Sulfasalazine User Reviews & Ratings (Page 2)

• Hilara
• April 7, 2016

For Psoriatic Arthritis "I was on sulfasalazine after being diagnosed with PSA. My first arthritis medication. I was also experiencing reactive arthritis when first diagnosed. I started at 1 tablet 2 times a day. I had some quite adverse reactions to start, trouble sleeping and nausea. Rheumatologist suggested humeria. After reading up on humeria I decided it was worth trying to soldier through a longer trial period with sulfasalazine before switching, eating plain food etc. to minimise impacts of side effects. So glad I did. Now at 4 tabs/day. All the side effects are now gone and I can eat normally. Sulfasalazine has reduced joint inflammation to the point that I can exercise. I recommend giving sulfasalazine side effects a bit of time to equalize."

• Becca
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 17, 2020

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "No benefits of using sulfasalazine for RA. Just stomach pain, asthma, depression, anxiety and a constant feeling of impending doom. Strange, but I'm post- menopausal and had menstrual bleeding after 1 week on sulfasalazine. All of this stopped when I stopped taking this drug"

• jonny...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 29, 2019

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "Was diagnosed with RA in July 2018, started on Plaquenil a couple weeks after, then in December 2018 they started me on the sulfasalazine. I was very gassy when starting out. It took me 6 weeks to go from 500mg per day to 2000mg. My symptoms were pretty severe in July 2018, and it took about 4 months for Plaquenil to do anything. At about 6 weeks on sulfasalazine, I started getting improvements. I'm now at 9 weeks and I went all day and barely had any joint pain. The only thing that sucks is it seems to be making my GERD symptoms a little worse at times still. I'm hoping that this will gradually decline in the next few weeks though. Other than that, I get a bit drowsy and seem to sleep longer on this. But so far I'm pretty happy with it."

• Shed
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 13, 2017

For Psoriatic Arthritis "Was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis at 28 years old. In a span of about 8 weeks I had 3 joint flare ups. At first I just thought I jammed a few few fingers, but after having the same issue in my toe (and the fact they weren't healing) I finally saw a doctor who recommended a rheumatologist and I was diagnosed. Took a while to take effect, but I started noticing a difference at 10 weeks. After 10 weeks, sulfasalazine plus 660 mg naproxen sodium was enough for my fingers to feel 85% normal. After 4 months my joints felt 85% on sulfasalazine alone. By 6 months it's as if I don't have arthritis at all. Truly miracle drug."

• Toli
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 28, 2016

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "Started on sulfasalazine three months ago. First four weeks difficult as experienced headache, palpitations and felt exhausted. I also had severe mouth ulcers and required antibiotic therapy. Found increasing tabs weekly too intense so reduced increase to four weekly and found my body tolerated increase better. Now on two am and one pm and starting to see improvement in swelling and flare. Noted once flare starts it was time to increase dose. Started feeling aches all over this weekend so plan to increase to two am and two pm. Will update on progress. Nb in uk"

• painf...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 6, 2019

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "I thought my head was going to explode. I started at 2 a day then went up to 4 a day. I been on it for about a month, now. But not taking it anymore, been unable to go to work for 3 days now,,,,run run - do not take - it is too much,"

• LWatt
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 10, 2016

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "I've been on this medication for 6 months. Started off with 2 pills a day, then went to 4 pills a day, now on 6 pills a day. Also take 2 Celebrex a day. I'm on/off prednisone when I get flare ups. Cold temps seem to make my symptoms worse. Sulfasalazine seems to help, but when I have a flare up, it's bad. Flu symptoms and extremely tired. I don't think the meds help with my fatigue and that's very frustrating."

• Jpano
• Taken for 10 years or more
• July 28, 2019

For Ulcerative Colitis "I’ve been using salazopyrin (sulfasalazine) for over 30 years for my ulcerative colitis. This drug has kept me in long periods of remission. I have tried other treatments but my colitis responds to this drug best. No side effects. My theory is if it works stick to it. I take 3 in the morning after breakfast and 3 at night after dinner. This drug has been my saviour to a relatively normal life:)"

• Evansy
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 6, 2019

For Ulcerative Colitis "Noticed after 1 month my blood was going away and my stools near normal. No side effects. I take one pill morning and night daily. Have my energy back and I am back outdoors doing what I love again instead of looking for a toilet."

• Bux
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 18, 2019

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "Finally got dx serum-negative RA (on top of 20 years fibro) almost 3 years ago. Flunked methotrexate (night terrors!); on Plaquenil x2, but still had immobilizing pain. Added Leflunomide, still stiff & painfilled. Add in Tramodol - discovered it's an OPIOD and got off it asap. Using Medrol dose packs (prednisone) for severe Fibro+RA flare. Finally building endurance for standing/walking. Then RA dr puts Sulfasalazine in my med mix. Can't walk 30 steps without severe muscle pain (like I did a 10Km run?). Can't stand >2 minutes. Not fun! Emailing dr to get me off of SZS. I am so frustrated; I have even lost wt (30+ pounds) and still feel like my muscles are wasted."

• Bec
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 9, 2019

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "Diagnosed with RA 9 years ago. Have been on hydroxycloroquine and methotrexate- had liver problems so have had to come off the metho. Started this drug 2 and a half weeks ago. Mild symptoms at first nothing too bad but 3 days ago I upped the dose as prescribed and have had intense head and neck pain since. Pain has been so bad I was taken into hospital last night. They gave me codeine, oromorph diazepam and it was still bad, eventually I had anti sickness and IV fluids and was able to sleep for a bit. On waking I felt improved although head and neck pain is still there. As yet I have not taken today’s dose as I’m actually scared the intense pain will return. Confused as what to do as very little guidance from specialist or GP! Frustrating"

• NZNurse
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 11, 2019

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "Update from 2017. My husband is still taking Sulfasalazine after almost three years. Along with the Minocycline. He has no symptoms of RA and no joint damage whatsoever. However after an episode of severe kidney/back pain in the night last week I took him to ER. A CT showed one stone in his right kidney and one stone in his bladder. Kidney stones are a known side effect of Sulfasalazine. He has cut down to two 500mg a day but because he continues to have back spasms and chest pain he has been put on a week of Prednisone. The previous episode in 2017 was actually diagnosed as Anaemia of Chronic Disease and treated with Prednisone. He now has it again. Seriously considering stopping the Sulfasalazine as most of his episodes can be attributed to this drug. Still no other symptoms of RA."

• Danny...
• September 16, 2015

For Psoriatic Arthritis "I'm a 31 year old male. I've had Little to no side effects. I had loose stool for the first week other than that I've had no problems. I wouldn't say it's a miracle drug but it has relieved my pain significantly within the first 2 weeks. My wife is happy because I complain about a 1/4 as much lol. Still have some lower back pain but my neck pain has pretty much disappeared. The rest of my body feels better but like I said not 100% (that may be because I'm getting older, who knows lol). Very thankful for this drug. I've been on it for about 4 months."

• thwac...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 30, 2019

For Crohn's Disease "Diagnosed with Crohn's over a year ago and was in pain daily. Still waiting on insurance to cover gastro and surgery. In the meantime, my PCP offered up sulfasalazine and I agreed to try it. It's the first time I've been symptom free in years. I barely have any bloating or pain anymore and I have almost normal bowel movements again. I did feel an attack coming on so he added prednisone for two weeks and everything calmed back down. As long as I'm taking this and not eating too many processed foods or heavy meats, I'm good. As far as I'm concerned, this drug has been a miracle for me."

• rebbie
• October 20, 2017

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "I wrote another review here earlier-I got off sulfa thinking it was causing me to go hoarse, but after 5 months on methotrexate, I developed 2 ulcers, so got back on sulfasalazine. No hoarseness, so it was something else. I love it. I've got severe RA- for 38 years. This is one of the safer ones-try to stick it out past the early symptoms, go slow, add 1 pill a week until you get up to where you need. I just got off plaquenuil, as I think it was causing muscle weakness and heart enlargement.(a rare side effect of Plaq) Not sure though, so will see what happens. Best med ever for RA is minocycline-I got 17 great years on it-but it may have caused drug induced lupus. (rare) so sulfasalazine is next best thing. I take 6 per day now, and few aspirin too"

• Edano
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 19, 2020

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "I reacted poorly to sulfasalazine. My fiancee expressed that it had some weird cognitive effects on me, as if I were on heavy opioids or recovering from anesthesia. For my part, I felt like I was moving through molasses for the four months I was on it. I got really fatigued regularly, too, and experienced tightness in my chest that left me after I stopped the drug. It didn't provide much relief."

• db68
• July 23, 2017

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "Was put on sulfasalazine 2 weeks ago! I've had methotrexate...plus injectable meteject...leflunamide & now this traumatizing horrible stuff. Every single DMARD has had horrendous effects on me. Started sulfasalazine 2 weeks ago & have had continual non stop pressure, headaches and sweats, nausea & feel bloody awful.. so so so bad.. I went away for a week on holiday and I've never felt so ill! It completely ruined my family holiday. These headaches are ruining my life! It feels like someone's got a clamp around my head and has turned the heating up to full blast in my bones and body! Not happy at all. :"("

• rowney
• September 18, 2009

Sulfazine (sulfasalazine) for Ulcerative Colitis "I have been using salazopyrin for many years and have found it excellent. I am in remission at the moment and am taking 2 tablets a day as a 'holding' dose. I move it up to 5 or 6 when I have an episode which can last for up to a year."

• IssyB
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 25, 2017

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "I started on 0.5g/day (1 tab) and increased the dose weekly until I reached a max dose of 3g/day (6 tabs). At first I thought it wasn't working at all because my pain never improved, but eventually I realised that brand new symptoms were presenting in new joints and that I was now also experiencing awful muscle spasm (in my calves, fingers and toes) - I had never had this problem before. My fatigue also became more and more severe... Eventually, nearly 4 months after starting treatment, I stopped this awful drug.... Sadly, 1 month later, I am still struggling with the after effects. What a terrible terrible drug this is."

• rebbie
• September 27, 2016

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "I've been on sulfasalazine for just about 8 months. I started it as they advise--increasing dose each week until up to 4 per day. (for RA) It began working fairly well after a few weeks, however, by the time I got up to the full dose, I began to have a feeling of something stuck in throat-almost unable croak out a sound.I'm a professional singer/musician, so this was impossible. I immediately cut back, and it got better. I really wanted this to work, it's cheap and one of the safest RA meds. Anyway, I was able to totally control my RA with 1 sulfasalazine and 2 plaquenil daily.Still hoarse/throat problems, and now fingers are peeling and sore. Time to switch to methotrexate to see if it gets better. :("

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 25, 2012

Sulfazine (sulfasalazine) for Ulcerative Colitis "Upon taking sulfasalazine I experienced a severe headache, dizziness, bruising on my feet and legs, chills, blood shot eyes, pain in my joints, hives and swelling in my face and neck. The headache became so bad I could not get out of bed."

• RRLE
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 24, 2020

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "This sulfasalazine is the fifth or sixth drug my doc put me on. It seems to be helping, but I can still feel my joints getting worse, just not as fast as they were. I had my first knee pains when I was 9 years old. I was told it was just growing pains. IMHO, there is no such thing as growing pains. I have been on sulfasalazine for well over five years now. It does not make me sick, lose my hair, dizzy, or more grumpy then normal...for me anyway. It works well as long as you are not allergic to sulfur."

• JBano
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 10, 2019

For Rheumatoid Arthritis "My mum was started on sulfasalazine 4 weeks ago for RA with severe bilateral hand pain and swelling. Initially everything was fine but when the dose was increased in the 2nd week to 500mg twice a day her mood started to deteriorate and developed symptoms of plantar fascitis. She became bed bound and in the fourth week developed flu like symptoms together with rash on the upper torso and feet. Her medication was stopped as the initial worry was that she may have Steven Johnson syndrome. Luckily it was not this. Her symptoms of plantar fascitis improved since stopping this drug so we suspect it was most likely symptoms due to sulfasalazine. The Rheumatologist now want to start my mum on methotrexate but at the moment we are holding back and symptoms are being controlled with prednisone."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 13, 2014

For Crohn's Disease "Severe flare put me in the hospital. Have had no problems in 9 months of taking sulfasalazine went against doctors advice choose this over stronger medication. All labs have been good since. Also got a new doctor!"

• hersh...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• August 21, 2018

For Ulcerative Colitis "I have been taking sas or sulfasalazine entabs for over 40 years, 9-12 pills a day-(500 mg each) which is more like a Crohn's dose It has handled my ulcerative colitis perfectly. Over the years, I tried to wean off of it, because I felt so good. The symptoms returned. I'm back on the pills. No problem whatsoever .I have tried other pills, (asacol and others I don't remember) None worked as well. It's effective and safe. No side effects that I notice. I am a male , 65 years old. I play hockey 3 times a week. This drug is why I lead a normal life. The low dosages did nothing for me.(anything below 4000 mg per day)"