I am telling you guys! | Arthritis Information

I am telling you guys.... the MTX makes me hurt worse!

I am in a flare, I am swelled everywhere! Have been swelled for over a week now. I hurt more now than I did before starting MTX.

My toes hurt, my right ankle hurts, my thumbs hurt and all these body parts never hurt like this before starting MTX.

It is a bit early for the Remicade to start wearing off. I still have 2 weeks left before I should start flaring!

I am telling ya'll it is the MTX. I have been trying to be optimisic and hoping the MTX would do right. I have even been telling myself, that I am hurting because of the weather we have been having... but after the last couple of days and the weather has not really changed, but only got hotter... and I am still flaring... I say it is the MTX.

Good thing I get my infusion again on the 30th. That will be 5 weeks exactly from when I got my last infusion. I normally get my infusion every 8 weeks. But she moved me to every 5 weeks. Because I usually start flaring again about the 6th week.

I am going to keep on taking the MTX, until I go back to her in June. But I am telling ya'll this extra pain in joints that normally do not bother me as bad is because of the MTX.

And no... it is not because of decreased inflammation and noticing joint damage now. I actually have inflammation in those joints that are bothering me more now.

joonie2009-04-23 21:26:35Sorry you are feeling so poorly Joonie. It stinks, I know.

Maybe it is just a phase, and it will go away. I am hoping that anyways. Like my body will get use to the MTX, or I get use to this increase in symptoms.

I just want to be doing better already! Going on over 4 years of this crap. Grant it, it is better than a year ago.

As I am thinking...... I just started my MTX 3 weeks ago and during those three weeks time I got the neck strain and my elbow on the side has a swelling and I already had achille tendonitis and pantar fascitis hmmmm.... may be u are right joonie it may be mtx for me too.My RD told me that most often it takes six weeks, but it can take longer, for therapeutic levels of MTX to be reached. I began to notice a _difference_ in how I felt at about six months.

Joonie, Veenu, have you spoken with your respective physicians? If I experienced an exacerbation of joint pain, regardless the medication I was taking, my first line of information and intervention would be my RD.
Sorry you are feeling bad and second guessing your choice in meds. I am clueless because MTX was my doctor's first line of defense. Initially I did just keep getting worse and worse (joint pain) but I don't know if it was MTX related or just what the disease was doing to me at the time.

I think I have read that joint pain can be a side effect of MTX....which is strange to me. I agree with everyone who said call the RD and just pose the question.

Feel better soon!

I started MTX in August and It didn't have its full effect till around Christmas. There were times were I felt it wasn't working and even now around my period, and when a low pressure system moves in, it almost feels like the MTX is wears off or something. Well... I have taken MTX before. I took it after I had my son to try to stop the post-birth flare from happening, but it just made me hurt. I did not have much pain and problems back then because I was still in preggo remission. At that time I also would get cold and hot flashes after taking my MTX dose. And this was in the middle of summer when that happened. I would be sooo cold and shivering and then by the time I got around to not shivering so bad to try to warm myself up, I would be sweating like I just came out of a sauna.

I told my RD about all of this on our last visit, that is why she was kinda hesitant about putting me on it. But I told her I was willing to give it a try. She told me if the pain was more than I could bare even after taking the Darvocets, to call her and she would RX me some other pain meds. then she went into the talk about how she did not want me to get addicted to pain meds. I told her fine with me!

The pain is not that bad, it is just the pain is in places I normally do not have pain. I have when I get pain in places I am not use to having pain, because that means I have to adapt to it and put up with those pains until they go away or I get use to them.

I just took my 3rd dose of MTX tonight. So... we shall see.

I also noticed last night... well early this morning... that the tips of my fingers even hurt! And those never have pain! The bone closest to the tips of my fingers and to the tip of my fingers hurt and have pain.

I know my RA is not getting worse, it is actually getting better.