Methotrexate & joint pain....

Hi Stacie:

(((((hugs))))) I'm so sorry to hear that you're not feeling any better. I know we get our hopes up that a certain drug is our miracle drug and we'll immediately start feeling good again. I just wanted to let you know you're in my thoughts and prayers and I hope you begin to start to feel better soon.

Love,
Barb

Thanks ((( Barb & Jeannie ))) , I am on 7.5 (3 tabs a week). If I tolerate the low doses well maybe my rheumy will up it a little when I go back in a couple of weeks. I was really hoping it would work quicker than this, I know everyone is different, I will be patient and give it time to do what it needs to do.

Thank you both so much for your hugs & encouragement, I am so glad we are not alone while dealing with this disease. Hugs to all

Hi Stacie, Oh my . . . I was looking at your med list. *sigh* Your MTX dose is really low. I like that the doc is being cautious . . . but wow . . . I thought starting dose of 15 mg (twice your dose). I started at 15 and had to go up to 20 mg. . . . but I wasn't taking Imuran. Looking back on those really hard two years . . . I wish he'd tried to zap my flare with prednisone. I wouldn't want to stay on it . . . but OY!! Enough is enough. You should call his office and explain how aweful you still feel. It might be good if you had the couple week BEFORE your next appointment to see what happens on the higher dose. Was the Imuran to take the place of pred??? I can't remember . . . sorry. ((((((((((((( Stacie ))))))))))))) Some hot tea for you sis! Blessings!

Aww Stacie I am sorry to hear that you are hurting so bad. I have been on Mehotrexate for a long time now, well it seems like a long time, a couple of years now anyway and recently my Rheumie tried to lower my dosage. He told me that it would take 6 to 8 weeks before i noticed a difference in how I would feel. Boy was he wrong. Within 3 weeks I was in agony again, swollen fingers and joints and I just hurt so bad. It took me a week of calling his office to get ahold of him, he told me to go back to the dosage that I was on and he would try again in about 6 months. So I feel for you. I want to get off of it but there is no way my body is ready for that yet.

I hope you can get some relief shortly, everyone else here has given you great advice. Good luck, I hope you feel better soon.

Connie

Hey Stacie...

Sorry you are in so much pain... 
My rheumy put me on 15 mg/week starting last October.  Said in would take 10-12 weeks to kick in.

I've been trying to wean off prednisone and got down to 7 mg/day.  However, my labs are still too high, so I'm not allowed to reduce prednisone anymore and the rheumy has upped my methotrexate to 20 mg/week.

It was explained to me that prednisone is the quick-acting drug to get the inflammation knocked down.  The meth also reduces inflammation - but takes longer to get into your system. 

~Kim

Hey Stacie. That makes sense to me. My joints swell but the only way I can tell is that my rings get really tight and I can't move them, but you can't tell looking at my fingers that they are swollen.
It took a long time for the methotrexate to work on me, but it was evident very quickly on how much it was helping me once he lowered the dosage.
Good luck, hopefully it will start to work for you very soon and you can get some much needed relief.

Connie

Thank you Connie, I am so glad it works well for you, it gives me some hope.

Thank you Littlecookie, it looks like we're both waiting for MTX to work wonders for us! I pray it works well for you and soon!!! Take care