20 month old Toddler on Prednisolone & Methotrexate

alec101 wrote:

My daughter Meg has just been diagnosed with Systemic onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

Does anyone have any knowledge on how oral pred, methyl pred pulses and methotrexate affect your child. Any tips on hospital visits?

I have Psoriatic Arthropathy and am currently on a flare for which I am oral pred 20mg (same dose as my daughter) and methotrexate too, so I do have first hand knowledge of how this affects you, but having more knowledge to help Meg would be good.

Alec

Hi there,
My daughter is 6 and has the Systemic version of JIA also - she was diagnosed back in Feb - she has been on a combination of oral pred, ibuprofen and tummy meds since March. She has gained weight - face and tummy areas. Her diet is now quite erratic - cravings for things like chicken mayo sandwiches, lemon drizzle cake and rice cakes!! She can also get very cross and a little violent when she is tired which she didnt do before. Recently I also notice darker hair growth on her back. But the posiitve side is that they did work in the main. We are now moving onto mtx via injection in the next week or so.
Hospital visits and medication are now part of Annie's life and I am lucky she takes them in her stride - taking her favourite teddy to hospital to get stickers also helped. Coming to terms with the fact this is about managing a disease and not a cure has taken me a while and as a mother the ups and downs your child has you go through to. Stay strong for Meg and your self. Lucy