My mum has severe rheumatoid arthritis. She has had a cocktail of all sorts of different drugs over the years. You do have to keep going to the doctors to try different things at different times. Some drugs work at one stage, stop working and she moves on to others.
My mum swims every day which is probably one of the best things she could have done. She cannot stand a cold pool so goes to a local hotel which keeps it warmer.