lumps on fingers and thumbs

[Anne_57]

hi- i have recently been diagnosed with RA and started MTX just over 6 weeks ago. I have developed little red lumps on my thumbs and fingers, which look like blisters, or spots but without a head, and are a bit tender to touch. They seem to be where I would be touching things such as bottle tops or tablet blister packs; I started with one and now have 8 of them. I've never had these before and RA consultant yesterday did not know what was causing them. Can being on MTX or having RA make you more allergic to things?

[Hidden]

I got 3 pea-sized nodules in the web between my thumb and index finger, apparently MTX sometimes causes them. Best bet is to talk to your rheumatology nurse just in case.

[Karen77 in reply to Hidden]

I was told it was related to MTX and then was off MTX about 6 months before starting Arava and I continue to have them. I have at least 22 now. They are sometimes hard and sometimes they go down quite a bit to almost being gone. No rhyme nor reason to whether they ebb or flow, and only bothersome if I catch them on anything. They can also get in the way when I am trying to make a tight fist, for example. I read they can be removed with surgery but there's a high probability of return, so I am just living with them - uneasy bedfellows you could say. Would love to know others' experience.

[ruth_p]

I would go to your gp. I get hives on my hands throughout the spring and summer. I have steroid cream to put on them. I have developed allergies since being on biologics but I was on mtx a long time before they started.

[Anne_57]

Thank you both. It's all a bit scary starting out; i had felt quite unsupported till l contacted NRAS, and it's great to know there is also this community out there. Hopefully the 'ground hog day' feeling will go away at some point and i will be able to just get out of bed without worrying about the pain and discomfort and how to get through the day.