I have RA (diagnosed in October 2024 at age 55), PsA, & Psoriasis (both diagnosed in October 2025). I started on 3,000mg Sulfasalazine a little over a year ago with 1 mg of Folic Acid to help prevent side effects. I had some very uncomfortable stomach fullness & bloating at first so my Rheumatologist told me to increase the Folic Acid & after I moved up to 4mg I had no issues or side effects since then. I'm also on Leflunomide with no side effects as the weekly syringe injection of Methotrexate that I filled myself that was also added soon after the Sulfasalazine stopped working a couple of months ago. Tried the Biologic Simponi Aria IV infusion every 8 weeks & had no side effects from but it didn't help, tried The prefilled Enbrel weekly injection but had an allergic reaction, & am now on a monthly Orencia IV infusion with no side effects except I get a little itchy so I get a baby dose of Benadryl every time & feel the Orencia is definitely helping. Fortunately haven't needed any Prednisone for almost 3 months which is great because up to that point I was having chronic flareups, terrible pain, & insane fatigue so I was on the Prednisone for 7 out of 12 months which is not good to stay on even though it is a miracle drug but it is also a drug from hell for me with the side effects & not good to be on long term. My Rheumatologist said it can take most people a good year to find the right cocktail of meds & it did for me. My pain, flareups, sleep, & fatigue are better too although my brain fog seems worse & I have a low white cell count which I was told may be my new normal so I still work full-time but transitioned to full-time work from home to avoid the cooties & keep my stress low & also have FMLA for bad days to protect my job. I also need prescription Potassium & prescription Vitamin D because they were dangerously low. Added Vitamin A recently due to getting a couple of painful mouth ulcers. My cholesterol & blood sugars went up so added meds for those too. Also added eye drops because of an early onset of glaucoma diagnosis which will keep me from having any eye sight changes. These diseases changed my whole life turning it upside down & I am slowly adjusting but do grieve my life before but it doesn't mean my story will become your story or experience but just want to share as all autoimmune diseases are very complex & affect the body in many ways. Everyone is different & will have different experiences with their disease(s) & medications. I don't want to scare you or overwhelm you but just want to let you know what the disease can bring. It's good to have a really good Rheumatologist who can educate you & that you can stay in communication with & to have support groups like these. 🙂❤️

Most medications can come with some kind of side effects, you just need to be careful and read up before you do any as to if they're minor or major temporary or permanent. I hope you find something useful very soon. I tried that medication I just couldn't take it because I got a reaction to it, I think a rash or? Nothing drastic but I couldn't be on it. Everybody's different...