I had my first visit with the rheumatologist in April last year and subsequent appointments have been with the nurse specialist. She told me on each visit that it was time to consider methotrexate. I assumed she was passing this information on from the consultant.
I had an appointment yesterday with the man himself. He didn’t have anything to add about my treatment as he was quite happy that I was being monitored by the eye clinic.
I then showed him my letter about the Methotrexate study, and he said Methotrexate is a drug we rarely use for PMR, it is mainly used for rheumatoid arthritis!! I made no comment!
The doctor running the study was also at the clinic, so I signed up for the study there and then. Apart from measuring weight etc. and a few questions about physical activity and alcohol consumption, she measured the stiffness of my liver with a Fibro-Scan.
The measurement could be between one and seventy but only babies are likely to have a measurement of one or two. My liver gave a reading of five!! After having problems with my spine for most of my adult life and taking painkillers on and off for quite long periods I often wondered if my liver was OK. Now I know it is very healthy indeed and I am delighted, and it seems I can relax at my future appointments and not get keyed up about refusing Methotrexate!
They are doing the study to try and ‘prove’ that Methotrexate is not harmful to the liver.