Increase of Folic acid....

[shirlthegirl]

Hi everyone i hope you are having a pain free day, Well i had a chat with a Rheumy nurse today as mine in on holiday, As i have said they have upped my mtx from 15 to 20 mg 2 Sundays ago, i took my first 20 mg dose and i got some really rotten side affects, Dizziness nausea, the sweating and hot flushes i had i put down to the steroid injection that i had on the Thursday before, I could hardly stand for long and had to keep returning back to bed, This lasted up till Wednesday morning last week, i did get side affects from 15 mg but just felt that it needed time to get in my system and that it is not unusual to get these in the being, but this was a lot worse, well she has advice me to take folic acid every day but not on the mtx day, which i believe some of you are on to, I also mention about my Alt still increasing from 21 to 72 and this test was done before i upped the MTX, she has told me to have another test this week and see how the ALT is, if there is another rise that they will consider lowing the MTX again or changing them to sulphazalazine, So I've not been feeling to great since yesterday afternoon, but i have spent £150.00 on clothes from next that i received this morning I know some of you are on sulphazalazine, is this a better drug than MTX or is it about the same? XXXXX

[Hidden]

When I was first diagnosed with PsA, I had the combination you were on with folic acid each day bar mtx day, and gradually increased the mtx to 25mg. I eventually moved from sulph to leflunomide with mtx, before moving to anti-tnf with lefl.

Having explained all that sulph was not very good for me, I could not stomach it, it made my IBS worse also it made no difference to my PsA, when I went to mtx and lefl. it was the mtx then that made me worse with my blood test results, Again nothing was hitting the sides on the PsA. What I am on now is making me better both physical signs and within the body.

Hope this helps a bit.x

[miss]

Hi i can't say which is better. At moment take Sulph as i can't have MTX due to having hepb a very long time ago. I would say it takes the edge of the RA. Can't say it has me in remission yet xx

[warthog100]

hi i take sulpha as my liver function tests were all over the place so couldnt take mxt hasnt helped a lot but i think it has affected my ibs too i seem to get a lot of wind! dry mouth wih weird tastes byt thats all sue

[Hidden]

hi shirl i had sulph but had really bad side effects , as in severe migrane like hadaches that disabilitated me so badly i could not raise my head off my pillow let alone get out of bed also got a red boil like rash in my ears neck chest and scalp very sore . i was taken off it immediately. but not everyone the same so don't want to frighten you. All i would say is if you get any symtoms i had stop it straight away and ring your rheumy nurse. good luck xxxx lena

[Hidden]

Hi,

I was taken off MTX due to it causing breathing problems, and was changed to Hydroxy plus Sulfa. I haven't looked back since. I take 1500 mgs twice a day and it's definitely worked with me.

Carolyn x

[Hidden]

Meant to say that I had no side effects with the Sulfa.

[shirlthegirl]

Thank you all for your reply's, it is so great to have all this advice at a touch of a button, i will let you know how i get on on Friday, On a good note i am so glad to say that the side affects this time are a lot lesser,and today i am dancing around the house doing my house work, my knee seems to be getting better every day, Thank you steroid injection I just hope that my ALT is a lot better on Friday xxx