injecting MTX | Arthritis Information

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I go to my RD later this month and the topic of the injectable MTX has spiked curiosity in me.   How do you inject this?  IM or subq?  Also, do you by-pass all the nasty stomach upset etc by injecting?

Thanks for your replies !!!!

MTX is a sub-q injection, usually once weekly. I took a little reglan for stomach upset the first few times I took the MTX just as a precaution, but then I tried it without the reglan and found that I was not getting upset stomach anyways. So no, I dont have any tummy troubles with it and that was my main reason for chooseing the injectible in the first place.

I did my first MTX injection today and I must say, all the worrying I did about it was all for nothing, at least so far. I haven't had any nausea or anything and from what I'm told, that would have happened within several hours of the injection.

Olive, I don't have much experience with all this yet but from what I've read, the possibility of side affects is reduced when MTX is injected. My Dr. also has me taking 1mg of folic acid to help reduce any side affects.

I guess I must be one of the ones that still have the NASTY

I am on NOW .5mgs of the injectable...from .7mgs. 

Kelly, my doc started me out on 1 mg of folic acid too. I started having mouth sores and some hair loss after a few weeks on the MTX, plus a lot of fatigue. After reading here I found that many members were on higher doses of folate than I was. I increased just slightly and then at my next appt. I asked my doc about it. He gave a perscription for some stuff called Metanx. It has 2.8 mg of folate plus some b vitamins  in it. I worked like a charm on the side effects, but since I started the biologics, I havent been taking it and am okay. You can buy folic acid over the counter in 400 or 800 mcg tablets and you can take 3 or 4 or the 800mcg tabs a day, or you can ask your doc about Metanx. It is brand only so my copay was a bit higher...but it is nice getting everything in one pill. They are coated and not big...nice.
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