Suffering From Arthritis, Big Toe Deformed, Swollen Feet. On Defcort, Folitrax. What Else To Be Done?

Posted on Thu, 4 Oct 2012

Question: My mother age 59 is suffering from arthiritis. her big toe is deformed. there is swelling in the feet and ankles and the joint of fingers are a bit swollen and seems to be getting deformed I consulted a rheumatologist and he prescribed the below drugs.

Defcort 6 mg:- 3 times a day for first 5 days, then 2times a day for next 5 days and 1 a day for the next 5 days.
Pantod:- twice daily
Folitrax 15mg once a week on Sunday
Fol:- 5mg twice a week on Monday and Wed
Pls advice on whether this medication is ok.
regards
XXXXXXXA

Answered by Dr. Praveen Jadhav (18 hours later)

Dear XXXXXXX,

Thanks for your query.

From the medications, it seems that your mother is suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The medicines are bang correct if the diagnosis is RA.

You have not mentioned her investigations.

RA is diagnosed by presence of rheumatoid factor in blood. Newer test like 'anti cyclic citrillinated protein (anti CCP) antibody is more accurate. However, it is not necessary that these test must be positive for presence of RA. Clinical diagnosis based on the examination by rheumatologist can be enough for diagnosis.

So I guess you must trust her rheumatologist for correct diagnosis. And the medications are correct. Continue it as suggested.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if you need any more help.

I wish your mother good health.

Good luck

Dr. Praveen Jadhav

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad