About to start methotrexate - TERRIFIED!!!

snowdrop

Aww bless i hope u feel ok ... Dont really no what that med ur going to start taking is....

Im new be on here and learning slowly...

But i do hope u will be ok

hugs Alii xx

normie

hi i have been taking mtx for over 3 years and have been one of the lucky ones with hardly any side effects, no nausea or sicness. Hope you will be lucky too. Take care and be brave xx[/b]

skezier

Hi Lynn,

Oh don't be frightened flower it could really help you. I am not on it but wish i was cus the sulfa isn't cutting it and I want this pain and deforming of my wrists to go away so for me I sort of want it, or something, to help the sulfa out.

Cus i know MTX is on the cards i also read the posts about it and over all there is more good things than bad things or maybe I am just being an ostrich as well You can get anti emetics that are very good and do stop the sickness if you get it. I have cyclizine for something else and it does really work.

Good luck and if you do bury it we will all come round, dig it up and make you take it. A ((( ))) and don't let it scare you cus it could really help you. Love Cris xxx

frogmorton

Hi Lyn
I think you are very very brave. I would be very scared too
I would get the sickness tabs myself as I HATE feeling/ being sick. I think it is awful.
I will come along and help you bury it! he he!
Seriously I wish you all the best and hope that on Monday you post that it is OK and you are FINE!!!
That would be wonderful
Take care
Toni xx

Wonkylegs

Hi Collywobble (love that name!)

just remember that you can't know if it will work for you until you have tried it!!

:!: You could be one of the lucky ones who get no side-effects. :!:

as the others have said, there is lots that can be done if they do make you ill. I have MTX injections as the tablets didn't work for me and made me ill. The injections have had a really good effect on the arthritis for quite a while, so believe me there is hope!

:!: you only take MTX ONCE a week :!: what a bonus - 6 days off!

don't be scared - in the end if it doesn't work they will try something else, but you need to try first ..... and you may get a great surprise!

debbierose

don't be scared Hun,
try it if it dosen't suit then have them change it,
give it some time to sink in and work and then access your self and then tell your gp or nurse led.
good luck
lo

ads of people will help you out with it all.
lol

elnafinn

Dear Lynn

Bless you! You help everyone around here and now it is our turn to help you on this one. For a start I do not take it, but have been nervous taking other stuff so know where you are coming from. Focus on the positives, that it is going to help you, that you will not have any or too many side effects. If you do not try, you will never know and you can always stop. The choice is entirely yours. You are the boss.

If you call in here if you have a little blip at the beginnning with it and tell us you are going to bury the metho in a large hole in the garden, we would try to dissuade you but in the end, you are in charge with what you take or do not take. I have a feeling you have to give the mtx a chance as well. If you have any side effects they can go given time or with a little tweaking here and there.

There are so many peeps on metho here that you will get all the help and support you need.

I wish you all the very best at your appointment on Thursday, Lynn and keep us informed so we can make sure you are ok.

Loads of love and hugs, we will all look after you, no worries there.

Elna xx

gickygawky

Hi Lynn,

Try not to worry to much about the negative press MTX gets and focus on all the positives
I am new to the forum and have been on MTX for three weeks. I was pretty unsure about it too but I think it is worth a shot and if I don't like it I can stop taking it. And if it makes me a bit sick for a few days a week but helps me for the rest of the week I am happy with that for now.I take Folic Acid and Omeprazole to help my tummy.
There are a few of us newbies on here who have started taking it at the same time and we are holding each others hands - please feel free to join us and we can help each other rather than go it alone.

All the best

A x

plmb48

hi i have been on metho for about 5 years they really help me
i take mine on a Monday arternoon i take 15mg i take my tablets then a big glass of water then A BIG FAT CHOCOLATE ECLAIR its always worked for me you do feel a bit iffy but mine soon passes i am damm sure i am not bringing back my eclair ha ha dont forget dont take folic acid on the same day good luck xxxxxxxxxxpauline
(had RA 30 years )

debatat

Hi, I totally understand your fear, I have been told that Mtx is my next step. I have heard really good things about it and how it has given people there lives back but also I have heard that the nausea can be a prob.

I know that they monitor you really closely, so you will be in good hands.

I really hope that it works for you and that the side effects are minimal.

Take care

Deb

lindalegs

Well done Lyn.

You know all my views on Mtx - I can only say good things about it and I know how wonderful I feel now compared to how G R I M I felt before they put me on it. I wish, wish I could have had before the RA eroded and damaged my joints.

A few little pills could change your life for the better and you're not on your own.

Be brave gal get them down your neck with a big glug of water - I shall be that fly on your wall on Sunday to make sure you do. :-D

..... and by the way I've hidden your spade ;-)

Luv Legs :-D

page35

Hi Lynn
i take mxt only about 3 months, i do get some of the side effects and so my rhuemy has given me more folic acid and i also now split my dose.
i felt the benefits of the mxt after about 3/4 weeks i ached everywhere before i started it and now although i still have dodgy wrist and jaw and have some side effects, i dont want to stop taking it as i feel alot better with it than without.
it is deffinately worth a try and i hope it works well for you
good luck
page

page35

me again
someone surgested to me to take the mxt in the middle of my meal, ive done this and it has helped the sickness, might be good idea to start it like that.

janie68

Gosh, why are u so scared! Think of them like antibiotics, u would take them if u had an infection to get better. It's the same thing but long term. I used to split the dose, take half in the morning and the rest with my meal in the evening. You will be fine, they could make things a lot better and that's got to be worth trying.

Good luck

janie

vonski

Hi Lynn

Glad to see this post, not that I can offer any help but I know others can. I know how hard it is to take new meds after you've looked at all the side effects but like others have said give it a try and if it doesn't work see about some alternative. Really hope you only have good results.

Love
Vonski x

joyful164

Hey there.
I was quite nervous to begin with but if it is tablets, that's not so bad. Don't expect miracles straight away though. will take some time to work. Do you have any Amoprozole? If you have a nervy tummy, you may feel uncomfortable so see your GP again. Amoprozole is a stomach protector. I have been taking it for years because i was initially diagnosed with Helicobactory Phiolori or something like that, which kept coming back time and time again.and now I have a hietus hernia just to add to all my other probs. Because of this, the tablet form of MTX wasn't dispursing through my stomach properly, so I was put on injections. Quite a few on the forum have progressed this way

Goodluck with the MTX. lets hope you get early improvement.

joyful

katat1

I was worried before taking the methotrexate when I started last April as I had read all the horror stories too. A rheumy nurse went through the whole thing, explained that the dose given for RA was relatively low compared to the doses given to cancer patients and so side effects were not as common for RA users. I think some of the info we read does not make that distinction which is why it sounds so scary. She suggested taking it before going to bed on the day I was to take it so if I felt a bit sick I would be asleep and would't be aware of it!
I did feel more assured after talking to the nurse and started taking it on a Friday night. Have been taking it now for 5 months with no side effects at all and the benefits are fantastic. I have no swelling or painful joints except for the odd twinge when I over do things and am completely different to the way I was before I started taking it. I am on 15mg now and I guess I am lucky as it is working for me.
You will have regular blood tests every couple of weeks for the first few months so if there is any irregularity it will be spotted very quickly and will be nipped in the bud before it becomes a problem.
Try not to worry, expect the best - you may not be disappointed!
Kat
x

skezier

Hey Lynn,

You may not throw up at all Think what it might do for you...... I really want them to add it (or something as good) into my bucket of tablets a day and well you may well find no real side effects and lots and lots of help. Oh while you were reading this I nicked your trowel xx

This comes to you over 6 cats who all want to help type........ x

skezier

Sorry you I am using the trowel just now...... I am ostriching over a few things just now

I see my Rumo in October and my wrists are really deforming so it should be an add in....... I think (if I have read up on this properly and i have read and read and read...... :roll: ) it will be as well as the sulfa.

You just become my guinea pig by the way Love and ((( )))'s Cris xx

eileenc

Hi Collywobble - I've been on 25mg mtx for 6 months and have just moved onto injections (this will be my 3rd week and its not as scarey as I had built it up to be!)
I didn't really have a lot of side effects - a wee bit of nausia that was controlled by anti sickness pills - a couple of smallish mouth ulcers that was dealt quickly with by changing mouthwashes but the big thing was the relief it gave me - the good far outweighs the bad.
I read all about it when I started and frightened the life out of myself - all bad and scary but....................I'm a convert now and use it like I use all my arsenal of pills to control my RA. I don't ever want to be like I was before I started taking it - I'm still not controlled and that is why I've been moved to injections.
I hope that it works well for you and you feel reassured by all the positive posts re mtx. Everyone is here for you and we are only a few keyboard strokes away. Keep us informed how it goes.
best wishes
love Eileen x

barbara01

Hi Lynn
i started on MTX 7.5mg. just over a week ago took my second dose on Sunday.....so far apart from a little bit if indigestion, I just feel tired on the mon eve after I take it sun eve, this morning I woke up and just feel as if I took a sleeping pill last night but it will wear off during the day. I know how terrified you feel I was first prescribed this 2years ago but wouldn't take it, and as you swallow it you feel like it's poison .......but now in week 2 I kind of feel ok about it and so
many people have written good things about it that I just hope it works for us both... to stop this disease in it's tracks can only be a good thing.
I take mine after dinner as I agree I just think that having it with food must help.

Stay positive Lynn and good luck.... Let us know how you get on

love barbara xx

salsal

im on 9 mxt and have never had a single side effect except a much better quality of life!
i would take your tablets then have some really gossipy mates round or do something to take your mind off them... i take mine just before bed so if i was to have any side effects i would be asleep! good luck please dont be scared most of us dont have any side effects

madwestie

Lyn, I took MXT tablets for about a year with very little problem and lots of benefits. I am on injections now which are not that scary.
I used to take my tablets on a monday morning i have never felt sick with them. i was on 20mg of tablets and only moved to injections as they wanted to up the doasge.
I am much better now than i was before i started the MXT. I can do some of the things i thought i have given up for good. (cross stitch and archery).
try not to think of the tablets as something orrible think of them as part of your amoury to beat the arfur..

ps you can't have the trowel back i need to borrow it next to did my arrows out of the ground where i miss the target :oops:

mogwill

I have been on MTX since Christmas 2006 and have had the old nausea battle since then but ... and its a big and positive but ... it made so much difference to my RA. It has to be worth it!

There's already been a lot of really good advice given in this thread - particularly that of taking the tablets with food. (Eclairs sound good too!)

Just don't forget that it can take 3 months to really start taking effect and that your dose may need to vary. I'm on 17.5mg at the mo and heading upwards again but determind to get sorted again.

Mogwill

psyart

Hi - have you started yet??
how did it go?

i have been on mxt since Feb - tablets 1st and I wont lie - i suffered from nausa, but had anti sickness tablets which helped!! This got worst as the dose when higher, but I carried on as I felt better, less pain, went sometimes couple of days without living on pain killers, could do more, slept better - need I carry on!!
The hospital have been brilliant, even when I changed to injections, they have been completly supportive and I know I can contact them at anytime for help and advice.

I am on 20ml injec, and 6 months down the line, people are saying how well I am looking and I do feel so much better, better than I have done for nearly 1 year!!!! 'Arthur' is still there, the pain is in the back ground and I still have to have the odd pain killer, but my standard of life has improved so much that I would suffer the side effects!!! I have helped the nausa disappear by taking anti sickness tablets the day before I do my injection, and I also take folic acid the day after up until the day before the injections!!! You have to do what is right for you, but its trial and error I think??!!!!

Hope you are ok?

Louise

trisher

Hi Lynn

I'm not on the Mext. But if I were on it I would the sickies pills, just in case.

If you take the Mxt and you do feel sick, you might hav wait all night to see the doc.

You are no baby and nor should you feel ashamed. I think it is becauses you are going on the unknown path as to how it might make you feel and you are quite understandably it is making you feel anxious.

Wish I could take it for you.

You take care and listen to the peeps who are on it.

Love trisher xxx


PS. If you don't take it the helicopter will be sent to You The pilot is very good looking