What Are Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Options?

Because there is no cure for RA, rheumatoid arthritis treatments help to manage symptoms and control your body’s inflammatory response to prevent damage. But as your doctor works to find the best plan for slowing your RA progression, it will require patience and a willingness to adjust to treatment changes. The right combination of approaches may take some time to figure out.

But recent advancements in treatment strategies continue to improve outcomes and quality of life for rheumatoid arthritis patients. Here is what you need to know about your options and how natural treatments contribute to their success.

Treat-to-Target Philosophy

Rheumatologists currently follow the “treat to target” approach with the goal of putting your RA into remission. Since the condition cannot be cured, the goal is to reduce disease activity to very low levels (remission) as quickly as possible.

When the treat-to-target approach is successful, you will have fewer symptoms. This strategy involves:

• Setting a specific goal for test results that indicate remission or a very low level of disease activity
• Monthly monitoring to track treatment progress and condition management
• Quickly adjusting or changing medications as needed

As you manage the pain and inflammation, you can experience remission and prevent further joint or organ damage.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Medications

Medications play a critical role in rheumatoid arthritis treatment plans. You’ll find two major types of medications that are effective for RA: biologic and non-biologic.

Over-the-Counter Non-Biologics

These medications help reduce pain and inflammation, which are two primary RA symptoms:

• nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
• corticosteroids
• acetaminophen (primarily a pain reducer)

Disease-Modifying Anti-rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs)

These rheumatoid arthritis medications slow the progression of RA by blocking your body’s immune system response and are most often prescribed within the first two years. When prescribed early in the course of the illness, they can dramatically impact treatment.

Although this rheumatoid arthritis treatment reduces overall joint damage, you must live with a weakened immune system.

The most common DMARD is methotrexate (Otrexup, Rasuvo). Additional DMARDs include:

• hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil)
• azathioprine (Azasan, Imuran)
• leflunomide (Arava)
• cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune)
• sulfasalazine (Azulfidine)

Biologics

Modern biological response modifiers are a new drug class for treating RA and have successfully improved the quality of life for many rheumatoid arthritis patients. These drugs use biotechnology and are genetically engineered from living organisms to behave like the natural proteins in your immune system

This new generation of biologics targets inflammation rather than blocking your entire immune system response. They’re especially helpful if you don’t respond well to more traditional anti-rheumatic drugs and often successfully slow the progression of RA.

Common biologics include:

• abatacept (Orencia)
• anakinra (Kineret)
• rituximab (Rituxan)
• tocilizumab (Actemra)
• TNF-alpha inhibitors

Janus Kinase (JAK) Inhibitors

Although a subcategory of DMARDs, these newer medications block certain immune responses that contribute to RA symptoms. Your rheumatologist may use them to prevent inflammation and joint damage when other DMARDs and biologics don’t work for you.

• tofacitinib (Xeljanz)
• baricitinib (Olumiant)
• upadacitinib (Rinvoq)

Natural Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatments

Alongside medications, lifestyle adjustments can notably improve systems by decreasing inflammation and maintaining mobility.

Exercise

It might seem counterintuitive to exercise with joint pain and inflammation, but low-impact exercise can improve the range of motion in your joints and increase your mobility. And since exercise also strengthens muscles, it can also relieve joint pressure.

If your symptoms are severe, you can try gentle yoga to help you regain your strength and flexibility while minimizing pain.

Get Your Rest

During an RA flare-up, you’ll need to get more rest. The right amount of sleep not only improves RA fatigue, but it can also help reduce inflammation and pain. For tips on sleeping well, read our article, Feel Like the Walking Dead? Get Better Sleep with These 7 Tips.

Try an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Your rheumatologist may recommend a diet low in inflammatory foods and high in inflammation-fighting foods, like those rich in omega-3 fatty acids. One of the most well-known anti-inflammation eating plans is Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet and food pyramid.

Avoiding inflammation trigger foods like dairy, saturated fats, white flour, and sugar can help reduce systemic inflammation throughout your body. But the diet also promotes foods that calm the inflammatory response like vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, and healthy fats.

Foods like berries, spinach, kidney beans, pecans, and dark chocolate are high in vitamins A, C, E, and selenium, all of which are known to reduce inflammation. The anti-inflammatory diet also includes foods high in flavonoids, which contain antioxidants and also reduce inflammation. You’ll find higher flavonoids in foods like:

• Berries
• Soy products
• Broccoli
• Grapes
• Green tea

For more information, read our article, How Does Chronic Inflammation Affect Your Health?

Managing Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms and Incontinence

If your RA has progressed, you might have physical impairments that make it challenging to unfasten clothing or use a bathroom. And if your symptoms have kept you from being physically active, chronic constipation could be causing stress incontinence. Both are common scenarios for RA patients.

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