Rheumatoid arthritis causes very severe pain in the later stages. The pain is unbearable and it increases with those the increase in the inflammation. Therefore, the patient suffering from rheumatoid arthritis requires medical help in order to relive him from pain. Several things as exercises, massages, acupressure, nutritional supplements etc are useful for this purpose. The best option especially in the severe cases is using the rheumatoid arthritis medications.
The commonly used rheumatoid arthritis medications for getting relief from pain are the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Some of the most common among them are the aspirin, naproxen, ibuprofen etc. these drugs are quite effective and they reduce the inflammation in the joints.
There are some side effects related to them. They may affect stomach and cause ulcers, bleeding, or problems with the functioning of the stomach. Moreover, they can also make the blood thinners and therefore they are called blood thinners. Therefore, they may give rise to the complications as, high blood pressure, bleeding, retention of fluids, etc. Therefore, these above-mentioned drugs for rheumatoid arthritis medications, though effective, should be used only under a proper medical advice and that too not for a long time.
There are some other anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs available for rheumatoid arthritis medications, which may not have some of these side effects. For example, among them are the COX-2 drugs. These drugs also reduce the inflammation and thus relieve the patient from pain. However, they do not have the side effects on the stomach. They inhibit the release of cyclooxygenase, which is the enzyme that causes the inflammation. However, they also have the side effects on the blood pressure and retention of fluid. Moreover, also play in heart attack.
The third most commonly used rheumatoid arthritis medications are the corticosteroids. They not only reduce the pain and inflammation of the joints, but also protect the joints form the effect of arthritis. They are becoming popular these days and are found to be very effective in many cases. However, they have the disadvantage that they will be effective only during the first few uses and after sometime prove to be ineffective.
Alternatively, rheumatoid arthritis medications, which reduce the activity of the immune system and thus protect the joints from the Rh factor, also, are used for reducing the inflammation and reducing the pain. Thus, they work in an indirect way and therefore they may take some time to be effective. Therefore, they are usually advised only during the initial stages.