Hi West Girl
I hear you. I've been on MTX for about
five months now.
On top of prednisone (which I've also been on for five months), anti-inflammatories and painkillers, for the past three months I have been taking 1.5 tabs every Tuesday night. I would feel so awful for the next 2.5 days - sleep was non-existent and YES emotional as hell! However by Friday night I was feeling much better, and the weekend was pretty good (for the most part). Then Sunday night I would start down the oh-so-fun slippery slope to Tuesday, which was pure hell (pain omg) ready for my next dose of MTX that night (and so the cycle would begin again).
So, all in all, 2.5 good days out of 7. I mean, I have to admit this is a big improvement considering what I was like at the beginning of the year when I first presented, so I'm very grateful for that, but this rollercoaster is really draining.
I saw my rheumy yesterday. He's increased my prednisone (one tab in the morning, and another half at night), taken me off Brufen (was experiencing stomach upsets, reflux, etc) and added some other tablet that is supposed to help with that (god there are so many pills rattling inside me it's crazy). Anyway, more importantly, he's suggested I split my MTX dosage - so I'm to take 1 tab on Tues and 1/2 on Friday. His reasoning is, if the higher dosage is causing these side effects, then two lots of a lower dose could negate that. I'm so scared though (and told him as much) that this will mean instead of feeling crap for 2 days or so after the once a week dose, I'm now going to feel like crap after EACH dose, meaning I'll get no "good" days whatsoever!! It's one thing to feel horrible for a couple of days during the week when the majority of the kids are at school (I can "suck it up" with the best of them so long as I know it's not permanent!), but weekends as well??? Plus, with 3 kids to run around after (sporting events, etc) - I just can't face feeling like that for the majority of the week!
Anyway, I'm giving this a go & seeing him again in two weeks (thank god - if this doesn't work and I had to live with it for three months... well... I don't know what I'd do).
The plan is, if this doesn't work (splitting my dose), he's going to put me onto injectable MTX. He's told me, because it goes straight into the blood (rather than via stomach , etc) you only have to take half as much (fyi this is my interpretation of what he told me - i'm new to all of this & a bit overwhelmed so I strongly suggest you google that!) and because you don't take as much, the side effects are considerably decreased and, in most cases, non-existent. Sounds pretty darn good to me, but I'm really not sure about
the INJECTING bit.
I think if someone had suggested it to me five months ago I would have said NO pretty fast but now, having gone through the MTX rollercoaster and five months on feeling less pain but more side effects than are fair, and having undergone a million blood tests, the idea is sounding pretty good to me.
Anyway, I'm not sure any of what I've told you is actually going to help you, but at least you know you're not alone.
Mel