My husband has hiv for at lease 12 years. Last year he got RA and because of thr hiv the RA doctor put him on sulfasalazineDR 1, 500 Mg tab. 2 x a day, plus prednisone 5 mg 2x a day.When he has break thru pain the takes a z pack of prednisone. He now is in severe pain, it seems not to be working anymore. Plus he is in bed due to dizziness and swollen feet. I can't stand to see him suffer like this what can we do? Is there a good Hiv dr that deals with hiv and RA in the tampa fl, area? By the way my husband t cells are over 200 at present.

Rheumatoid arthritis is often a very challenging problem to manage even under best of circumstances. Co-existence of HIV and RA occurs but is not common so any one provider generally would have only a modest experience managing the two conditions at best (usually HIV providers are not rheumatoogist). We share our clinic with rheumatology staff so they see our occasional arthitis px and work closely with the HIV staff. I am unaware of an HIV-experienced rheumatologist in Tampa area---if any reader is aware of one or wants to share their experience please post.