I've lived with RA a very long time and would say take the DMARD as soon as you can to slow the progression. RA has serious side effects on its own that medications can help prevent and/or slow. It's a definite balancing act.

As a person living with RA, I would encourage you to start treatment as soon as possible to avoid permanent damage to your joints. I tried several combinations of medications before finding ones that worked and had no side effects. Don’t put it off! Good luck!

Hey friend, I was diagnosed in July and prescribed methotrexate. I didn't start taking it until October. The relief it provides was astounding, after about two weeks. I like to drink. A lot. That had to come to an end. I lowered my consumption drastically but was still drinking, and i noticed that after even just 4-5 drinks the next day was quite painful. 2-3 light beers didn't cause much of a problem. But for me it's all or nothing. Rheumatologist said last week that if I am going to continue to drink she will not be willing to prescribe the medication to me.

It is a scary med. And the lifestyle changes are scary too. But the fear of living in the amount of pain I was in has overpowered that. Plus, I have seen a lot of people die from and suffer with liver failure - fibroids, cirrhosis, all of it. It's not the way to go out.

Jump in to the medication, you won't regret it.

I needed DMRDS because when I was diagnosed I was already in the moderate to severe stage & the pain was an 8 out of 10 & I wanted to get my RA in control in order to avoid more damage to my body & because I couldn't take the pain any longer at that level. My life is much better for it now.

I want to add to everyone here. The reason DMARDs are prescribed as the first line of defense these days is because they are safer than most medications while preventing the most amount of damage. I recommend you research Vioxx (an early version of Celebrex and many other anti-inflammatory medications) and the pain it caused.