Safest & Most Effective Medication for Arthritis

Managing arthritic pain can be challenging, but finding a medication that is both safe and effective is most difficult. Most medications used to treat arthritis will likely have some side effects. You can find an effective treatment with minimal side effects by determining your treatment needs with your doctor and becoming aware of the risks associated with your medication.

Analgesics

• Perhaps one of the most common treatments for arthritis are over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and naproxen are beneficial, as they aid in reducing inflammation while reducing pain. Note that they may also cause pain or bleeding in the stomach. The incidence of stomach bleeding is low in those who use NSAIDs, but these medications are considered COX-2 inhibitors.

  According to the March 2005 newsletter, Harvard Medical School collaborative publishing by Dr. Anthony Komaroff, all COX-2 inhibitors are undergoing long-term study for side effects since Vioxx was taken off of the market for increasing the incidence of heart attack and stroke. The long term risks of daily NSAID treatment are still unknown, but the short term effects seem to be minimal. All things considered, NSAIDs are probably your best option for medication. If you are not suffering from high blood pressure, you may want to try acetaminophen instead. Know that acetaminophen only relieves pain and does little to reduce inflammation.

Other Medications

• For short-term treatment, your doctor may suggest steroids to reduce severe inflammation. Steroids will provide you with dramatic, fast relief, but they activate by suppressing your immune system and ultimately do not change the course of the disease. You should consider steroid medication only for a short period of time, in low doses. Steroid medication can help reduce inflammation while you get the arthritis under control, but it is not a safe long-term solution, as prolonged use of steroidal medication has many adverse side effects.

  If your case is severe, your doctor may recommend disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or biological response modifiers (BRMs). DMARDs may actually prevent or reduce joint damage, but have a number of serious side effects such as birth defects, lowering of white blood cells, and irritation of the liver.

  BRMs are injected into your body to interfere with the substances that trigger inflammation. BRMs may reduce your body's ability to fight infection, and the long term risks are not yet known.

  While DMARDs and BRMs are the most effective drugs for treating your arthritis, as well as the pain, there are serious risks associated with taking these medications. You and your doctor can discuss whether or not these medications are a safe and viable option for your arthritis treatment.