FINDING THE RIGHT medication for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) isn't as easy as walking into a pharmacy and pulling a medicine off the shelf. Many medications that are developed to treat the symptoms of RA require that you get a prescription from your doctor. Every year, many new drugs appear on the market, so finding the one that's right for you may mean working closely with your primary care physician or rheumatologist.

There are basically four main categories of arthritis drugs: analgesics; nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which include the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors; glucocorticoids, which are more commonly called steroids, and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Below you will find information to make it easier to understand what the treatments are and how they work. A word of advice before you begin: many drugs are prescribed in conjunction with others, so it is highly recommended that you ask your doctor about the many options available.

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