For those that have or are taking oral Methotrexate, how did your rection to the med change over time. I ask because I started last week and have felt terrible ever since (tired, nauseous, slight feeling of itchyness). Any insight or tips would be appreciated. Thanks!Mark - I know that some people have had a bad reaction to MTX but I haven't. I don't tend to react to drugs as much as some do. I take 12.5 mg per week, down from 15 since I started Enbrel and my RD said I could maybe start to cut back since Enbrel has for the most part been pretty effective for me.
Mark
I took the oral MTX but now am on the injectable. I had problems with severe
My new RD has me on the injectable MTX. I have fewer symptoms with it. I don't have the nausea at all anymore and the headaches are almost non-existent. I do still get the fatigue but I take the MTX on Friday nights and then I am a little draggy the next day but I do think that it has gotten better over the years.
I hope this helps!
Mark; My dr made this suggestion and it has worked for me. Spread out the dosage of mtx during the day. Like you have to take 4 pills then spread it out to take one every 6 hrs, it has worked for me. Make sure to drink lots of water because that helps to get it out of your system. If you are taking other meds some of them can interact with the mtx and make it stay longer in your system. Since you have just started it takes your body time to adjust to the med it took me about a month and then I was doing fine. If you can take the mtx when you have a couple dys off from work so you can rest.Meme
Ps go to http://www.drugs.com/ They have a drug interaction program you can use to see if there is interaction between any of your drugs
I agree with meme. When I was taking MTX I split it up during the day and it worked much better. I can't imagine taking all of them at once. Just munch on crackers or something with every dose and it might help with the stomach.
Lu
Mark,
Like so many have offered... I take my MTX in two doses. Although, I am on 22.5mg per week I take half in the afternoon (late usually around 3:00) then I take the remainder around 7:30 or so. I take mine on Sunday so after the 7:30 dose I am useless until at least Tuesday late afternoon. I have some weeks though that I just can't get a jump start and have horrible fatigue all week. I guess it just depends on if our bodies are fighting something off at the same time.
I also keep my diet quite bland on the day of and day after. I have found that this helps my stomach issues and keeps for a rest. Mainly tea, and pretzels or graham crackers on Monday with cereal or cream of wheat in the evening. This way my stomach stays at bay a bit better.
Hope your adjustment time comes soon. Hang in there.
Yes, the water thing has been the best thing for me. The day I take it I make sure I drink extra water. I have been taking MTX for about 10 months. Each time I take the full dose--now 15mg, at one time, I feel really nauseous for a day or two, and really tired. My rheumatologist told me I could split the dose-half one day, the other half three days later. which I did, the the nausea pretty much stopped. Splitting the dose worries me a little, as I've never heard of anyone else taking MTX like that. Has anyone taken their MTX like this?Hi Mark! I am no longer taking MTX because of side effects involving my lungs.But when I first started taking it It made me very nauseous and tired too.My rheumy then gave me a folic acid supplement to take daily and had me split my dosage in half...I would take one half Saturday night at bedtime and the other half of the dosage on Sunday at bedtime.I would take it at bedtime so the worse effects might hit as I were sleeping.After taking MTX this way the only thing I experienced was chest pains,shortness of breath and sores on my tonque and in my mouth.Other than that I felt great...I was pain free and had all kinds of energy...I no longer felt that horrible fatique.I am going to start with Humira injections very soon and am hoping that this will be the medication for me and that it will work as well as the MTX but without any side effects.Good luck to you and I hope that I have been of some help to you. CAT
I inject it. It bothers my tummy tooooo much. It will get better. I was tired and blah for the first few weeks. I losted some hair to.