Need to blow off steam. saw my rehumy today, i am still in a flare,have bursitis in the hip,she gave me a cortisone shot. And said she wants me to give mtx another try. i am on ebrel but it is not doing the trick alone. Than she said "give it anout 4 months to kick in" I said what the ----! I dont think i can live like this for 4 more months,and i started to cry:( I am at the max of tramadol per day. prednisone,flexaril. She told me alot of people with RA can just take enbrel alone. But i have PA (psoriatic arhtritis) said i need another med to help the enbrel. I just rememeber the more i increased the mtx shot the crappier i felt, increased shortness of breath,hair loss. Oh man this really bites! will i ever become stable?
kel
I am sorry, Kel. Have you tried Arava? Maybe suggest you would like to try Arava, if you do not like how MTX made you feel.
I am sure you will become stable soon, just a matter of finding the right combo. Takes a while, but you eventually get there.
Good Luck!
joonie, she mentioned arava the last time i was in but said she thinks i will be ok on .4ml of mtx. she said most people start having problems after .6 I am just not looking ofrward to all these side efects. maybe i will wait till after christmas to start it. so atleast i can have a few drinks around the holidays? i am not waiting 4 months to see if this mtx works. I will be in her office in 2,onths asking for arava or humara. I have got to get off this pred. Its making me fatcrazy,and craby! I feel like i am bipolar on this pred! UP down up down. well thanks for the support joonie :)
kel
I think we are all bipolar on to much pred. That would be other peoples problem i decided. That is i have to do what i have to do. I really hated it at first but i do not care anymore. I hurt to much to care. I would not like a medicine that gave me breathing problems. I am starting arava tomorrow. I do not know the out come. Maybe the lower dose will not bother you. If it dose i would complain. Or complain now ask doc if you can have something else. With other meds i have had trouble breathing and i have had some docs say take it anyway or try it again it was something else. No usually i was right. I do not think i am being difficult by wanting to breath. I do not like the high dose pred but the alternative i really dislike. I am thin with pretty long blonde curly hair. But i would be bald heavy set bipolar better than all of what i am going threw but i would make breathing a must i think.Kel, I started on MTX alone and it didn't help too much. Enbrel was then added and the two together made me practically normal again. Maybe a low dose will be just "what the doctor ordered" as they say. I know the side effects are rough, no one wants to lose their hair, but you can always stop taking it if you really want to. I think it's worth a try though.Hi Kel, I have psoriatic arthritis also. I started on methotrexate and hated it. 3 days out of 7 i was wiped out and always in heaps of pain. it caused liver problems so was put on arava. that was fantastic at first. no side effects and able to move again . then it wasnt working enough on its own so i was put on enbrel. Best stuff ever. I am able to do things i havent been able to for 5 years. but my rheumy says not good enough and has now put me on plaquenil. so i am on arava,enbrel and plaquenil and hope to stay off methotrexate for ever.if it doesnt help for you , you could ask about arava or plaquenil instead.I'm so sorry Kel...we know how frustrating it can be trying to find the right mix of meds...I pray that your flare eases up and you may have some good days ahead. I can't take MTX anymore because I had a reaction to it. I am sorry that your doc thinks it is the right thing for you. You can ask about alternatives, though. You don't HAVE to take what they say. Ask if there's anything else you can do.Kel, I hope you're able to find the right mix and get some much needed relief soon. MTX might just be worth the shot if it gets you back to feeling normal. Keep us in the loop! I hope you have a superfantastic and extra comfortable day. Will be thinking of ya. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't had any problems with the level increases. All of the side effects (nausea, headache, etc) phased out after I switched from the pill form. Still deal with some mood swings from the MTX, but that's it. I even still have my hair!!!
I was on arava for a short time (had problems with other drugs but didn't know which one so they took me off and never put me back on).
I didn't have problems with it, it was other drugs that made me sick. I can't take mtx because it causes me to swell and makes it so i can't breathe. A rare reaction that happens.
If you still find you have problems, i would ask for arava. It too has to have your liver watched, but it is along the same line as mtx.
thanks for all your input. the tyhing with the mtx is that i was on it before,i know what it does to me. But she insists on trying it again but at a lower dose. i will try it again, and hope it works. but sometimes i get the feeling these docs like to keep us sick so they can keep there jobs! Ok now i am getting paraniod on this prednisone. My ------- hip is killing me,she wont give me anything stronger than tramadol. does any one know how long it takes for a cortisone shot to kick in? it feels like it made my hip worse. had it yeasterdy.
kel
But Kel, maybe you said and I missed it before, but have you been on MTX and Enbrel together?Pred shot for me i get a bit more swelling first and then it helps in a day or two. That is not an intended reaction but some people get a bit of swelling as a side effect but it goes away quickly. Ask your primary for pain pills not RD. May have better luck. Oh i do not what to tell you about the breathing issues on mtx. Because i have never been on embrel and that could maybe help. I just hate when a doctor argues with me that i can not breath on something. I think i know what makes me have breathing trouble. I personally do not like the sound of this but maybe the enbrel and the lower dose could help. I wish you luck. If it gives you breathing problems go to the er have it medically documented and forwarded to the RD.linncn, i started off on mtx,as they increased it i began having breathing problems. i hwas then put on enbre,if together it was for a short time, than she took me off mtx,because all the side effects i was having, breathing problems. kept me on enbre.Now she wants to add the mtx again but at a smaller dose= less side effects,and i will continue with the ebrel. she said they work well together. since the enbrel alone is not helping i am still on pred 6mg,too.i hope i am not confusing you all.
thanks for feed back gals you are all truly wonderful support
kel