methotrexate free..... | Arthritis Information

 

Hello, it's been a while since I have posted... I'm am curious how many people have discontinued the methotrexate and have had good results... I have been on this since 2008 and am currently on Remicade also.. in the past year nearly no flare ups...Also on Remicade I'm now 12 weeks apart.... feeling good.. want to stop Methotrexate.. any thoughts on if I'm making a mistake???? thanks... Jan

I can only compare the times I had to stop due to infections/bronchitis/pneumonia......

it was merely four weeks before I started slowwwwwwwwwwwwinggggggg down. and feeling like my steps were heavy.... and it continued to get worse and worse...
I tried to stop MTX in the early days and paid for it.
It all started going pear shaped again.

Took two months to reclaim lost ground.
pear shaped is a good description!! I stopped once.  Within a month or so, I had the worst flares ever.  I don't know if I'll ever make up the lost ground.  Thanks guys.... so I guess it would be a bad idea...:( I am in my 4th year of MTX.  Added Plaquenil.  Now on Enbrel and temporarily on Prednisone until Enbrel kicks in.  My current RD said I will probably be able to get off Plaquenil, but not MTX.  My first RD said I would be on MTX forever.  So I plan to stay on MTX forever and maybe that is a good thing since I am a cancer survivor of 14 years and maybe it will ward off future cancers, who knows.I've been on MTX since I was a teen.  I was told to expect to be on it for the forseeable future.  I only went off it when pregnant.  It's not my favorite med, but I know it's pretty much a standard RA med. I have been off methotrexate for 8 months. My old rheumatologist was fearful I would go into a flare that could not be controlled. Her replacement let me wean off gradually, then finally i had to stop due to nodules growing anyway. I have not had one big flare at all. A few little aches and pains, but nothing major. As long as I stay ACTIVE and moving, I am fine. At the moment I take no meds at all. I know that in the future I will have to be on something, but still for now it is OK. Can you try weaning off the metho slowly? I feel so much better without those side effects!< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall;" id="jsProxy" ="">After much success being on Enbrel, I quit plaquenil and then slowly weaned off MTX with no problems. I regained so much more energy after that.

Definitely don't go cold turkey.
Rocckyd, I haven't talked to Rd about this...I am going to bring it up next time....Thanks Halifax & Hessalina for your views..sounds good.. I have cut back from taking 6 to4 pills a week... I seem to be doing pretty good,, hope I don't jinx myself..
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