Hi all,
It's been a while since I've checked in. Joint-wise I've been doing wonderfully since my rheumy doubled my dose of mtx (15 mg/week) about 5-6 weeks ago. It's truly working for me! It's not perfect; I still take tramadol, especially in the mornings, and by the end of the week I'm getting pretty sore. But overall, it's working well. I was on 7.5 mg/week for several months, but was also using enbrel (50 mg/week)--that worked well too. But when I stopped taking the enbrel, I was left with only 7.5 mg of mtx and it wasn't doing much. I felt myself regressing at a significant rate. Once I upped the mtx to 15 mg, it took about 3 doses (3 weeks) until I started feeling better. I think it would have taken much longer if I hadn't had mtx in my system as well. So, for those of you who are just trying mtx, hang in there. There's a reason why this drug has been used for RA for 50-60 years.
Still don't have an answer yet to celiac disease or not. Waiting on results from my biopsies. But since I've had the biopsies done already, I have started trying to eat gluten-free, and it's remarkable how much better I feel. No bloating, cramping, abdominal pain--nothing. Still a challenge, though, as I don't have all of the ingredients I need to have in the house yet. I suspect this is similar to the Maker's Diet, and may, in fact, be a reason for why the Maker's Diet works for some of us and not others. Because even if we're not dx celiacs, many people with AI disease are gluten-intolerant.
Elcamino