Is anyone taking methotrexate?

[Debella]

is anyone taking methotrexate ? Please

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Loads on here. And had you stated that in post title you would have got related posts…

and on the subject of post titles, please don’t use a name.

Lots of info on MTX in this link -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[random901 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thanks for links to methotrexate, DL. Was offered this 2 days' ago and am still thinking about it. Just been put up to 20 mg pred from17.5 owing to worsening fatigue and generally feeling really unwell. 2 days has already made a pleasing difference. I am so lucky with my rheumy. Apparently my bloods were abnormal for 10 years before being GCAPMR diagnosed by her last October. The undiagnosed diseases had gone on for so long that rheumy advises really slow taper and closer monitoring from now on.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to random901]

No personal experience with MTX… it works for some but not all… but always worth a try to see if it suits you. If it doesn’t, there is no issue in stopping it.

Good luck with what you decide.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Change your title to your question and related posts will come up.

[Oxfordboy2]

Hi Debella,I have been o methotrexate for 2 years in tablet form.Is there anything specific you would like to know about this drug.

[PMRrunner]

I've been on methotrexate for around two years. I also take folic acid on the other 6 days. I can tolerate 10mg weekly but not a higher dose, at 20mg I had extreme fatigue. I think it has helped me reduce my pred dose but I still have to taper extremely slowly.

[Noni71]

I take Methotrexate but can only tolerate 7.5mg weekly as anything above that plays havoc with my liver. I’m not sure how much difference it has made as I started Tocilizumab within a short space of time. Have been as low as 5mg of Prednisolone but went back up to 7.5mg a couple of months ago. Apart from a raised liver function have not had any issues with Methotrexate.

[Hollybee21]

I have been on Methotrexate (20 mg by injection) for nearly two years. I tried tablet form originally but had a bad stomach after each dose, injection fine. Started when I was stuck at 10 mg of Pred. now at 3 mg, no exhaustion any more and feeling the best I have been for 14 years on Pred. There is no harm in trying it but it does take a couple of months to start working. Keeping my fingers crossed that I will be down to zero Pred by the end of the year. Good luck.

[Golf-1]

I have been taking 15mg MTX once a week and 5mg Folic Acid 24 hours later, for just over 1 year with little or no side effects.

BUT - please be aware, if you have not already been told as I wasn't, that it reduces your immunity to almost none so stop taking it if you are ill, or likely to come into contact with someone with an infection.

I had not been told to stop MTX when ill, I cought Covid whilst in Rome last October, continued taking MTX and this resulted in me being very ill for over 4 weeks, instead of the usual 7 -10 days.

[Heidiypi1]

hi Debella, I tried Methx but couldn’t cope with it at all, I felt like I had to scrape myself off the floor absolutely couldn’t function! A lot of people use it with no problems, so it’s worth a try. I have just stuck to 5mgs of Prednisone a day, earlier this year I thought maybe PMR had gone away so I started reducing went to 4.5mgs then 4mgs and I took myself off the antidepressants Endep 50 which I’m happy with! But within about 2 weeks the flaring came back with vengeance slapped me around a bit and I went straight back to 5mgs again. It’s been over 2 years now since the 5th Covid shot did this to me, don’t know how long I will have this!