Methotrexate and anemia.

[Jj01994]

Methotrexate and anemia, does anyone else have this problem and if so is there anything that helps??

[Hidden]

Hi JJ, if it was me, I’d be asking a doctor. Are your blood tests showing anemia? Cheers Deb

[Jj01994 in reply to Hidden]

Doctor told me I am, and it also shows in my blood work.

[nomoreheels]

I've recently stopped ferrous fumarate after iron deficient anaemia. My GP picked it up from my MTX monitoring bloods & arranged gastroscopy & colonoscopy which revealed nothing suspicious so considered to be due to the disease itself. I continued the FF for another month & a repeat blood test showed my levels were back to normal.

I take it you've been informed you're anaemic?

[Jj01994 in reply to nomoreheels]

Yes, doctor said I was but she is not totally sure which kind I am dealing with right now as I have had several different types in the past.

[oldtimer]

It depends on what type of anaemia you have.

If it is the usual low grade type that goes with having a long term inflammatory condition then reducing your inflammatory markers with medication usually improves the 'anaemia of chronic illness'.

If it is secondary to your medication you may need to stop that for a while and have your blood monitored.

If it is iron deficient then you need investigations and probably extra iron.

If it is B12 deficiency then that may also be an auto-immune condition and you will need B12 injections.

(And there are a few others which are rarer - like an auto-immune attack on your bone marrow that I had as part of the Rheumatoid Arthritis.)

[hawker955]

Hello. Anaemia is a very common problem of rheumatoid arthritis causing great fatigue usually. I was put on methotrexate and Humira in the spring on 2009 and was old that it might be several months for the RA to improve. Fortunately they were wrong and my swelling and pain had all cleared within 2-3 weeks. The anaemia improved just as quickly once the widespread inflammation of RA had died down. I have not been anaemic or swollen since. The medications did not cause anaemia if that is what you are suggesting but completely solved the problem.

My understanding of the how nd why is that when suffering with such a widespread and persistent inflammatory process one's bone marrow is focused on building inflammatory white cells and the red blood cells tend to suffer as a result until the inflammation is switched off. On the bright side, the system to build the red blood cells I all ready to go so can respond very quickly when allowed to do so. Hence my haematocrit [ or PCV] increased from the abnormally low 31% in February to 39% by April and my fatigue improved with it. I improved before the April though and was able to start cycling again within March. of that year.

The short version of this reply is that effective damping down of long-standing widespread inflammation should solve your anaemia.

[Jj01994]

My iron levels are on the low end of normal but my red cell count is down and they are smaller then they should be, so they are not carrying as much O2 as they should be. To make matters worse I have lost the ability to swallow solid food, so only liquids and powder dissolved in liquids in my diet since the end of January. I am getting a barium swallowing assessment done in March and a endoscopy as well to see what is going on. But with everything my my blood work keeps looking worse and worse. I can not take most of my meds as I can not swallow them. Doctor knows but has not changed my meds or anything just says do not force swallowing as I could choke or aspirate if I do but still worried as everything that is low is getting lower and my condition markers are going up because it is active and not getting all of the meds to keep it down.

Over all I am stressed and unsure what is going on.

P.S. I do not have the ability to feel hungry or full but that is just how I have been whole life.

[Jj01994]

I have had iron deficiency, and B12 deficiency in the past as while as having the issue of too small red cells.

They have in the past given me iron infusions, B12 injections and before the liquid diet had me eating large amounts of protein and drinking nurient packs 1 or 2 times a day. Now I am drinking 4 of them and trying to drink a bunch of soup and other liquid things to keep my calories up but it is hard as it takes so long to eat. Like an hour to get down about half a bowl of soup, or a pudding. Even drinking nurient packs and other drinks is getting tiring to do.

[Angels54]

Yes I take iron tablet only 1 a day ferrouse fumate just to give iron a boost .