RA

You can but try.I was started on tablets but as does went up so did side effects so now on self administered injections-touch wood no side effects

Remember that what you find/hear on the internet is almost always the bad side - the people who have no or minor problems don't bother saying so, they just get on with it. Often they aren't to be found on the forums at all because they do so well without help from others.

Everyone is different in the way they respond to drugs of any sort. Many people take mtx and have no trouble at all and it manages their RA well. Others don't feel so well for a day or two, others feel unwell for the first few weeks and then the side effects fade and they feel OK.

It is a drug called a DMARD - a Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug. It helps to stop the RA causing damage to your joints so that you have less pain and have less risk of gnarled joints that make it hard or even impossible to do things. It may not feel like that is going to happen now - but it can.

I assume you are in the UK? There is a list of drugs, you start at the top and work through them. If one doesn't agree with you or doesn't work well they will try another - but you have to follow the management chain. If mtx tablets make you poorly, they may try injections, if it doesn't work they'll try another drug. 

You can't know if you are going to be someone who is fine or someone who isn't until you try it. Look at the positives: you have a diagnosis and you have treatment for it. If you have problems you have a medical team to go to. Hold on to the positives - take a deep breath and take your first dose. The more positive you are about it the less likely you are to have problems, it's the same for everything. Have you been assigned a rheumatology specialist nurse? Talk to her too - and I'm sure the lovely people on this forum who have been on mtx will be around soon.

Good luck!

Eileen has explained it all really well - that s exactly what I would have said too. It s a lot to take in when you first get a diagnosis of RA isn't it? 

Just take  them and get your blood tests done regularly . They will monitor you .  All the best!

Hi I agree with Eileen, i have recently be diagnosed (september) and got myself into a right state about taking the Methorexate, what i should and should not eat drink etc. My side affects have been minimal (and im not good with any medication) upset stomach a bit first couple fo times,integestion and tired but thats about it and nothing compared to the pain i had been having in my hands. Am taking 12.5g and it helped taking folic acid each day (exept meth day) and stoped the sick feeling and integestion. I am also going onto the injections at the end of the month. Give it a try Jacqueline and keep us updated.

yes eileen has hit the nail on the head!!! for me (im on 25ml injection) and it has worked relativly well with miminal side effects, much better than b4 but has taken a year to get to this stage and im looking to go anti tnfs in febuary, but after settling down it should help. xx

 

Just to add to the range of experiences of methotrexate, I am on 25 mg in tablet form and have been for 18 months increasing from 12 . 5 mg over 3 months. I didn't get any stomach problems at all and felt just fine , just some initial minor hair loss which has stopped now and the feeling of ' brain fog' on the methotrexate day- so I changed my day to a Saturday as I had less on then that needed concentration. 

I felt just the same as you but I gave them a try had a few minor side effects but after 5 weeks my rhumy nurse took me off them and gave me sulazaline to try I'm getting on really well with these and have been amazed by how well I feel . Still get a few flare ups but I have cut down taking naproxen to 1 every other day from 2 a day 😊 good luck and try not to worry. 

 

I too am on MTX, every Friday night, for over 10 years now, my dosage is now 35mg injectable, as not taking up MTX medication through stomach.

Also may account for people claiming it doesn't work for them, but unless Dr tests blood to see how much you have in your bloodstream you wouldn't know, thats what specialist did for me, when she realised the MTX was no longer working. ESR up to 77 and CRP 36.

Looking back, I could not get out of a chair once I had sat down for any length of time. My hands looked like I was wearing boxing gloves, frozen wrists, frozen shoulders, hips affected as well, found out this week my spine also affected, I am doing very well, once I got onto MTX alot of the hands, wrists and shoulders swelling settled down, and slowly but surly regained the use of my frozen joints. Replacement hips, have been a bonus, but had to wait far too long for surgery. But for MTX I would be in a wheelchair I'm sure, I am walking around, doing my houswork, caring for my heart failure husband, driving our automatic car. Take the MTX, and remember your folic acid the following day. Believe me it does work, takes a little while, but then you will start to notice the difference.

Hi jac, I'm having issues with methotrexate but doesn't mean you will everyone reacts differently, it's trial and error Hun til you find the right medication for you x