Hi, I am new and have celiac and sjogrens...I now have rhuem arthritis. Took this long, ( I am 41) to figure it out. I am scared and am in a flare of a lifetime. I have an 11 yr old that I have to be strong for but I am not winning thus far. My dr wants to put me on methatrexate in addition to the plaquenil that I have been on for the sjogrens for over 2 yrs. I freaked out after looking at the side effects, esp mouth sores which I already get from sjogrens. I then looked up abrava(sp?) and my rhum. seemed reluctant over that drug. She told me that she would mail me info from the nih. I don't want to sound vain but I am also afraid of hair loss. That should be the least of my worries. Can someone help me? I missed work today because I couldn't put on my shoes.
I've been on MTX for I guess four years now...we added Humira a little over a years ago now. As far as I'm concerned MTX is a life saver.
When I started it I wasn't as well read on RA and the Medications as I am now. I'll be honest; I'm real glad. The things you read are very scary....none if any have happened to me. Very, very few side effects and very, very positive results.
Try to look at it this way. It actually takes several weeks to a month or more for you to actually get the full benifit of MTX. Over that time if you are going to have a bad reaction to it it's going to happen pretty quickly. If you react badly you can always come off of it. Hair loss is honestly one of the smallest problems out there. Compaired to the benifits we get from MTX it's not even a factor.
I have a bushy head full of long hair. Yeah; I find it all in the drain of the shower....but that's been happening all my life. Tell me one person that doesn't happen to and I'll show you a liar. You just tend to notice it more once you're on medications that list that as a possible side effect.
Don't let those warnings you read scare you away from making a real difference in your life.
Welcome to AI Nat. Hope we see more of you here.
I just got finished with dinner and after telling my boss that I needed to cut back to a 4 day schedule, I found your reply to be encouraging and it brought a smile to my face. You know, there is something interesting that you said that I never took into consideration...if I did notice ill side effects, it would happen quickly. I also read that this drug is easier to eliminate from your body as opposed to abrava. I just wondered, how long have you had ra? Do you think that these flares tend to get worse as you hit that "close to menopause stage?" I also noticed that right before my period, I tend to puff up like a balloon. anyhow, you have been kind. You don't know how thankful I am that someone answered back.I definitely have the balloon feeling before my period. Things are getting weird as far as routine goes but I don't know if it's menopause or methotrexate or a como of the two.osteoarosteoarthritisthritisAt age 32 I started having what I would refer to as strange stuff around the time of my periods too Pammy. Sometimes I'd have a period every two weeks. Often slight spotting....other times more than normal flow. After about a year of this unpredictable behavior I stopped having a period all together. I was also on birth control pills for about 10 years before coming off on
Nat~I've had RA officially for 12 years now. I had problems before that; but after the birth of my second child they became much, much worse.
As far as my cycle is concerned I'm now in what they termed early menopause. I'm now 35 and I've been on HRT for two years or more now. They aren't sure if it's from MTX or RA itself. I would be causious of MTX if you do intend to have children still. No one every once mentioned the chance that this could happen with me; but I've heard more than one person mention the fact that their periods were being missed on MTX. I've more than missed periods. My hormone levels proved without a doubt that it's menopause. ALSO; if you did want to have a baby you'd need to be off MTX for 3 months or more before even trying. MTX could cause you to lose the baby very easily. I'd never heard any of that when they originally prescribed MTX. Had I lost my chance to have a child I would not have been too happy about that. Seems like they should at least tell you this considering the high risk.
Glad you're here. If you post in the RA section you'll get a lot more responses. The folks here are really friendly and always helpful; but don't always have time to search the site. Quite often all the time they have to spend here is spent at the RA area. Come by and see us there.