Sulfazine

[dry2010]

Good Evening,
Has anyone ever heard of using Sulfazine for Sjogren's?

Thanks,
Martha

[irish]

I don't know what symptoms the doctor is trying to treat. I can't say that I have heard of anyone being treated with this drug on this forum. This drug has a lot of info to read and is a drug that is usually used for autoimmune colon disease such as ulcerative colitis, etc.

I would advise you to have a frank discussion with your doctor about this drug and ask why he wants to put you on this drug. It is a complicated drug and there are a lot of things to consider before starting the drug. If you want you should get a lot of things to read. Just don't panic you could do a search on google. Just go to google and type in uses for asufazine and you should have a lot of info come up to read. Do not panic as this is a complicated med with many discussions noted.

Another thing you could also do is ask your doc why he wants to put you on this drug. You can then ask them if there is another drug that night work. If you still have questions get a second opinion. Good luck. Irish

P.S. I just reread this and I think my brain was paralyzed. Pardon all the repetition. It was still early in the evening and I don't even drink.

[Sharon]

It was prescribed to me for RA.
It can worsen photosensitivity and has a bunch of other possible side effects like all these drugs
for AI issues. I don't think it's for SJS.

[Deborah]

It was prescribed to me for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, I could not tolerate due to an allergic reaction to the sulfa. See below from Web MD.


Sulfasalazine is used to treat a certain type of bowel disease called ulcerative colitis. This medication does not cure this condition, but it helps decrease symptoms such as fever, stomach pain, diarrhea, and rectal bleeding. After an attack is treated, sulfasalazine is also used to increase the amount of time between attacks. This medication works by reducing irritation and swelling in the large intestines.

In addition, delayed-release tablets of sulfasalazine are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Sulfasalazine helps to reduce joint pain, swelling, and stiffness. Early treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with sulfasalazine helps to reduce/prevent further joint damage so you can do more of your normal daily activities. This medication is used with other drugs, rest, and physical therapy in patients who have not responded to other medications (salicylates, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs-NSAIDs

[vrystaat]

More to the point, in SS, one can develop autoimmune colitis (called lymphocytic colitis). Little is often seen on colonoscopy, unless this  during a flare-up.
Sulfasalazine is used in the treatment of other inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. It is also indicated for use in rheumatoid arthritis and used in other types of inflammatory arthritis (e.g. psoriatic arthritis) where it has a beneficial effect. The major problem is that in some patients there can be severe side-effects such as : severe headache, dizziness, bruising of the feet and legs, chills, blood shot eyes, pain in the joints, hives and swelling of the face and neck.  I was put on to this drug because of lymphocytic colitis, and I cannot live a proper life without it.

[Carolina]

I'm very allergic to sulfa, so Sulfazine is out of the question for me.  Alas, because it can help with many problems, it seems.

Hang in there........everything is more tolerable with our Sjogren's Angels at our side.

Regards,  Elaine

[eye2dry]

A few years back my rheumy suggested this same drug for me but I decided against it.

I have RA and sjogrens.  At the time I was on Plaquenil and MTX......however, I did go with

the suggestion of adding Cymbalta.


weigh the pros and cons after you read up on it and discuss it with your rheumy on why

he choses to add this.


good luck, shelly

[irish]

My hubby had Celiac disease and Lymphocytic colitis. He was treated with Asocol. This med isn't as strong as the Sulfazine but it is a pill that is colored deep red. People with celiac don't tolerate deep dyes in their foods or meds so my hubby could only take it for a few days and then have to stop for some days. He got stomach cramps from the dye in the pill. However they days that he took it would help settle his colon down a lot of the time.

The good thing about the lymphocytic colitis is that the disease process takes place in a different level of the tissues in the colon and the bleeding usually isn't as severe and tissue sloughing is much less or sometimes not at all. Everyone is different. Might ask you doc about the Asocol. It won't do anything for the RA unless it ends up surprising you with its good affects. Good luck Irish