New and clueless!!! | Arthritis Information

Hi Everyone,

My name is Lisa and I am 43 years and was diagonesed about a month ago with RA. I began takin methotrexate and folic acid three weeks ago. I am not sure if it is helping or not and I understand it can take months before it does.

I don't much about RA and have been reading your posts for weeks now. I am amazed at the amount of people that are afflicted with this disease and I am so thankful that this forum is here.

Does anybody have any ideas to help me get through the tiredness and queasiness of the methotrexate? I don't know whats worse sometimes the pain of the RA or the tiredness.

I have two teenages and I work and I am always on the go. I don't get two days in a row off so my days off are filled with running around. Today is Sunday and I got up at 8 and this is the first time I've sat down and it's 8 pm.

Any ideas on making things easier would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Lisa

Welcome to the board. You will find alot of nice people here with great info.

Mtx is a very effective drug but it does affect us all differently. It caused me quite a bit of stomach upset as well. I ended up taking it at bedtime to sleep through most of the side effects. If it is really bothering you, talk to your dr. I am assuming that you are seeing a rheumatologist since you are on Mtx.

It can take up to 6 months for the mtx. to work. As least, that is what I was told. Hope you start to feel better before then.

Becky

Hi Lisa, Welcome here.

I don't take Mtx but there are people here that do and do well with it.

Being tired is part of having Ra.

Some days I am good and others I am so tired that I can hardly walk.

Hope you get some good info on the Mtx.

Lola, can you possibly take an extra day off per week for the next month or so, in order to get some extra rest while you're adjusting to the methotrexate? You really do need to make sure you get adequate rest.

How old are those teenagers? Perhaps they can do some of the running around for you? When I was a teen, my sister and I always fought over who got to do the grocery shopping, because we generally got to have the car for a couple hours as a reward. If you're busy running them to and from activities, perhaps they could carpool with some friends at least some of the time, so you can get some extra down-time?

Welcome Lolablue!

Do you make sure you eat before you take your MTX? Has your doctor suggested taking Prilosec on a daily basis? Both of these things staved off the stomach upset. Fatigue however continues to be a problem.

Fatigue can be a sympton of RA and can also be related to taking methotrexate. As far as the queasiness, you might want to ask your doc if you can split up the dose. If you're taking 6 pills, maybe 2 with each meal, or 3 in the am and 3 in the pm, or even 3 one day and 3 the next. Check w/your doc though. Consider taking mtx pills w/food, maybe something starchy, like a baked potato, see what food helps minimize queasiness. Perhaps avoid coffee, and some totally avoid alcohol, again check w/your doc.

I use to take mtx pills but my stomach became sensitive after years of not only taking mtx, but also naprosyn and trilisate, so I switched to mtx injections -- bypassing the stomach helped.

If you have any future questions, try to include the subject in the post's title, like "question about mtx" or "question about fatigue" You may get more responses, we all have a vareity of experiences and suggestions to offer.

Don't get discouraged, it may take a while before you find the right drug treatment for you, but there are many more options than when I was diagnosed 31 years ago, so hang in there. And have those teenagers pitch in and take on more responsibilities, you'll need to conserve your energy to deal with the RA. Good luck and take care.

Hi Lisa..welcome!You've already gotten good responses, so let me just say WELCOME! Sorry you're here but glad you found us. We want to help whenever we can so don't be shy about future questions. The one rule about questions is, there are no rules and there are no stupid questions. There's always someone around to offer support. I am new to RA as well, so no advice on mtx, but a huge WELCOME!

You will LOVE it here. There is so much knowledge here that the fear of having the RA is relieved quite a bit. :)
Welcome Lisa - those teenagers can keep you busy, but you may need to learn to cut back a little and take care of yourself. Fatigue can be a problem and if you aren't getting your rest, you may aggravate your RA. The fatigue was (and still is) the symptom that bothered me the most. For me, I just had to learn to pick and choose my activities and get comfortable saying "no" . Mtx can take a few months to start working - maybe you'll be lucky and it will start working earlier.

Take care

Cathy

Hi Lisa!

Welcome to the website. I would like to repeat what some of the others said, plenty of rest and have a talk to your kids. You need your rest and some extra help. Also drink lots of water. I hope the mtx works soon for you and you get to feeling better.

take care

Another thing... exercise!!! You don't have to go run a marathon or anything; just go for a walk. Start slowly and build up. If you have access to a pool, give that a try! Swimming is VERY easy on the joints. You'll be amazed how much more energy you'll have if you get a bit of exercise several times per week. If you don't want to walk outside, go to the nearest mall and do a lap or two. Wow, thank you everyone for all the great suggestions.

I do take the mtx at night and i take it the night before my day off. I tend to try and sleep late that day and rest. Right now there is a girl on vacation at work so I have to work my day off this week. I work Saturdays so I have Thursday off. I know that this week is going to kill me. I'm really lucky because my partner has taken alot of things in the house over for me but I never feel like I get enough rest.

My teenagers are 15 and 12 and its not so much that they don't help...it's the fact that they don't drive yet!!!!!!! I can't wait until i can retire my taxi service!!!

My stomach is kind of a weird issue right now. I got diaganosed with RA on a Friday and the following Tuesday had an endoscopy and was diagonsed with gastritis. My gastro says that not only is my stomach inflamed (and swollen) my stomach lining is eroding. They did a biospy and I find out next week which type of gastritis i have.

I also have digeneritive disc disease in my neck...does anyone else have this? I am going to ask my RD next visit if it's one in the same. I have had two epidural shots and need one more but my pain mgt wont give it to me until the RD clears me.

It's a never ending medical nightmare!!!

Nice to meet everyone and thank you so much.

I also wanted to say that I do walk everynight. I have a puppy and i walk the neighborhood with her once, sometimes twice a day. I also do have a pool but unfortunatley i just cut my heel open at work and got seven stitches so it will be a couple of weeks until i can swim. But i do agree...the walking does make the stiffness seem to go away for a while.

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions. I did post a thank you yesterday but I think I posted it to a specific person and not to the whole thread. Still trying to get the hang of posting.

I will definetly take all your advice and I am hanging there. Managed to take an hour nap after work today and it did wonders. Have to work six days this week so I'm going to try and sneak a nap whenever possilbe.

I am so glad that all of you great people are out there....it's really been a comfort to know that there are other people going thru the same thing.