I have RA & OA. I take Meloxicam daily and Enbrel injections weekly. Per the surgeon yesterday, the only viable option for me was going to be the sleeve because I could still take my meds - though it would obviously be best to use the Meloxicam as needed vs. daily. He also told me that a large percentage of RA patients have achieved remission following WLS...so I may not need it anyway, but that I should assume I will battle RA and the damage already done by the OA for the rest of my life...but I should feel ALOT better not carrying around 150 lbs of excess luggage everyday.