Monday, August 23, 2010

Methotrexate, do your thing!

Today I saw my rheumatologist and we decided it is time to try MTX. I am taking 7 2.5 mg tablets a week. I hope and pray that this drug works. At the appointment, I also got a steroid injection for bursitis in my left hip (it hurt!!!) and a pneumonia vaccination.

The pain has been really, bad. As long as I don't have major side effects on mtx, things can only get better. Right?




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4 comments:

  1. I had hoped metho would have worked for me but my system broke down in two days. I went to a 102 fever right away, malaise, extremem fatigue and so on. I just couldn't take it. So now it's plaquenil & avara along with pain med, muscle relaxer, pepcid and all my "must take" vitamins to kick back the deficiencies.

    They must come up with a better drug... they must. Hugs/ Tazzy.. who wishes you good luck with metho!!

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  2. Bravo for starting on MTX! Far more people take the stuff without incident than have serious side effects. And it does seem to work pretty well for a lot of them (the reason MTX is always referred to as "the gold standard of RA treatment" I guess).

    I have hip bursitis, too, though I've not taken any steroid injections for it, yet. I hope your pain level drops dramatically because of that and then stays down because of the MTX. Best of luck!
    -Wren

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  3. Beth,

    I got diagnosed with RA back in July 2003 at the age of 44 and I was in bad shape...could barely walk or make it across the room, and the pain throughout my body was excruciating. I started taking MTX after I finally got into see my Rheumy Doc (a couple months wait while on the steroids I hate - but they do work so use as needed but no more), and all I can say is give it a couple months to work, take your Folic Acid everyday, and it will work great.

    I am still on it and almost pain free now even though I had a sed rate of 99 when first diagnosed (it took a couple years for all the pain to go away). But some things I discovered on the way that may help you:
    - Take an Omega 3 pill each day (after food)
    - Take about 1000 IUs of Vitamin D every day
    - Cut out any foods that really cause pain (for me it was gluten, corn products, and potatoes).
    - Try to find a warm water therapy class.
    - Take a Tai Chi class (much easier on the joints than yoga)
    - Migrate to the biologic drugs as you can (and can afford): I waited nearly six years to start on Enbrel and it was a miracle! My body completely loosened up in about 4 days (felt like I could almost run again - but no, by knees are shot!...lol). But the biologics work great.

    So take your meds, slowly get your body moving again, and don't hesitate to take a biologic. Things WILL get better - I can't believe how far back I've come - everyone says they can't believe how much better I move and look now. No kidding - never lose faith in tomorrow:). My sed rate now is in the low teens (better than your "normal" person out there). I believe in multiple plans of attack!

    All the best to you and you aren't alone,
    Sharon

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  4. P.S. - Forgot to put this in....if you have any questions that I can help you with, just visit my website and you can send an email to me from there.

    Best,
    Sharon

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