IV Infusion Therapy for Severe RA: Your Questions, Answered

Arthritis is one of the most common conditions, with an estimated 54 million people coping with the effects it has on their joints, bones, and soft tissue. With over 100 types of this form of joint inflammation, several factors increase your risk of dealing with it, including obesity, family history, age, and gender. 

Two of the most common forms of arthritis, osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), come from different causes, but the effect on your joints is the same. 

Rheumatoid arthritis stems from issues with your immune system not functioning properly, and depending on what stage of the condition you’re dealing with, you can experience mild pain and stiffness or severe pain and mobility loss. 

If you’re struggling with the frustration and pain of rheumatoid arthritis, turn to the team of doctors at Riverhills Neuroscience in Norwood, Anderson, and Westside, Ohio, and Crestview Hills, Kentucky. In this month’s blog, we explain how IV infusion therapy can do a great deal to alleviate pain and reduce symptoms of severe RA.

Understanding rheumatoid arthritis

This form of arthritis is a chronic autoimmune condition where certain cells in your immune system attack the synovium (lining of the joints), causing stiffness, pain and swelling. It frequently occurs in the hands, wrists, fingers, knees, feet, ankles, and toes, and left untreated the uncontrolled damage erodes the cartilage in those joints. There are four stages of RA:

• Stage 1: mild symptoms with no damage to joints
• Stage 2: inflammation starts cartilage damage, possible loss of motion
• Stage 3: severe inflamed bone damage, increased stiffness and loss of motion

• Stage 4: inflammation ends but the damage continues, with even more severe signs

RA usually happens on both sides of the body, and often between ages 30-60, but anyone can develop it. When children and young adults get it, it’s referred to as young-onset rheumatoid arthritis (YORA), and after 60 it’s called later-onset rheumatoid arthritis (LORA).

Reasons RA becomes severe

The problems with RA tend to worsen the longer it’s left untreated, which makes treatment more difficult in later stages. This can result in several complications, such as loss of bone density, anemia, carpal tunnel syndrome, heart and lung disease, other autoimmune problems, pneumonia, kidney failure, vasculitis, lymphoma, and amyloidosis.

Questions about IV infusion for treatment

So with all of this information about rheumatoid arthritis explained, how does IV infusion therapy help for severe cases? Let’s answer that and some other questions:

Why use IV infusion?

Using an intravenous line to administer medicine ensures the quickest delivery of medications to your system in controlled doses. This can be essential in getting people out of pain and administering treatments to help joints.

What are the different types?

Each medications offered for treating RA targets a specific issue the condition causes. Rituximab, for example, targets B cells, tocilizumab blocks interleukin-6 (IL-6, an immune system protein), infliximab and golimumab block another protein (tumor necrosis factor), and abatacept block T cell signals in your immune system.

What benefits does it provide?

The advantage to this method of treatment is direct supervision by medical staff, immediate effective treatment from biologics, and longer times between medication doses (up to six months).

What can you expect from the experience?

When you arrive, you’re placed in a bed and the IV setup is put into your arm for the medicine to get into. When the IV line is set, the drip is started and often some pain-relieving premedications are put in. Then some of the medications listed above are put into your bloodstream. The whole process can take about 15 minutes or several hours depending on your needs.

The pain from severe rheumatoid arthritis can be agonizing, but we can help you manage the symptoms and get your life back. Make an appointment with the doctors at Riverhills Neuroscience today to find out how we can help with your RA.