Tag: side effects

Progress

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Five weeks into the Methotrexate and it’s time for an update.  My rheumy doc told me that there was a strong possibility that by the time I came back to see her in 5 or 6 weeks, that I might feel no improvement, that it could take a bit longer than that since this dmard is very slow acting.  She said progress might be imperceptible and I might need other people to verify it, for instance, someone in my family saying “yeah, you are not limping as much” or “you don’t seem to be talking about your feet as much.”  So, I was not expecting miracles and was ready for no progress at the return appointment which will be in about a week and a half. Color me surprised, then, when I could feel noticeable progress at five weeks!  I’ll bullet it for brevity’s sake.

  • When I wake up in the morning, I am not walking on broken feet and limping.  In fact, some mornings, I don’t even think about my feet.
  • I don’t wince every time I pull up my pants.
  • I can button my clothing easier.
  • I can walk distances again.
  • I want to walk.
  • I am not as stiff when I rise from any period of sitting.
  • I am taking much less Ibuprofen.

Now, I still have my needs.  My neck is killing me right now.  My knees still hurt when I go up and down stairs.  My thumb joint still aches and throbs at times.  But, in all, I am really happy with my progress.

The side effects of Mtx have not been unbearable.  I have some occasional stomach upset [mild] and some mood distress [mild to mod] that is quite interesting in the way it manifests.  Most people are slain the day after their dosage [which is when gastrointestinal stuff happens if it is going to], but I have like a 3 or 4 day delay.  For instance, I would take the Mtx on Sat evening and then it would hit me by Wed of the next week.  What happens is exhaustion that is akin to swimming in Karo syrup- feeling like lifting a hand is work but I don’t have the liberty to rest since I work two jobs, so I keep going and then everything ends up making me cry.  Well, I don’t actually cry in front of anyone but Bean and I am sure he wishes I would stop it, but there you have it.  Weird, but doable.  

What has helped in addition to the Mtx is taking my supplements correctly and remembering to take my prescription Folic Acid.  Thank you, Bean, for buying me a large pill manager compartment thingy so that I can remember to take them all each day at the right times. I take Armour Thyroid, Folic Acid, B vitamins, fish oil gummies, Krill oil capsule, Curcumin, Anti-inflammatory bio caps, 100 vitamin C, & vitamin D in addition to my 1x week Mtx.

I think I will tell the doc to ramp it up a notch when I go back because I need to get in shape for summer hiking.  I’ll go from 10 to 15 or something.  I have googled this whole mood thing with the Mtx. but I would like to hear if anyone else has experienced mood alteration or that kind of strange exhaustion on this drug.

Side Effects- Part Deux

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Happy Friday!  I am soooooo happy it is Friday, because I get to sleep in tomorrow.   This week has been, well… strange.  With trepidation I started my Methotrexate treatment last Saturday and was excited on Sunday because I had a noticeable LACK of side effects.  I had the morning gastrointestinal upset, but then the rest of the day was one of the best of the week.  I was psyched to find that I could take this med without serious side effects, but Mtx is a sneaky sneaky drug.  It’s side effects are slow and covert and by the time they catch up with you, you might not even connect them to the drug.  I’m not sure if the exhaustion I experienced this week was related to the RA or the Mtx, but it was a new thing.  It wasn’t fatigue, I’ve had that and I can push through it.  No, this was the kind of exhaustion where you are not sleepy, but you feel like just lifting your arms to wipe the dish you just washed is a major effort.  It’s like maybe your arms, legs, and head just got 75% heavier and you have to get acclimated to that.  I stood at the sink last night and literally began to cry I was so uncharacteristically exhausted.  Unbelievable.  Next morning, I was fine [after getting out of bed, that is].   That’s the other thing, waking up this week was extremely hard.

Now, in defense of the Mtx., it could have been that I worked nearly 14 hours on Monday, another 11 on Tuesday, 9 on Wednesday, and then stayed up until nearly 2 Wed night having a protracted and dramatic argument with Bean.  By Wed., I was near the edge, by Thursday… I was fried.  Clearly, I need to take more time to rest on this drug.  At the very least, I need to make it a point to get to bed on time when I am working lots of hours, but there aren’t enough hours in the day sometimes for me to finish all I need to get done.  Bean says that maybe I need to be alert for depression, since my behavior and exhaustion could be related to depression [and apparently depression goes hand in hand with RA like peanut butter and jelly], but I don’t think that’s the case, because it would be all the time and not just near the end of the day 2 or 3 days out of the week.

Water under the bridge, since things got better Friday and today.  So, here it is… time to take my Methotrexate again.  I’m having some tea and millet toast to have something on my stomach and I have had a really good Saturday.  We’ll see what week 2 of this adventure brings.

I’d love to hear what others have experienced as side effects from Mtx.  Leave a comment is you’ve taken it and let me know what you experienced.  It seems different for everyone and most report less side effects with the injectable Mtx.  I am taking pills.

Methotrexate

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I had my med management appt at the rheumy the other day and I had done my research.  I was ready for an aggressive approach advocated by research for people recently diagnosed, only Dr. B was having none of that.  She wanted to do the monomodal approach using the old standby Methotrexate.  I asked which was more effective, MTX or one of the new biologics?  She answered, “well, of course the biologics are, but they are only for people with moderate to severe disease states and for whom MTX did not work or stopped working.”  I said, “you mean, the insurance won’t let you?” She answered, “yes, they have to try the cheap and tried and true drugs first.”  So, there you have it.  Blue Cross/Blue Shield has predetermined my treatment because MTX is cheap and has a generic form and the biologics are new and cutting edge and don’t have generic forms and so I have to wait until I am pretty bad off to get one of them.  I am trying to stay super positive though, and so I am going with gratitude that I am not bad off enough to rate a biologic yet and may never be if MTX puts me into remission and keeps me there.

Dr. B told me that MTX does not have a lot of side effects, the Internet told a different story, so holding my 4 pills plus a folic acid pill in my hand last night I did have pause thinking of the most noxious of side effects like nausea, dizziness, hair loss, stomach pain, extreme fatigue, and so on, that I could experience.  I was alone and I wondered what would happen if I had some awful reaction or got really sick.  But, I was tired, and so I swallowed them and went to bed.

Well, guess what?  I slept like a nice rock.  I remembered to take my nighttime 800 Motrin, so I awoke with less foot pain and even my hands were not too stiff.  I had diarrhea almost immediately after waking, but that was it.  The rest of the day was, frankly– the best day of this past week.  I felt pretty good all day long. So, I feel pretty victorious, like I kicked butt or something.  I am not sure what this means:  I got a bad batch, I’m a badass, I am not affected by this drug like other people are, it’s going to work great, it’s not going to work great, who knows… but I am thankful that I did not have bad side effects today.  I only take it once a week, so I won’t take another dose until next weekend, and Dr. B says I won’t really notice improvements until after like 6 weeks, so it’s a slow drug.  I hope the side effects don’t take that long to show up.

I’m off to bed now.  Everything I read says I need my rest.  I’m feeling positive and hopeful tonight. 🙂