Kickas.org Forums Rheumatoid Arthritis General Discussion #1 RA Web Support Group Increasing methotrexate dose

Well, that's great news if you can go in to work when you need/want to, Sue. And, yes, I had noticed Chris sounding more cheery. Isn't that great?

hi Wendy, sorry to hear that the mtx hasn't yet been doing the trick for you - I hope it kicks in really soon! You mentioned the risk of nausea with increased doses and I wanted to share my experience with this. I had some nausea originally when starting on 15mg mtx, although over a few months that subsided, to the point where it didn't really bother me anymore. Dosage increases in 2.5mg steps had a minor impact, I maybe noticed it for a week or two, but was on 25mg orally for quite a long time without any problems. I recently jumped from 17.5mg to 25mg in a week without feeling it, as my body has previously been on 25mg!

I have heard though that switching to injectable mtx can improve the rate of absorption, although that's not something we'd looked at and I'll be coming off the mtx in time after starting humira.

Good luck! I really hope you find your magic dose soon!

-Anke

Will be watching to see if the higher dose works for you. Hoping it does.

Due to infection, I'm off the mtx till April. Have a referral to ENT to see if they can figure out why the sinus infections/inflammation return so frequently. The big steroid shot in early Feb has worn off, so pain levels are going up again. I'm pretty sure the mtx was working, but couldn't keep the infections under control this winter.

There is a gal at work that is on imuran for chrohn's and it's worked well for her....not that it's the same disease...but it is autoimmune.

Thanks Anke - that's very encouraging. I have been nervous about side effects, particularly nausea and hair loss.

Thanks Rumble. Did she report any side effects from the Imuran?

Wendy,
I feel your pain. I've been on 10mg pred for months while trying other meds. now I'm on MTX, too. Took 10mg for 3 weeks; Took 15mg on Friday. Not really noticing much difference, except that my SI and hips are more painful. What's up with that?

Are you going to increase the pred or suffer with 6mg?

I'm going to take the pred back up to 6mg (I'm on 3mg right now) and hope that holds me together while I increase the mtx. At 6mg, my inflammation levels are held in check but I'm far from pain free.

Imuran not an issue. She hates being on steroids and says that others around her hate it too....she gets 'difficult to be around' when on steroids, she says.

I am under the impression that since the body produces about 5mg on its own, that taking doses less than that is not beneficial anyway. What do you know about that?

Also, are you taking folic acid? I asked my doc and he said he'd only prescribe folic acid if I get mouth sores. To me that seems to be overlooking other signs of deficiency. My only thought is that he doesn't want any supplements to interfere with the effectiveness of the MTX unless necessary.

Thanks Rumble, that's interesting to note.