Gold salts, antimalarial drugs, and penicillamine are frequently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. These medications have a unique ability to produce a drug-induced remission of disease in some patients with rheumatoid arthritis. While they are not anti-inflammatory drugs, the symptoms of arthritis usually improve when these drugs produce a remission of the inflammation and destruction of the joints.

Gold Salts: Gold treatment given by weekly injections has been used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis for about 50 years. For a long time doctors were not sure how well gold salts worked, but recently gold has been found effective in many, but not all, of the cases of rheumatoid arthritis that are resistant to other treatments. It may take as long as several months of injections to find out if gold salts work for a patient.

Still in the experimental stage is a new gold-containing drug that can be taken orally. This would be a great advantage, because the present weekly injections may be painful and require frequent visits to the physician’s office.

Antimalarial Drugs: Antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine sulphate are often used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, though it is not known exactly how they work. They have been helpful for many people when taken in limited doses over a long period of time. Most people tolerate them well, though side effects sometimes occur. Since loss of vision is the most worrisome side effect of antimalarial drugs, frequent eye examinations by an ophthalmologist are required while taking these drugs.

Penicillamine: Not to be confused with the related compound penicillin, this recently released drug, like gold, is reserved for persons with severe rheumatoid arthritis that does not respond well to other therapies. People who are allergic to penicillin may still take penicillamine safely.

Penicillamine may work extremely well for one patient and not at all for another. Also like gold, penicillamine must be taken for several months as a test to find out if it works for the individual.