Question: How long should an arthritis patient stick with a new medication?
New medications can take time to become fully effective. It's hard to tell sometimes if you have given it a fair chance or if you should give up on a particular drug. How long should a person try a new medication before giving up and considering it ineffective? Does the time allotted vary for NSAIDS, DMARDS, and pain medications?
Answer: Just as individuals differ, so do the many medications available in the market place today that are used for the treatment of arthritis. Despite the fact that each drug is given for a specific reason, the variability in individual tolerance and response to that drug will vary from patient to patient. Knowledge of the properties of the drug, absorption rate, time to reach maximum blood level, and excretion rate help to give a general idea of the time needed for maximum effectiveness. Unfortunately there is no precise time table that applies to all patients. This rule applies to the most commonly used class of shorter acting arthritic drugs (NSAIDs)
as well as the longer acting disease modifying drugs used to treat RA (DMARDs).
Pain medicationsshould be effective within 24 hours. If an NSAID does not relieve symptoms within one week, a switch to another NSAID may be in order. Disease modifying agents may take up to two months to see effectiveness. Never change medications without first discussing this with your doctor. (Answer provided by the late Dr. Raymond Federman, aka Dr. Bones, who passed away on September 2, 2003. The care of his patients even in retirement was always his joy.)
