I was just curious if anyone has attempted to take a brief break from taking their mtx? I've been taking it for almost a year and have had very little side effects. I'm feeling great and was thinking of seeing how I would feel if I just stopped, cold turkey. I know my dr. would not agree but only I know how I feel.
Thanks
Oh, I should add - I only take 12.5 mg mtx and nothing else.
I think it's great that you've done so well on it. If you've been taking it for a year and you have continued to do well I would advise a reduction. I'm sure your doctor would agree to it. He'd have you cut back by one pill for a couple weeks. See how you do. If you maintain that same level of success then you could do another one. The same; if you maintain go down again and again and again if possible.
It's not like predisone where you'll have to wean off of it; but it's doing a lot more for you than you think and if you drop it cold turkey it might take a couple months before you realize how badly you needed it. By then it will take you a long time to acheive this level of success again once you give in and decide to begin treatment again.
Do it slowly and that way you can stop the reduction at a certain level if your symptoms begin to return.
NOW if you are where I was at year 3 and you don't believe you have RA and you don't believe this is a disease you need medication to control for the rest of your life; dropping your medication all together will surely put your doubts to rest. Don't learn the hard way like I did.
Good Luck with whatever you decide. I wish you the best.
It's nice to see you again. Glad to hear you're doing so well.
The reason you are probably feeling so great is that the MTX is working. I wouldn't fiddle with the dose at all. It is working well so leave things be. If you go off and then realize that it was working and have to go back on it it may not work second time round and you may end up worse off than before. Its not like pred that you can go up and down as you flare and get better. Its a long term thing whether you like it or not.Here is my experience with stopping meds. I have a friend that stopped all of her meds. A few months later, she has realized that her meds were making a difference and it was not necessarily side effects from the meds that were giving her some issues. It was actually the ra.
I know that I am feeling good because my meds are working. I feel the whole goal and purpose of being on these meds is so that we do feel good and we can function. I fear stopping the meds would send you into a downward spiral that can be very hard to recover from. When I had to stop my meds over last fall/winter from being sick, I went thru heck and back trying to get better. I would never want anyone to go thru what I did. It was awful. It has taken about 5 months to get to where I am and I am hoping to stay this way or improve even more. Even if this is my new normal I am very happy with it.
If you decide to go off your mtx, please remember it does stay in your system for a period of time. I feel youshould also talk with your doc and see what he/she thinks and get some xrays to see how your damage is doing. That way if you do go off and start feeling cruddy again, you can do xrays again and have something to do a comparison with.
Good luck with whatever your decision is!
I think almost all of us at one time or another has thought about quitting the meds, for varius reasons. If you believe your RA is undercontrol work with your doctor and slowly reduce the dose. You don't want to put yourself into a big time flare if it is the MTX that is controlling the disease. Please make sure you are off pred, and haven't needed any pain meds forWhatever you do be prepared for whatever might happen. I was taken off of Methotraxate in January and I sild into a major flare that required me to take Prednisone and Vicodin. I am back on the Methotrexate trying to get back to the way I was before.
All results are different. To me it would be better to get off of Pred rather than Methotrexate.
Whatever you do be prepared for whatever might happen. I was taken off of Methotraxate in January and I sild into a major flare that required me to take Prednisone and Vicodin. I am back on the Methotrexate trying to get back to the way I was before.
All results are different. To me it would be better to get off of Pred rather than Methotrexate.
We would all like to be drug-free but why tamper with what works?
[/QUOTE] I was told I would be on MTX for the rest of my life, and that if I quit the results would eventually be a hard price to pay. I am of the understanding that RA is a chronic, debilitating disease process that moves forward with or without MTX since time immortal. MTX supposed purpose is to slow down the insidious destruction of our joints. I personally will follow the advice of my rheumatologist and take MTX to hopefully keep this disease at bay as best as medical pharmacology can achieve at this point in time, via a DMARDS. Best of luck and take care ~~ CathyHi Ari33,
I try all types of different things to help with the RA and once stopped mtx to see if the non-conventional things are really working. I stopped mtx completely once and had to pay the price of waiting for the effects to work their way up to capacity, hey i limped thru it (with a good attitude). I just had to. I'm a little wiser now and when i find something that i think is working, i just lower my mtx which i have done.
I have found that some non drugs seem to help along with the drugs but have not found one or combination to get me off of the drugs yet, but i continue to search and investigate.
I hope that everything is good with you.
LEV
Hi Ari,Lindy; give it a chance before you think you can't handle the decrease. I've deceased before and once I gave my body a couple weeks to adjust it did get better. Hang in there.....you're a strong one; I know that for sure.
Ari. don't go off your meds without consulting your RD first. This can be
Ari...I've had that same questions...thanks for posting it.
Everyone thanks for the great advice. I feel so great that it probably would be a bad idea to go off MTX for any period of time. I definitely don't want to mess with the results I've had so far.
Reducing the dose of MTX may not be messing with the results. Often times it takes a higher dose to gain control but maintaining can be done on a lower dose. Whatever mecication you are on you want to try and be on the lowest effective dose to minimize side effects. If your RA is under control and has been for a while it is worth a discussion with your dr to see if slowly lowering the dose would still maintain youI definately think you could manage on a lower dose.....I just think stopping all together would be a mistake. Just take it one pill at a time and see what happens. You have nothing to loose by doing it that way.