New to board Question on Methotrexate

[OCTim]

I am recently diagnosed with PA and my rheumy has prescibed methotrexate for it. She told me to take it over the weekend, because it might make me sick etc, but didn't really go into much further detail.

So I was wondering, after taking the Metho, how long will it be before the sickness / tiredness etc will kick in ? If it is an hour or two, then I will take before bed. If it's a few hours I am thinking of taking it this afternoon.

Any tips info on MTX appreciated.

[Guffy]

I am new to this site not sure how it works either and i'm not very good on the computor i am taking metho for pps and i have lots of questions too i have been taking it since july it didn't make me sick but keep near a loo for the first hour!!!

[TJM718]

Hi. I took MTX twice before and never noticed any problems. I was told the same thing you were. Good luck with it. It worked really well for me.

[forestal]

welcome to the board... lots of great folks here

i also never felt sick with methotrexate, but it may be feeling of coming down with something, achy , tired for 12-24 hours.
make sure you take a folic acid supplement while on methotrexate and would recommend reading up on the drug on the foundations main page, has lots of good info there.

:)

[bbvb]

Hello,

I've been on MTX going on four months now with no side affects at all (knock on wood). I was very tired before starting treatment but that went away after the first few weeks on MTX.....

MTX has really improved my pa(or ra) especially in the feet and ankles. I still have issues with my pip joints on both hands.

[RichJ]

hello tim and guffy,
sorry i can't help much but welcome to the p family. you have meet some of the wonderful people on here and will find alot of great info. welcome and nice to meet you.

have a good night all

richard

[4Given]

I have been on MTX for over a year now without any serious side effects. The only side effect I get is fatigue the morning after my dose. I have suffered with fatigue for a long time before I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis so I cannot tell if the extra fatigue is all that bad. I just know the morning after my dose I am really tired and feel hung over.

It has cleared my skin symptoms and I guess is helping keep the arthritis at bay. I tried to quit taking it and after a couple of weeks the skin symptoms returned ie. blistering on my index fingers and pain under my index fingernails.
I resumed taking it and the blisters and pain cleared. My scientific mind likes to test everything. I thought maybe since all the symptoms had cleared it was healed or in remission. So I tested the reaction of quitting the MTX and within two weeks symptoms started to reappear.

I take a Folic Acid supplement everyday except my dose day and I have bloodwork every 90 days to monitor my liver. Good luck with it hopefully it will work for you. I can honestly say right now it is working for me.

I really did not want to take it after I researched it in my wife's PDR. But after much discussion with my wife, who is an RN, my rheumatologist, and the threads on this board I decided to take it. Like I said so far it is working for me.

[Gemstar]

There is always a concern when starting a new med. I remember feeling really tired on the days I took the MTX (I split the dose over 2 days as recommended by my rheumatologist) and that lasted for a few weeks. I also take folic acid 5 days a week. I occasionally feel a degree of tiredness the day after my meds but not enough that it affects my ability to function. I have been on methotrexate, usually 4 pills a week, for 13 years. I have mild p and more servere psa that had really affected my hands and my feet mostly. I had a lot of swelling and pain. The swelling disappeared after some time and even though I still have pain, it is not at all what it once was. I have blood tests done on a regular basis and my blood tests have always been normal. My sedimentation rate (measures inflammation in your body) was sky high at one time and now it is normal. I still have some pain which probably would be helped by taking anti-inflammatory meds which unfortunatley I cannot take due to other conditions. I also have fibromyalgia so it is hard to sometimes know which pain comes from what illness.
I hope this has been helpful. Good luck to you.

[theskinyouarein]

Hello...I understand your questions and concerns...we were there several months ago when my 8 you son started MTX for severe P and PA. It's been 4 months. The side effect that he's had is fatique. It was MUCH WORSE at the beginning, now it slows him down a bit over the weekend, and by Monday he's back to his norm. He takes it after a snack and just before bed (to avoid nausea). It seems to work for him. The only other side effect was a "sore" mouth, but with mouth rinses and more Folic acid, that has passed. The MTX has worked nicely on his face and torso, less well on the extremities, particularly lower extremities...but, we've been told it could take 6 mos to see progree in the lower extremities. My son gets monthly labs. A brief spike in triglycerides, but it's back to normal without a change on our part. Good luck!

[lpagano]

I have been on MTX for almost 18 years, had a couple of breaks on and off of it, but mostly on. I have never had one side effect from it. My mother also has been on it a long time with no problems. Not everyone has issues, you might be one of the people who has no side effects.

[OCTim]

Thanks for everyone's input.

I took the MTX early Friday evening, started feeling more sleepy than usual as the evening wore on. Then Saturday I was really tried and sleepy the whole day, Sundday less so. Today still feel a bit sleepy, but it's early in the day yet.

Thankfully no feeling sick.

[cnfrost]

Hi Tim,

I've been injecting MTX for a couple of years now, and I haven't really noticed any fatigue from it. Only nausea. It usually starts shortly after the injection, and lasts for a couple of days (for those who suffer from the nausea side effect, it apparently doesn't normally last that long....I'm just lucky). Now, I don't want to to scare you from using MTX, because it's great stuff.....but it took a few weeks before the injections started to make me nauseous. And since I use rubbing alcohol to disinfect the injection site, I seem to have developed some sort of Pavlovian response to the odor.....I get nauseated from smelling it, even if it's not injection time.

But, at least it works! :D

[theskinyouarein]

Hi Tim, Any chance there could be an "oder free" disinfectant available so you can avoid that horrible sensation? I would at least ask. Good luck.

[LillyPie]

Cnfrost... the same thing happened to me!! I would feel sick from the smell of rubbing alcohol. I got onto on bus once in High School and the one of the seats had been cleaned with alcohol. It was torture. I am now on Enbrel and I have to breath out of my mouth when I'm using the alcohol swab. I thought I was the only "crazy" person when it came to that stuff!! The things you learn on these boards....

[cnfrost]

Lilly--

I thought I was the only one too! LOL
What's weird is that I actually used to like the smell of it!

[OCTim]

So it's coming up to the 2nd time for me to take MTX, and I am wondering will I be as tired as the first time round. Or will it be less ?

Last time tiredness last for about 3 days after taking ( got better day by day though ) with day after being the worse.

Thx