methotexate mondays

[_andy_]

monday is my methotexate day ,, whats yours ??..

anyone know why you dont take the folic acid on that day too plus are you still ok to take NASIDS , on same day ? ..

andy , x

[watson3]

I've have NSAIDs when taking metho drugs. They can however increase the absorbsion of metho.

Metho is a folic acid antagonist. And destroys the folic acid. Folic acid. Supplement are take to combat the side effect of the metho.

Folic acid is not stored in the body so therefore need daily amounts through diet or supplements.

Assisted with the b vit uptake needed for protein breakdown to simple sugars eg used for energy.

Hope that helps.

Carole

[Hidden]

I did read something about this - I think it said that Folic Acid and MTX are similar, chemically and that, like Carole says, it inhibits the effect of MTX a little so it is best to avoid it on MTX day. Apart from that can't remember a damn thing!

I take an NSAID (Naproxen) on the same day as MTX and I'm up to 22.5 mg of MTX now - I feel quite macho about it! Nobody's told me not to combine the two. Sunday is my MTX day and something I was wondering about is why I actually feel good when I take it and, I think, worse towards the end of the week as it wears off I suppose. My impression from blogs etc. is that for most people it's the other way round??

It's a funny old thing Methotrexate, so many folk taking it and yet, what does it actually do? Does anyone really know?

Christina

[Hidden]

Whenever I've read about MTX it says that scientists aren't exactly clear about how it modifies our disease exactly because it was initially intended for other conditions such as cancer but when taken for its intended purpose it seemed to make a big difference to those also suffering from some autoimmune diseases including RA - so it became one of the first line DMARDs by default I think. Same goes for other DMARDs such as Hydroxichloraquine which is principally an anti malarial drug but doubles up as a DMARD and first line drug for Systemic Lupus too.

I take mine on Tuesdays ie today and have found I have no side effects at all since switching to injectable MTX, apart from increase deep chilling possibly - although this could be RA of course. In fact it's amazing how much difference taking this drug by injection has made to me. I take folic acid 3 days a week - Thursdays to Sundays. Tilda x

[cathie]

I take mine on Wednesday night as that's the end of my main activities in the week and I can slob around on Thursdays. I still like to do stuff at weekend and am always below par after mtx. I suppose it depends on what we do...

[helixhelix]

Just to add to what Watson said, yes MTX knocks out folic acid but just to add to the complication folic acid also slightly stops MTX doing it's job so a bit of a catch-22 (probably a meaningless expression for those under a certain age? Do people still read it? I digress....) So usually recommended not to take folic acid on MTX day, and then top up 24 hours or so later and for rest of week if needed.

Oh, and I've read that it's by knocking out the folate that it stops normal cell processes happening and so controls our excitable immune systems, but they know much more about how it functions against cancer cells than they do for us. But who cares as long as it works? Polly

[Hidden in reply to helixhelix]

Another one is 'Kafkaesque nightmare'! It's a phrase that's come to mind a few times recently, not so much in relation to my disease as to my experience of the Health Service.

[_andy_ in reply to Hidden]

i like all these old expression s n sayings .. also like you say,, if it works ,, who cares ... you could say ,, dont look a gift horse in the mouth ...

i think we should do a blog on old saying , expression , and phrases .. and they meanings ..

we could start with one we all know well ... " feeling under the weather " .. now where does that come from ?????? ...

[_andy_ in reply to helixhelix]

i like all these old expression s n sayings .. also like you say,, if it works ,, who cares ... you could say ,, dont look a gift horse in the mouth ...

i think we should do a blog on old saying , expression , and phrases .. and they meanings ..

we could start with one we all know well ... " feeling under the weather " .. now where does that come from ?????? ...

[cathtyler in reply to _andy_]

i heard that 'under the weather' comes from sailors going below deck to get away from the weather when they aren't feeling well. random information garnered from researching for my sea shanty crew...

[Paula-C]

I had my folic acid increased last year. I was taking one a week but when I changed to injecting MTX I noticed my hair was getting thinner. Consultant told me to take one a day, I immediately replied.....But not on MTX day.....he replied.....It didn't make any difference if I did, so I now take one everyday.

I did read somewhere that years ago a chance conversation in a hospital canteen between an oncologist and a rheumatology consultant resulted in MTX being used to treat RA. The oncologist mentioned that a patient with RA had told him that whilst they were taking MTX to treat the cancer their RA had improved. If it's true or not I don't know.

Paula

[lynn-bel]

Been told that folic acid can intefere with MTX so thats why we mustnt take it on same day. Folic acid is supposed to reduce side effects of MTX and look after one of the cells(?!?) or somethign or other! But I do take Naproxen as and when and been told I can take same day as MTX and also as well as Paracetemol. But I dont take Naprox. unless really have to as I dont want to build up immunity to it and it can affect tummy but hasnt so far.

Thursday is my day for MTX and very often feel rough on Friday - nauseous, tired, weepy, good for nothing, so dont plan too much in case I cant do it. Not every Friday though, so as has been mentioned above, it may depend on what we are doing and how active the old RA is.

I'm on 20 mg a week now and luckily the drug seems to suit me - I still have flare ups but to be honest, the worst effect I'm having right now is the fatigue and total exhaustion, as if my body has lost all its strength - gets me down so then I get depressed but then I get up and give mysellf a shake to snap out of it.

Enough of that - I am so lucky in that I can still lead an almost "normal" life - many others are so much more severely affected than me.

Signing off now - starting to blab!

Lynn x

[nellysgran]

I take my MTX on a wednesday evening, and folic acid everyday except wednesday, it is supposed to reduce the side affects of MTX but I dont get any side affects on the following day it is always the day after that (friday) that I feel so awful, Does anyone else have side affects a few days after taking MTX ?

Wendy

[_andy_]

looking like wednesday ,, is the popular day to take MTX ... me thinking it would be mondays

[claireyj]

Mine is Sunday as usually quite a quiet day in our house (can't believe I said that bonkers here at mo school hols)! Feel knackered Monday and achey and usually after that ok would rather feel crappy at work for one day and then it's over and done with!! .....Claire x

[Tinwoman2]

I usually take it on Sundays. I got off a couple of weeks ago, so am moving it a couple of days over several weeks until I get it back to Sunday.

I don't get sick from it either Wendy, or feel like it wears off. Maybe the Arava helps that-I take that on Tues & Fri.

Christine

[sciqueen]

Hi Andy

I'm the same as Tilda. Tuesday is mtx day and I take folic acid thursday, friday & saturday (15mg a wk).

I get on better with the injections as the oral made me very sick.

I take mtx on tuesday so that, if any side affects I've got 2 days of work to weather them. In truth I don't have any side affects now - well sometimes a headache later that evening.

Hope that helps

Joanne x

[Hidden]

I think that side effects can vary from one week to the next. I got really sick suddenly on 17.5mg having not been sick on this dose earlier in the year. I think it builds up in our systems and side effects can take us by surprise. I used to get red spots a few days after taking my weekly dose - this lasted for the first six months but then died out just as I'd got used to looking out to see where the spot would appear each week! Today I injected myself earlier in the day than usual and then remembered to take my Hydroxy tablet at lunchtime and by this evening I was feeling rubbish - sick and tired despite having bragged on here about how well I was doing since injecting! But on the whole I feel like a new woman since starting injectable MTX and even my OH has commented that I'm far less moody on the subsequent days! TTx

[allypal]

I inject MTX each Monday, but have now delayed the timing til the early evening so that if I have any bad effects, hopefully I will be asleep. I usually feel a bit grotty on Tuesdays, and then again over the weekend which I assumed was due to it wearing off. I could not tolerate the higher dose of 25mg, so reverted back to 20mg, but have a prescription to start sulfasalazine too. Happy days!

Ally x

[_andy_ in reply to allypal]

finally another MTX monday .. i was begining to think, i was the only one

hows that cat ?? got his claws clipped yet ?? ( lol )

andy x

[allypal in reply to _andy_]

Lol he's a she, and she needs her claws for when she's clambering around in the jungle, which used to be a garden until I couldn't cope anymore!

Ally x