I was wondering if many of you that take this have experienced the hair loss that is a "possible" side effect of MTX?
Also, I just started taking this and the first round I felt fine, and now the second round made me a little bit ill and I was wondering if any of you have experienced a sorda cumulative effect (for lack of a better word). If the side effects seem to increase the more the med gets in your system. I have taken many of things, but new to this one.
me and methotrexate never got along. i would take it sat night and sun i would be so ill and sore to get out of bed. i perservered with it thinking it was doing me good. but eventually my liver said enough so i had to go off it and start arava . yipee
My advice is the same as Alleycat's, keep at it and give the MTX time to work. If it doesn't, or it has an adverse effect on your liver, there are plenty of other drugs to try later. So many people have found the "right" drug for them, it takes time. Cheers - Des
I have been takin MTX for 9 months with virtually no side effects. I am on 10 mg. I have noticed recently that my hair is thinning ever so slightly and that its texture/curlyness has changed.
The pain relief is well worth the thinning hair.
I should have added that I have taken Biotin for a number of years prior to being diagnosed with RA. The reason I took it was to strengthen my nails and to keep my hair from thinning.
Now that I am on MTX, I frequently forget to take the Biotin...I do not know if this makes a difference.
I have experienced thinning hair. Luckily, I had extremely thick hair to start with, but my doc says that it will taper off and stop thinning after a while...I hope he's right.I've been on MTX for I guess about 5 years now. Currently I'm at 25mg a week and I'm one of the ones that swear by it. I've been on many things including Humira and MTX is still my favorite as far as results go.
I don't really have too many negative side effects but I do take mine on Saturday nights so I can rest on Sunday if I need to. Over the years the need for a day of rest isn't as important as it was originally. In the beginning I really would rest almost all day. I often felt tired, and sometimes sick to my stomach. I don't really feel that way anymore but I do take a nap on Sunday afternoons on a regular basis. If I end up taking my MTX on Sunday instead of Saturday it makes for a long hard Monday. I don't like to do that.....but on occations I do.
I've had a head full of hair all my life and have been coloring my hair since age 16. A good bit of hair in the shower and bathroom floor is not unusual for me and I really don't associate it with MTX. That's been going on for years and I can't tell that it looks any different than any time in the past. A good bit of natural shedding occurs with everyone. I think often once people are prescribed MTX they are looking for it more than they were before. Not saying that some don't suffer this side effect.....just saying it's not as big of a problem as you probable fear.
I had the hair thinning, mouth sores and nausea for a while then things straightened out. Are you also taking Folic Acid. That is a must and will help stop the mouth sores, hair loss etc.I forgot to mention that I am on 20mg injectible which bypasses the nausea but took it orally for about a year.I have taken MTX for 17 years and am currently at 17.5mg per week. The only side effect I had was the mouth sores, which have gone now that I'm taking Folic Acid. I've always had thin hair and I don't think it's worse from the MTX. I wouldn't quit taking it if I thought I'd get my hair back. For Mother's day, my mom sent me a photo album of all her pictures of me and all the ones we sent her over the years of our girls and the youngest DD said, you had thick hair when you were a teenager and I said no, I just pulled it all to the front so it looked like alot of hair.I've taken MTX for about over a year and a half now. I'm currently taking 15mg/week. My doctor also has me take 10 mg of Leucovorin (folinic acid) each week--he says this helps with any side effects. Luckily, I don't really have any side effects from the MTX at all--so the Leucovorin must be doing its trick. I asked my doctor about MTX building up in my system after I'd been on it for a while, and he told me that wasn't a problem.Hope to hear how you are doing, lv sarah
Hi Christi, am taking 17.5 mg. inject. of MXT and to date I haven't had many problems. No hair loss, no nausea, some fatigue the next day. My liver enzymes are slightly elevated and am having labs drawn a more often. If they go up more I may have to decrease the dose. Keep us posted on how you're doing.Christi,
I have been on MTX a yr, now at 20mg. Folic acid will help the thinning hair, Metanx is a double-dose form of it and really helps w/fatigue and hair loss. I think my hair is thicker than ever on Metanx.
I take my dose on Wed. nite since I have retired. This way any effects are gone by the weekend. When I first went over 10mg I got mouth sores, but only a wk or two.
good luck,
I have been on 25mg for several months and have lost a lot of hair, but I had very thick, curly hair. My Rheumy dropped it down to 20mg and put me on Arava 2-3 times a week. It slowed the hair loss and will hopefully help with the anemia I have too.