Cortisone therapy question

A friend was recently diagnosed with R/A and is looking into the helen foundation for micro dose cortisone therapy and i told him i would look around. before he spends 7 grand it woulds be nice to get some input...anybody?

Current meds: prednisone and methyltrexate

Post Edited By Moderator (SydneyJo) : 2/10/2011 2:37:42 PM (GMT-7)

Personally I'd consider it a waste of money, cortisone is not an expensive drug - nor is this treatment any more statistically significant in treatment than DMARDS/biologics, in my opinion (and from what i've gleaned reading a few studies).

First line response would be a DMARD like Sulfasalizine then Methotrexate (cf Prednisone, Plaquenil, and many others)

If the RA is severe/unresponsive to treatment, then biologics like Remicade, Humira and Enbrel would be the next thing to try, these help the majority of people who use them, and they're very well tolerated; but do increase the risk of serious infection. (EDIT: they're also very expensive without insurance, or unless health-care is a public service ('free') like England.)

James

P.S.

I'm not a doctor, my advice is based on personal experience only.