Short of breath

[rosedale]

I have been Methrotrexate now for about 11 weeks and i have noticed this week when walking or bending over i am out of breath i am also very cold and when i get to bed sweating badley has anyone else had any of these symptoms ?

[Mel_]

MTX can lead to shortness of breath, but your consultant should have told you to report this to him/her straight away if it happens, so do so either to the RA nurse consultant or GP. id you have a lung scan before you started your medication?

Regarding the matter of either feeling cold or hot, I posted a similar question recently and it would appear a lot of people have the same problem; I would suggest this is more to do with the RA and not the medication, however mention it to your consultant as they need to be kept updated.

Regards

Mel

[cathie]

I have excessive sweating, though its got better recently. But Mel, it would be brilliant if you could suggest how to find this as I must have missed your hot/cold blog. My mother, who also had RA used to suffer terribly from this - at one point - and we gave her a thermometer to help her know when it was really hot or cold. Not terribly sympathetic I'm afraid - to her.

If I'd known then.

I'm sure the shortness of breath is worth following up with GP or consultant.

[Hidden]

The hot and cold thing may be common with RA but on saying that I've never experience it. The only time when I was going hot and cold I found out I had an over-active Thyroid problem which apparently is quite common with RA.

The shortness of breath however should never be ignored in my opinion anyway I would have though this would be an indication of a lung problem. I would get this sorted asap, try and get and appointment with you gp as most are familiar with mtx but not the newer RA drugs.Or better still ring you nurse as they may bring your appointment forward to see you in clinic.

Breathing problems are one of the more severe side effects from mtx, and fever and chills is one of the more common ones.

Good luck

Mandy

[Hidden]

please contact rheum team asap re breathing or gp

[Hidden]

please see my official methotraxate side effect list on "the sun has got his hat on blog !"very important to read this alison nhs (pharm)

nras.healthunlocked.com/blo...

[Hidden]

Hi

I have just re-started on methotrexate after big problems last year. Had three doses so far and experiencing breathing difficulties similar to you and the hot/cold thing. I believe it's the body's response to the introduction of a toxic drug and it takes time for your body to get used to it.

If you have concerns it is always worth checking with the rheumatology team as they will be able to assess your individual symptoms. Are your two weekly blood test results okay? Often problems will show up in the blood before they manifest as symptoms which is one of the reasons it is important to keep the monitoring book up to date.

Lyn x

[rosedale]

Thank you all so much XX

[Hidden]

I was told that high levels of inflammation can also lead to excessive sweating which I have trouble with too x

[SianLouise]

When I'm having a flare up I get bad sweating aswell....I wake up with the bed soaked through and have to change my sheets and pajamas! All part of the fun parcel that is RA- it should ease off though as you feel better as mine did. Hope you feel well soon. Xx

[Sheila_G]

I have problems with above as well. I think Sparkle is right that it is caused by flare ups. That certainly seems to be so in my case, which would point to the cause being the disease itself and not the drugs but that's just my opinion. I have been on mxt for 9 yrs and last year had trouble with breathing. Had to come off mxt immediately and I had a chest xray and a CT scan which showed up emphesema, which terrified me, but the good news was that it had NOTHING to do with the RA. Apparently it was caused by smoking even though I stopped 22 years ago. Any smokers out there be warned any damage done, no matter how long ago, can't be undone. x