Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Lefunomide for rheumatoid arthritis


Do you think lefunomide is a safe drug for rheumatoid arthritis?

Lefunomide has been around for 15 years and is sometimes used to treat rheumatoid arthritis; while the drug does work it does have many serious adverse reactions. This has to be discussed between you and the doctor.

Any patient who is on lefunomide must be closely monitored. The drug can seriously damage the liver, cause allergic reactions, suppress the bone marrow and can even cause shortness of breath.

If you can tolerate methotrexate, I would avoid this drug. It is also very expensive and the extra monitoring will mean more visits to the doctor and more costs.

Sulfasalazine is a better option but it is not as potent as lefunomide. Sometimes patients have no choice other than to be prescribed lefunomide.

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