Rheumatoid arthritis pain relievers
Drug treatments for rheumatoid arthritis can be divided into two categories, those that treat the symptoms of pain and inflammation and the more aggressive drugs that slow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Your medical treatment may start with either kind of drug, or a combination of both, depending on how severe your condition is.
Medications that treat acute rheumatoid arthritis symptoms but are not used for long-term care include corticosteroids (also known as steroids), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Medications that slow rheumatoid arthritis are called disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). This category includes a wide range of unrelated drugs that affect the body's immune system. They are effective against rheumatoid arthritis, but also cause many serious side effects because they weaken the body's defenses.
Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are effective in relieving pain in rheumatoid arthritis (Towheed and Hochberg 1997). The best-known NSAID is aspirin. As with aspirin, the side effects of other NSAIDs are potentially severe when taken at the elevated doses that are necessary to control rheumatoid arthritis pain. Therefore, NSAIDs usually are not recommended as the first medications to take for rheumatoid arthritis. Most experts suggest that acetaminophen be taken first.
When NSAIDs should be used?
When lifestyle and self-help measures, topical ointments, and acetaminophen are not able to control pain, NSAIDs are typically used as the next line of defense against rheumatoid arthritis. For people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis pain and do need NSAIDs, it is important to understand the side effects involved and the ways in which the risk of these side effects can be reduced.
Effectiveness of NSAIDs
There are some reports that NSAIDs vary in their ability to combat pain and inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis, but these differences may be due to the various doses that are used in investigations. There is no evidence that one drug is consistently better than another (Rochon et al 1994; Watson et al 1998). Because no differences in efficacy between NSAIDs are evident, specific NSAID medications should be selected based on safety, how well they are tolerated, and cost.
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