Metoject questions

[tubbyman]

Hi All,

I am new here.

I hope some of you may be able to answer some questions I have as this seems to be a great community.

I inject myself with 20mg and have been doing this for about 10 weeks now.

I feel very tired and sick about 30 minutes after I inject myself and go to bed. Is this normal?

The next day I feel very sick and also my hands flare up after the injection. The sick feeling lasts for several day if not the entire week however my hands calm after a couple of days. Is this normal and do any of you do anything to ease this?

I have been on other medication for my psoriatic arthritis but have had a mixture of side effects but most have effected my mood and how I focus on my job.

The injection have seemed to reduce this but the above are questions I can't seem to find answers to.

I also not feel very anxious when in busy or confined spaces with lots of people, I am now 45 so put this down to being a miserable old git but would value your thoughts and to see if anyone else feels like this.

Thank you in advance for any help / thoughts

[gwynedd]

Hi there and welcome.

I'm not really qualified to answer your question as to what's going on with you, I can only comment on my own experience of injecting methotrexate. I inject on an evening and usually feel tired the following day, sometimes I have slight nausea but nothing too bad. I tend to take it easy that day and rest as much as my family /work obligations allow. As to joint swelling, I've never noticed any pattern or link connected with methotrexate. Maybe you could give your rhuemy nurse a call and see what they advise? My experience of some of the nurses is that they are very helpful and can act as a go between you and the rheumatologist. Good luck.

[tubbyman in reply to gwynedd]

Thank you Gwynedd, it is always nice to understand other peoples experiences on medication. When I speak to my Rheumatologist I just get a standard answer of "it may be a side effect but keep taking the medication as it could wear off".

[Beverley-NRAS]

Hi tubbyman,

sickness, nausea and tiredness are all possible side effects of methotrexate and we hear about them on the helpline quite regularly. Depression and confusion are also listed as possible side effects , although listed as uncommon:

medicines.org.uk/emc/medici...

The hands swelling up is not something we have heard about on the helpline but it could be something called erythema:

nhs.uk/conditions/erythema-...

which is also listed but as gwynedd suggests, best to give your rheumatology helpline a call to check.

Often the side effects disappear or at least become manageable after a time but if they don't, do speak to your rheumatology team. It is a balance between the benefits and disadvantages of taking the medicines but at the end of the day you have to be able to function at some level.

Regards

Beverley (NRAS Helpline)

[tubbyman in reply to Beverley-NRAS]

Thanks you for taking the time to respond Beverley. I really appreciate your comments and feedback. It is nice to be able to gain insight from others.