What Medications Are Used to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis?

What Medications Are Used to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis?

If you are diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, the sooner the treatment begins, the better your outcome is likely to be. There are many different medications used to help alleviate symptoms of RA and with the goal of bringing a patient into remission. The main types of RA drugs include:

• Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) such as methotrexate, hydroxycholorquine (Plaquenil), sulfasalazine (Azulfidine, Azulfidine EN-Tabs), leflunomide (Arava), and azathioprine (Imuran)
• Biologic response modifiers (another type of DMARD) such as abatacept (Orencia), adalimumab (Humira), anakinra (Kineret), certolizumab and pegol (Cimzia) etanercept (Enbrel), infliximab (Remicade), golimumab (Simponi), and rituximab (Rituxan)
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), ketoprofen (Actron, Orudis KT), naproxen sodium (Aleve), and celecoxib (Celebrex)
• Janus kinase (JAK) Inhibitor – a new drug called tofacitinib (Xeljanz)
• Corticosteroids
• Analgesics (painkillers)

Drugs used to reduce pain (analgesics) and inflammation (NSAIDs) are often considered "first-line" drugs as they are fast-acting and can relieve symptoms quickly. Medications such as DMARDs and biologic drugs take longer to have an effect, but they can help prevent inflammation and joint damage.