My wife has RA and also the Sjogren thing. We fired two rheumies til we found a very compassionate guy that knew what he was doing. I can say that because it worked, but the truth is these docs just try stuff til it works when it comes to these autoimmune diseases. Anyway, my wife is a nurse and didn't want to go to Enbrel type stuff that would shut her immune system down. That other stuff that starts with an M made her real sick. So she was put on Sulfasalazine (sp?) and it worked beautifully! He said it is the most benign drug and is real cheap (why most docs don't use it, IMHO). Everyone is different but it put her RA completely in remission and gave us our life back. SED rate back to normal. It also got rid of her dry mouth symptoms...I guess that's the Sjogren thing. Her RA was caught before serious bone damage and no guarantees that won't happen. But there is nothing worse than watching your spouse suffer. Understand, too, a lot of praying went into it.