HI all, just went to dermatologist and he said, mtx makes skin problems harder to heal. I have several 'spots' one on my shoulder and 2 on my forearm that would not heal!! He has given me 'fluocinonide 0.5%', a topical cortico-steroid, does that sound familiar. (prednisone?) just wondering. Lynda
it seems to be working to 'heal' the sores on top of my arm that wouldn't go away!!
Does the MTX cause the sores, or is it that if you get one MTX makes it harder to heal?Mtx makes it harder to fight infection and to heal after injury. Hurts--Unfortunately Lynda MTX has been known to cause dermatitis along with other skin issues. It's also an immunosuppressant so we do take longer to heal. A couple of years ago I ended up with this disgusting "unknown" all over my body that I thought was ringworm. I went in to see my RD and the diagnosis was pityriasis rosea. When I asked what in the heck caused it and what to do about it my RD told me they really have no idea where it comes from and it would go away on it's own. Was it brought on by RA and compromised immune system? Who really knows. It was SO disgusting, it was all over my butt, legs, arms, chest, back, neck and face. You know people thought I had some sort of horrible contagious disease.
PS...I don't know about anyone else but while I was on MTX I got sores on the inside of my mouth and the skin inside of my mouth peeled like a snake shedding skin....it was really gross.
Peace & Love...Neasy
Hi, I thought 'they' were sun damage, as I have lots of scaly, things on my arms , tops of my hands, and back, etc. the forearm ones are greatly reduced in size today, and not so red! Hurrah. The one on my shoulder hurts like the devil and seems about the same. He said, 'put this on 2 times a day and see me in a month'. He wants to do a big chemical peel on my face, but I'm not up to 'staying in doors' until it heals (a month!!), so I'm trying to get him to do laser? Expensive, we'll see. Lynda
Lynda, please do some research before you have a chemical peel or laser on your face. Being on Remicade and Mxt I'm not sure I would do it unless it was absolutely necessary for my health. You're taking a big chance of becoming infected and it's too close to your eyes if an infection does set in. Please be careful. I'm on MXT 20mg and Remicade but I haven't had any skin problems except for a psoriatic plaque on my leg and basal cell on my nose and neither of them were caused by MXT or Rem. and both have healed. LindyI've definately noticed it takes me longer to heal. A scratch with take forever to get better! Neosporin (Not sure how to spell that) comes in handy for lots of things. I dab that one any broken skin just to be safe. A scratch can get infected.....but that can happen to anyone.
My husband just got back from the doctor this afternoon. He's had this bump on his leg that he thought might have been a spider bit or something. The doctor lanced it and drained out all kinds of puss. He's now on an antibiotic because they said he had a staff (not sure if that's how you spell this kind of "staff" or not) infection. They've sent a sample off to be tested but the doctor said that can becaome very serious easily. Thank goodness he went to the doctor today. Something like that can be really serious for us too. His doctor told me to be very careful around him.
Lovie, Good grief, how did Mr. Lovie get staph? I hope the antibio. work right away. I'm glad that he caught it in the early stage. Lindy
Neasy, my nephew had the same thing a few years ago and, sorry, but it did look gross. The Dr. gave him creams that helped but it kept coming back. Finally the Dr. said to bathe and shampoo in Tegrin shampoo for a few weeks and it cleared right up and he hasn't had it since. I think the creosote(sp) in it did the trick. Ain't that weird? lol
Lynda,
I had forgotten about all the trouble my daughter had one summer on mtx. When she swam in the pool the skin would come right off her finertips and toes. She would also blister up very quickly. She had to wear padded gloves to mow the lawn or she would get blisters on her hands. Also her skin would be injured very easily. I got only vague answers from her rheum on it, we think it was the mtx and being in the sun seemed to make the problems worse. Then it simply stopped happening. Her dermatologist said it may have been bullous lupus which resolves on its own after 6 months or so. I hope your skin clears up soon.
For the past month I have been going through some horrific itching, scratching, arms, back of hands, it has been hell,,,dr. said impetago?scabies? of course I thought of bed bugs yuck....I have cleaned so much, especially in bedroom, thinking it was mites,,,,,I shiver to think of it, however, used the steroid cream and seem to be better the last two days, used so much calamine lotion, etc. I am sure it is result of meds for RA, PMR resulting the immune system. I surely feel for anyone having the shingles because of the itch as well as the pain. I finally got appt. with dermatalogist for July (bounced up from Oct.) Hi all, thanks for the info. I've been so up to my ears in getting well I didn't think about my skin so much. I'm calling the doc tomorrow as these 'things' aren't going away with the steroid cream, 'he said he'd have to ttake them off ' if they don't go away in a month!! A month!! Ugh, LyndaOH swell! After the doctor's fancy cream the spots are --infected!! Ugh. Calling him tomorrow. Lynda