Nausea with methotrexate?

lizzy100

iv been taking methotrexte for a while and was fine with it, but since increasing the dose its making me feel reallly sick and tired. i slept for hours yest afternoon. and feel sick as a dog. iv tried antisickness pills and they didnt help much. did anyone else have this and what did you do about it? my specialist didnt really suggest anything execpt try another anti sickness tablet. :roll:

mig

Hi Lizzy,When I was on meth I always felt sick as the dose was upped the worse it got so I went on injected meth but it made no difference,I tried to stick it out as it seemed to be working for my ra but in the end I had to stop it as it was affecting my liver,anti sickness pills made no difference.Mig

lizzy100

yea my specialist said injected wouldnt make any difference too. my joints are alot better although i feel like it needs to be increased a tiny bit more but dont want to when its like this, and they said the next step would be biologics. maybe i should ask about that when i see someone next.
did it get better once ud been on the same dose for a while? the gp said it might, but i increased it about 8 weeks ago now

mig

Hi Lizzy,I'm afraid I had to stop the meth due to liver problems so I don't know if it would have got any better,there are lots of people on here who have success with meth. Mig

mig

Hi Lizzy,Should have added that you have to have tried and failed on at least 3 dmards before being considered for biologicals ,have you tried any others and then there are certain guidelines that you have to meet,you can check N.I.C.E. guidelines if you google it .Mig

ironic

Hi Lizzy,
I have always struggled with mtx tablets. I started on 10mg and ended up at 17.5mg and was sick for at least 2-3 days every week. I started with injections in January and things have improved dramatically.

The best for me was having them before my main meal. Then as the tablets were upped I asked if it was ok to split the dose so I had 3 before my meal and 4 before going to bed with a starchy snack. It did help but not every time.
There are others that say sipping ginger, or having an ice lolly help with the nausea. Folic acid increased to more days a week has helped some but I must admit it made me even worse but as always what works for one does not for others.
Always check with your Rheumy team before trying altering anything though.

Numptydumpty

Hi Lizzy, I've been taking Meth for about seven years. I'm fine on it, as long as I don't take more than 20mg, I've tried 30 mg and 25mg, but I get headaches, mouth ulcers, and horrible upset stomach. 20mg unfortunately, isn't enough to control my RA. On Monday, I'm starting injected Meth. Apparently, it's more effective. I'll let you know how I get on.
Take care,
Numpty

joanne66

Hi, i'm on 10mg of meth, i take it 30mins before going to bed,(with food) it does make me feel a little queasy but i sleep it off.... i also take 2 folic during the week. hope you find what works for you xx
ps it took 8 -12 weeks for meth to work for me.....
gentle hugs
jo

jacqmun

Hi Lizzy!!! I too was on oral meth then sub-cut, both made me ill, not to mention the thinning hair!!!! :shock: Needless to say it was stopped!!!
Wishing you well!!!

joon51

Hi Lizzy I use to take mtx in tablet form and suffered nausea I then changed to the injected type I was ok for a while but have the nausea back again don't know if its because they upped the dose a few months back but if I remember rightly think I had it before they upped it. At one time I thought it was the hydroxy but recently had a week off of mtx and had no nausea. I have tried anti sickness pills but they haven't helped am seeing rheumy soon will see if they can offer anything else

Take Care

June xx

barbara12

Hi Lizzy
Sorry I cant help, but I just want to add my support and hope you find something to help the sickness..especially if the meds are working for you (((())))xx

lizzy100

thanks guys. i felt awful sick for 3 days again this week and had to come home from work thurs and friday. im really tired too. well i was ok on 15mg, and then when i upper it to 17.5 this started, but iv been on this dose 8 ish weeks now?
well i tried sulfasalazine before MXT but couldnt take it, but they are the guidelines for RA, i think its different for me.
noones mentioned increasing the folic acid. noone really seems to care here. but it is helping my joints so i cant stop it, but i cant not go to work 2 days a week and feel ill 3 days a weel every week either. :roll:
iv tried 4 different antisickness pills and none really help.

frogmorton

It's good that the MTX does is helping with the pain, but awful to feel so sick

Can you get in touch with rhuemy nurses to ask if you could try the extra folic acid you suggest?

Love

Toni xxx

ritwren

For sure the injection caused me a lot less nausea than the tablets. I was actually told that as it bypasses the stomach it is in fact much easier to tolerate. If I were you I'd get the Dr to prescribe it by injection rather than tablets if you want to stay on it, it's worth giving it a shot. Hope you soon get a result.
Ritwren

lizzy100

he wouldnt because he said injections dont make any difference. hed only use them if i had crohns disease and so wasnt absorbing it.
i dont have a rheummy nurse.
i can try asking the new doc when i see him in a few weeks. but i cant have 3 days off every week till then

Claire38

I definitely felt less nausea with the injections, rather than the tablets, although it didn't stop it completely. I was on folic acid daily (except for mtx day). Only the higher doses of mtx helped with the pain, but the tablets gave me really bad nausea, hence the change to injections.

Have you tried Domeridone, anti sickness tablets? They worked quite well for me.

Unfortunately, although the injections were better for the nausea, they were no better for the fatigue, bad stomach, and then the hair loss. The hair loss was the last straw for me and mtx I'm afraid, and made the decision to come off it a lot easier for me.

lizzy100

thanks, thats exactly how it is for me with the higher doses helping but ore side effects. my hairs always fallen out with it, although its not noticable from looking at me so im not too bothered, but it does get all over the floor and everywhere! :shock:
yes domperidones what they gave me last week, but still felt awful sick. im really tired tooo, having to sleep all the time now,