Arthritis At Home 333 – Should medications be tapered in patients with inflammatory arthritis who are in remission?

In this Arthritis At Home, we are sharing this year’s #CRArthritis with Ms. Alexandra Charlton, Lead Pharmacist in the Division of Rheumatology at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. She participated in The Great Debate at this year’s meeting arguing that medications should not be tapered in patients with inflammatory arthritis who are in remission.

Alexandra defines what it means to be in remission and describes how it is different for everyone and for each disease because different disease guidelines have different definitions of what it means to be in remission. She concludes the interview with a reminder that when considering tapering, people living with arthritis should consider their medical history, duration of disease, how difficult it was for them to get into remission, and their anxiety about medications or flare ups. A younger patient with milder disease will have a different disease experience when compared to an adult patient with more active disease.

About Ms. Alexandra Charlton

In addition to being the Lead Pharmacist in the Division of Rheumatology at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, Alexandra works as a pharmacist at the Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre. She is also a Pharmacist Clinical Practice Leader at Alberta Health Services.

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