Started Methotrexate today

Hi all,

Newbie here.  My rheumie started me on methotrexate 2.5 mg, 4 pills once a week, in addition to the 200mg of plaquenil I take daily.  I also got a cortisone shot in the butt, a script for folic acid, and a pain pill.

Does anyone else take methotrexate?  Can you tell me what (if any) side effects you experienced?  I looked at the prescription information page that my pharmacy gave me, and it was pretty scary.  Honest to God, the first sentence starts, 'WARNING: THIS MEDICINE MAY CAUSE SEVERE AND SOMETIMES FATAL SIDE EFFECTS INCLUDING BONE MARROW, BLOOD, LIVER, LUNG, KIDNEY, OR SKIN PROBLEMS'.

Is that all?

LOL.

I'd appreciate hearing from someone who has been on this medication a while, to hear how you are faring and what you've experienced.

Thanks,

Brandi

Thanks Dodd for the feedback. I appreciate hearing how your wife is tolerating the medicine, since I wasn't sure what to expect.

Quick follow up - I took my first dose (10mg) yesterday, and this morning I feel like crap. I am nauseous and tired and feeling run down. I hope this gets better over the next day or two.

:-(

Bleh.

Brandi

Ive took methotrexate over a year. The only annoying things I get is a tad nasau and my hair thinning out. But I'm a typical female.... i don't wanna lose my hair (again) LOL.

I was on a higher dose, I took 25 mg a week, by shots

Brandi, sorry you still aren't feeling well. Maybe ask your doctor if you can take it by injection. It's suppose to have less side effects and I think it's suppose to work better. That being said, my wife feels worse the next day and it's not helping her as I stated earlier.

Hey Lord Walters Lady Bug,

I didn't mean to scare you off methotrexate!  We all have different reactions to medication, and you might tolerate this a lot better than I have.  I'm hopeful that I'll become accustomed to it over the next couple months.  I found this excellent article that I wanted to share with you.  Maybe you will get the same reassurance that I did out of it.

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Today, let us focus on Methotrexate; the king of DMARDs. Yes, you heard it right.. The King. It has been crowned the king by Rheumies, Scientists & patients alike.

• 
  Rheumatologists- it is the most frequently prescribed DMARD for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) across the globe.
  Scientists – Most studies of biologics include patients who are not responding to Methotrexate, underlying its role as the most important DMARD.
  Patients- Studies have shown that patients continue Methotrexate longer than any other DMARD; thus making it the most tolerated DMARD.

So, if you have RA & are on Methotrexate, be rest assured that you are with the King. You are taking the world’s most trusted DMARD.  For the newly diagnosed, someone may scare you that Methotrexate is a cancer medication. Yes it is; but in a very high dose as compared to that for RA. Just the way salt is used in many dishes, even drugs like Methotrexate are used in many different conditions. And, mind you, RA is akin to cancer. The swollen rogue synovium proliferates like a cancer tissue & eats up the cartilage & bones. Methotrexate works against these rogue cells, be it cancer or RA.

Thanks to you both for the posts and for the record, I was not scared out of MTX at all...just kind of disappointed the prednisone didn't work...but oh well..like you said Lynnwood, we are all different and react differently. Guess this is just another trial to test out(MTX)...we'll see how it goes. Thanks again. Hope you feel okay. -Brittanee

I was diagnosed with Lupus in 1990 and took Plaquenil until 2011, partial loss of vision behind my retina, due to inflammation, switched to Imuran and started breaking out with warts and going to dermatologist every two weeks for treatments. Stopped the Imuran for about 5-6 weeks now, warts are gone but feel I'm getting pleurisy and have extreme joint pain. Calling my rheumy today to start methotrexate. Plaquenil 200 mg 2 times a day worked so well for me , Imuran all blood work looked excellent but even taking it at night I had nausea and the warts, though an ugly inconvenience, turned up in my cervix due to hpv. Hoping methotrexate will help like Plaquenil, have to wait and see.

Fingers crossed,
Dazz
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dx: SLE 09/1990, Fibromyalgia 2000, osteoarthritis 2005
rx: NSAID 800 mg 3 x day; Vocodin, Zoloft, & ketamine nasal spray (for Fibro)

Hi all...I had posted on here a few weeks back...My rheumy started me on Methotrexate. I've been on 5.0mg because of my weight(96lbs...i'm underweight and we don't know why and I haven't been able to gain anything despite everything I've tried.) I was really out of it yesterday but I can't tell if it's from Lupus or the med. I took my first dose Tuesday night this week. I'll take another 5mg next week, get a good bit of labs done and then the 3rd week I will add the 3rd pill to go up to 7.5mg. I am on the folic acid 1mg/day and have been taking that at night as well for a while now so perhaps it will help with the side effects. I like so many others was preparing for the worst. I've had a headache and had chills and a low-grade temp(99.3)yesterday and rash from sun through my windows...ridiculous...lol.... I'm just wondering if the side effects are slow to react like the drug outcome is or if what I feel now on the 5.0mg is what I'll feel on the 7.5mg or a higher dose? This stuff is confusing! LOL

By the way, my rheumy also said she thinks when I try to come off Prednisone I am having adrenal insufficiency(I had a low cortisol level one out of the 3 failed attempts at tapering), Steroid withdrawal and Lupus inflammation. So I'm a winner all around! lol I was told my labs over time continued to show low complements and disease activity despite having just been on a high dose of prednisone( 125mg Solumedrol shot and 40mgs Pred for 5 days) and that my last ANA was higher than it ever has been and the pattern was now just Homogenous rather than both that and Speckled. I know after MTX there was mention of Benlysta so we'll see what this brings! Hopefully I can get off Pred because I'm already at an increased risk of diabetes from it. My Rheumy is referring me to an Endocrinologist to see if they can give me a different formulation of the Prednisone to try and get my body to cooperate. Our immune systems have a mind of their own!

P.S. How many people have had problems with MTX side effects like bone marrow suppression and/or the liver complications, hair loss, vomiting, etc? Is it really all that common?

Thanks. Take care and God Bless.
-LB

I took my first dose of MTX last weds. After being on 400 mg og Placqunil for a yr the dr decided it was time to switch because symptoms of Lupus were getting worse and I had a second flare within a week's time the second being totally unbearable. I take a total of six pills (15mg total) in addition to now taking 20 mg pred daily and 1 mg folate daily along with 1200 mg gabapentin daily. This also followed having solumedrol iv infusions for three days . I'm not sure if how I have felt following taking first dose is r/t MTX or the flare but I hurt all over to pint I could not even touch any part of my head, neck, chest, back. I'm hoping to return back to work this week. Any ideas?