Remission! Now What?

The Arthritis Foundation—December 13, 2017

The Arthritis Foundation featured an article about what patients can do while they’re in remission, whether it is choosing to take less medication or to stop treatment temporarily.

HSS rheumatologist Vivian P. Bykerk, BSc, MD, FRCPC said she makes sure her patients maintain remission-level symptoms for at least one year before reducing their medication.

"Generally I will slowly taper drugs one at a time: first steroids [earlier than one year], then biologics and finally methotrexate," she added.

If a patient stops and restarts their medication, Dr. Bykerk noted that "there is a chance that the patient may have developed anti-drug antibodies to the biologic, resulting in a worse response when using it the second time around".

Read the full article at arthritis.org