I have been on MTX at 10mg once a week.
I have been on them for three weeks now, take them on a Tuesday.
Tuesday is fine but Wednesday and Thursday I feel nauseous and tired, no energy.
Has anyone had similar if so how long does the side effects last, if it is a side effect.
Thanks for any help.
🙂
Morning Ernie 🖐I went on to 20mg injections to help combat this, but still feel dreadful.
I take mine Friday evenings as I work building on sites during the week.
I increased my folic acid to everyday except the day I inject, you could see if this helps.
Hang in there as atleast we can move with it👋
I got that when the rheumatologist increased my dose from 7.5mg to 15mg. So I went back down to 10mg, then increased every 2 weeks to get to 15mg. They also changed me to injections to see if that made a difference which I think for some reason, which I don't know why, it did.
Give it a chance! Give it a good couple of months ….if no improvement speak to your rheumy nurse.Mtx is brilliant when it suits you…just a few tablets or an injection once a week.
I do hope it settles down & you are one of the lucky ones….I took it for 7 years & honestly I could forget I had RA.
I found that increasing my Folic Acid to six days a week (not on Methotrexate day) really helped so worth chatting to the rheumy nurse if that hasn't been prescribed for you.
Unfortunately they are both very common side effects of MTX. I had the nausea when I started on 15mg. As others have said I had my folic acid increased to 5mg 6 days a week which helped. I’d definitely try and stick with it, as it’s good for the RA. The other thing I do is take it at night after my evening meal, then I seem to sleep through most of the bad effects. I take 25mg MTX now with no problems
Hi, I am on 20mg of mtx injection once a week, I did not get on with tablets as they made me feel bad, tiered and nauseous for a few days after. Taking injections I don't very often get this, folic acid 6 days out of 7 and plenty of fluids every day. Only When i was of mtx for 5 weeks due to infections, I found this was happening for a few weeks until my body got used to it again. Good luck
Yes I think this is the effect.I take mine in an evening after dinner, I take them at about 9.00 pm with a cup of tea and toast or biscuit. The methotrexate helps the pain eventually ,I have also found that Matrex make of tablet is the best for me.
If you have only been on them for 3 weeks then your body is probably still adjusting. I found those effects slowly wore off over the first 3 months or so.
Take as much folic acid as your doctor allows, drink lots of water and try to get enough rest. I also found that eating too much fatty and sugary food didn’t help.
Thank you all for such helpful and reassuring replies. Here's to plodding on a while longer before seeing my GP who deals with me locally. 👍😘
I started on 10mg, I’m now on 20mg. I think I was lucky, never felt nauseous, but the fatigue, that’s on another level!A work colleague is also on Mthx, he felt sick all the time, so he was changed over to the injection and now it’s fine.
See how you go, it’s early days, but speak to your Consultant or nurse if in time you’re still not feeling right.
👍
Yeah I also have started injections of mtx recently I had them years ago but liver function wasn’t good at that time. I’m on a lower dose and take mine at 9pm Tuesday evening. Wednesday I can’t think straight and am so tired I sleep a lot and have written off that day now. I find that nausea has been a problem but have upped my water intake and strangely don’t get it if I only drink decaf coffee on Wednesday. I’m already taking folic acid 6 days a week but like you my body isn’t accustomed to it yet but getting there even after one month. Hopefully the side effects will lessen after time but hang in there if you can because my experience of it is it’s a fabulous med. having said that if the side effects become intolerable don’t suffer in silence contact your rheumy team and get some advice if nothing else even if it means they lower your dose for a while until you get used to it.
Very common, I'm afraid on methotrexate. If you would prefer, or it's more convenient, to be out of action over the weekend you could gradually move a day at a time so that you take it on Fridays. Drink lots of water, take your folic acid (not on the day of methotrexate, obviously) and plan for quiet days then. Lots of people find this wears off gradually, if it doesn't, then let your Rheumy team know - there are alternatives.
Have a look at the NRAS treatment pages for more information if you haven't already: nras.org.uk/information-sup...
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