Leflunomide

buster152

Hello everyone

Hope you all doing as well as can be expected

Im in need of some help/advice please from all of you in the know i had my rheumy appointment on friday and was surprised when the consultant said "i think its about time we added something else to go with the MTX" as i thought things were going ok ish he now wants me to start taking Leflunomide along with mtx and if no improvement by April he is going to apply for some funding as the next treatment costs 10,000 per year don't know what it is he didn't say
What i need to know is do others take both mtx-leflunomide together and what if any are the side effects i have looked on net but stuff on there quite scarey reading, sorry for long post and thank you in anticipation for your help

Wonkylegs

HI Buster

I believe it's quite common to be prescribed MTX plus other medication.

I took MTX and Leflunomide together for over two years, and they did really work well together. Unfortunately my body decided it disliked the Leflunomide, so now I'm on Infliximab, which is and anti-TNF drug, together with the MTX.

I guess your consultant was referring to the anti-TNF meds with the high cost you mention, and there are lots of them to try depending on your arthritis and your needs.

Personally on Leflunomide the only real side effects I had for most of the time involved stomach upsets. These are quite common in the first few weeks and for most people do eventually settle down. Those first weeks can be a bit tiresome though, but in my experience it was worth hanging on to see if the drug helped.

Good luck with the Leflunomide & do let us know how you get on - there are quite a few people taking it on here I think.

hugs
WOnky

dreamdaisy

Someone else posted about leflunomide quite recently, you could try a search on it and see if their thread comes up. I took it for a short while and enjoyed crippling headaches as a result, so came off it. I wasn't on meth at the time as that had caused me to come out in a rash, so they prescribed the lef as an alternative. I am now on injected meth with sulphasalazine (the sulph has been a constant since 2002). I wish you well, I know that it has worked well for a number of people on here and I hope you are included in that number. DD

julie47

Hi Buster
I am on both leflunomide and meth tabs and take them together when its mtx day along with the others too.
I have been on both for quite a few years.
Hope it works for you
juliepf

buster152

hello and thank you all for the advice i knew i could rely on you