Methotrexate

Debby

Hi all, I have Ra and FMS, for my RA I have been on Methotrexate for 6 months now, and have worse pain than before taking it, can anyone tell me if this has happened to you, and what alternatives you were offered that worked

Brynmor

Hi @Debby lovely to see you and welcome to the Online Community.

Sadly, it does sound as though methotrexate is not working for you. There is a great page on our website that gives information about this drug that you can read here:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/drugs/methotrexate/

There is also quite a lot of information from people who have or are taking methotrexate on the Community. You can check out the conversations I found as a result of a forum search here: https://community.versusarthritis.org/search?Search=Methotrexate

I will be interested to see what our members who have similar experiences have to say. Do join in across the Community, come for a chat and let us know how you are getting on.

All best wishes

Brynmor

Crookesey

Are you on oral or injection? I ask because I had all sorts of problems with the oral option, I’ve been on pen injections for ages and much prefer them.

dreamdaisy

I've taken meth for years and it has never reduced pain, just controlled disease activity; I think this is due to my starting treatmemt with too little, too late. C'est ma vie. DD

Crookesey

dreamdaisy correctly recognises R/A as a disease (Autoimmune), sadly it appears to be no more than a disorder to some of the medical profession. My GP laughed at me when I attempted to request a seat belt exemption, having been ‘trapped’ in my car for circa ten minutes due to my shoulder locking, making it impossible for me to release my seat belt.

R/A does not appear to be a ‘sexy’ branch of the medical profession, at GP level sufferers (I speak from my own experiences) are not taken as seriously as say, someone with a heart condition. This is very likely because of R/A being a favoured ‘sick note bandit’ ticket to benefits, IMHO all GP’s should take a blood sample from all patients claiming that they have R/A and send it off for expert clarification.

dreamdaisy

GPs do not deal with the diagnosis or the initial prescribing of meds for RA, it is the remit of rheumatologists. Blood tests are not proof either of an auto-immune arthritis (I speak as one who has one of the sero-negative kinds) so it is not uncommon for patients to be dismissed by the GP as not having an auto-immune arthritis when in fact they do. DD

Crookesey

DD,

GP’s refer patients to a rheumatologist at their discretion, mine eventually did so after much insistence from yours truly. Both he and one of his partners did not believe that I has R/A, his partner to this day disagrees with the diagnosis of both a professor and consultant of rheumatology.

dreamdaisy

Hello again, Debby, how are things going? DD