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DiscussionStart Methotrexate with Prednisone right away or wait?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Mar 8 11:06am | Replies (16)Comment receiving replies
Replies to "Hi, i have been on Prednisone for 7 months, was reducing from 22mg without flares. I..."
Hi mtr-
I am sorry you have been going through this. Thanks for the note. My dr. wants to start me on 6pills a week of the Methotrexate, so I think that is more reasonable but I hear 10 is the starting norm. Thanks to you and all for comments/thoughts. it helps.
I had moderate or worse nausea, headaches and extreme fatigue for about 2 days after taking the methotrexate. I wanted to quit but I really needed to give it a good try since the 8 mg prednisone I was stuck on for a year and a half is too high. My labs were good and I did not have significant side effects from the prednisone. I had just been on it too long and the doctor said my body would show damage eventually. It really surprised me when the methotrexate side effects pretty much went away after a month or 6 weeks! I do have fatigue but am not sure if that is from the disease or the drugs. I have had 1 PMR flare-up in 6 months on the MTX.
Ugh, I hate the whole "failing up" notion with medications... Will you still be able to try Actemra if it turns out you can't tolerate the methotrexate? Good idea to try starting at a smaller dose first to test it out.
Thank you for sharing your experience, and I hope the side effects get better or that you'll be able to switch to something more effective soon.