talkhealth forums

On behalf of our guest visitor, Frankie:

I’ve recently been diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis and I am now on medication. Will my medication prevent any further damage to my joints?

Hi Frankie,

Thanks for your post. I hope you are finding that the medication is helpful. A good rule of thumb is that if a treatment is of help you should feel some improvement.

The idea behind disease modifying medication is that it can reduce the inflammatory response of the immune system and reduce the risk of long-term damage.

If you are unsure of how well your treatment is working, there may be investigations or discussions to be having with your rheumatology team to look into that. Typically when you are new at the clinic they x-ray some joints to establish a baseline - the aim is that treatment should prevent major deterioration.

If you feel like a longer chat about things, you are welcome to ring our Helpline.

Kind regards

Guy
Arthritis Care Helpline
Tel. 0808 800 4050
10 am - 4 pm weekdays

Frankie,

These DMARDS if they work should considerably slow and and ideally halt the progression of joint damage.

If they do not work adequately then you rheumatologist will adjust your medications accordingly.

Most patients will be controlled nowadays as the medications we have available are very good, however it may require some patients to try several medications before they get adequate control.

Most of the DMARDS take about 3 months to have its full affect.

Hope this helps

Sandeep