in her cervical and lumbar areas of bone and tissue. It is now in her feet and has been treated with a steroidal topical cream. This gave her some relief but without continued treatment, it is spreading. I'm sorry I can't recall the name at this moment. My question is this; are there any other possible treatments that you could suggest which I could throw out to her phsicians? She sees a rheumatologist, cardiologist, and her MD. She was on Plaquenil for years until it started affecting her eyes. It's getting to the point where it is very painful for her to even move, but we know that exercise is EXTREMELY important in RA. (I too suffer with it). I realize that this is quite a bit of information at one time and that without actually doing an exam, it's hard for you to diagnois. I'm just trying to seek as much information to arm myself with when I ask her regular doctors if there's something different they can try. Thank you for your time.
 
Answer 

Hi Donna,

There are many other treatments for RA, other than just methotrexate and Remicade.  If you go to our RA Section and look under treatment, you will see all of them listed and discussed.  Also, if you go to the section noted below, you will find drug information that you can print out.  Good luck !!

http://www.hopkins-arthritis.org/physician-corner/education/druginfo.html

Last update: 03:56 PM Wednesday, January 28, 2009

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Joan Bathon, MD

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