Ugh!!! Today is MTX day and usually I break up the dosage of 8 pills so that I take two at each meal and two at bedtime. I had no side effects except for temporary brain "fog" and memory problems (and that wasn't too bad this past week). Because of the fog, the RD switched me to Leucovorin instead of folic acid. I learned that I should take the Leu. several hours after the MTX, but since I split my dose, I wasn't sure how that would work, so this morning I took all eight pills at once and plan to take the Leu. tonight. Big mistake. I feel drugged, generally awful and have a nasty headache. I just want to lay down and do nothing. I never felt this bad when I split the dose. Now I know what many of you have been talking about with your MTX reactions. I'm going to post another thread to try and learn if Leu. is really that much better than folic acid. I'm not sure the difference is going to be worth it. Sorry to hear you're feeling awful! I hate the stuff. Sorry you're feeling so crappy. I see my doc on Monday and boy is she gonna get an earful. How is it that doctors say "take this" and don't give you a heads up on how it may effect you? Not to mention, they say "here, take" this & we do w/ no questions asked.
Thanks for your response Jasmine. I appreciate your kind words and really does help.
Monk, you are so right. I get better information here than I get from my doctor. I don't know if he's just so sick of saying the same stuff over and over, but I need know these things. If it wasn't for this board I would never have known about spliiting the dose at all, and that has been a lifesaver for me. When I told the RD about it, he said, "Yes, it's fine to do that. I didn't mention it because usually when I give the patient the diagnosis, he/she is so overwhelmed that I believe it's not good to give out too much additional info at the same time." HELLO!!!! Overwhelm me if it's going to keep me from getting sick!!!
OK, rant over. I just feel really crappy and all in all, I guess the RD is not really that bad. He just has to talk more, cuz I don't always know what questions to ask until after my visit.
Have you ever thought about doing the injections? Maybe your body would handle it better?
I'm sorry you feel so icky!!! :(
When I went on MTX, my GP RXed it for me and he told me I could take all the pills at once or split them up over the course of the week, or day. He said for me to experiment with it and see what way gave me less side effects from taking it. I would take 2 on Monday, 1 on Wednsday, and then 2 on Friday. It worked well for me for a few months and then I switched to taking them all in one day and I would get cold/hot flashes and then feel like I needed to sleep. And then it made me hurt more the more I took it. It really did not do much for me after almost 4 months on it. I had to stop taking it.
But hope you feel better soon.
thanks
Jesse88
I hope you feel better soon. I didn't know you could split up your MTX? I'm going to be starting mine on Sunday. My Dr told me to pick a day that would be good for me, take all the pills at once. He did say I might not feel well the next day. But that was all.
Lori
If you are going to take MTX all at once, it may be best to take it at night time. It makes me feel sleepy, but I am going to bed anyway so it is no big deal. I tend to sleep 8-10 hours. I have also noticed that drinking plenty of water before and the next day after my dosage reduces alot of my symtoms. I feel tire, but I have less of a headache. I read somewhere that this medication should be taken with plenty of water. I got to thinking that some of my syptoms-fatigue, headache-could be attributed to dehydration. Extra water didn't get rid of all the symptoms, but they are not too much of a bother anymore.Thanks so much Caprice!!
Lori
[QUOTE=jj54]joonie, are you saying mtx made you hurt more after you took it?
thanks
[/QUOTE]
Hi jj54.
Yes, that is what I am saying. Even the injectable MTX, made me ache more, and that was only after one injection.
I probably should have realized that cold & hot flashes after taking MTX was not a good sign, now 2 years later I know it was not a good sign. I would get extremely cold to where I was shivering and could not talk without my teeth chattering while I was talking, and this was in the middle of summer time! Then after about 20 mins or so of freezing to death, I would suddenly be so hot that I would be sweating and feel really flush, like I had been sitting outside in the sun baking, and then I would have to go take a cold shower. And once I cooled off, I would go to sleep and wake up the next day feeling ok.
I did not get any of the side effects that everyone else gets... neasea, feel run down, ect. I just got the hot & cold flashes about 30 mins after taking MTX.
It did help me for 3 almost 4 months, but like I said it made me hurt more and in joints that did not even hurt before I took it.
I told my GP about it he told me to stop taking it. And after I got to see an RD, I told him about it, and he said that is was an uncommon, but he has had other patients to say MTX made them hurt worse. And then he tried me on the injections to see if that would help me, but that whole week I hurt worse, so he took me off.
Yes, Nana, you can divide up your MTX dose. My RD didn't volunteer that information, I learned it on these boards (bless your collective hearts!) and when I mentioned it to him he said it was fine to do that. I can now tell you from personal experience that dividing up the dose helped me so much in avoiding the awful feeling I now have, even today. I never felt like this when I divided up the pills. Since I still feel crummy today, I think I'll go back to my old plan of 2 at a time, instead of taking them all at once again, but at bedtime. I'll also call the pharmacist to see what he says about the Leu. after a divided dose.
I appreciate all the input and advice everyone. It really helps.