1. < Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR)

Anyone having luck while taking methotrexate?

Posted by lindaadele @lindaadele, Mar 23 4:57pm

I have been on my third week of methotrexate tablets. I take 5 mg each week. So far every medicationI have been taking for my PMR are not working very well for me they work until they don’t work!!! Right now I feel worse taking this medication then I did before I took the medication !! Any information that you can give me would be very much appreciated as I am really getting pretty frustrated with this whole PMR thing which I have had since April 2023. Thank you very much for any help that you can give me at all!!!

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gmdb | @gmdb | 6 days ago
In reply to @jacobz06 "My Dr. switch me to MTX injections (1 ml weekly) because it was more effective than..." + (show)
@jacobz06

My Dr. switch me to MTX injections (1 ml weekly) because it was more effective than oral tablets. No other meds except daily folic acid. RA pain is now well managed.

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My understanding from various arthritis support groups that MXT is more likely to assist with RA than PMR. There are slightly different inflammatory chemicals involved (cytokines Il-6 etc) and MXT appears to target the RA ones better.

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gmdb | @gmdb | 6 days ago

My MXT dose was increased progressively over 4 months from 5 mg weekly to 20 mg weekly. So 5 mg is really just the start and I would expect you need to increase after 4-6 weeks or so.

I am still at 20 mg weekly after 15 months. Initially it seemed to help a lot to get down from a high dose of pred (45 mg). But I am now down to 15 mg after getting to 10 for several weeks earlier in the year. Couldn't keep the inflammation down at the lower dose and the CRP bloods shot up. Things have been better at 15 mg but the MXT doesn't appear to be very effective at the moment.

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lindaadele | @lindaadele | 2 days ago
In reply to @michik "I was diagnosed with PMR last June. My prednisone doses have been on a roller coaster..." + (show)
@michik

I was diagnosed with PMR last June. My prednisone doses have been on a roller coaster due to flares as soon as I get below 10mg. I finally saw a rheumatologist 3.5 weeks ago and she decidec to put me on Methotrexate., 20 mg pills once a week followed by 2 days of folate with the plan to wean me off prednisone. I am to have blood work monthly .
I am currently on 11mg prednisone daily. She explained that it would take 6 to 8 weeks before the Methotrexate makes a difference. I took my 3rd dose Sunday evening. She warned me to stay away from sick people as much as possible. So I am masking when I go out and wash my hands regularly (hello Covid😷).
So far I can't say I have noticed any side effects. I have quite a few from the prednisone. So hard to say really. Warm wishes to you on your recovery. Let us know how you are doing as time progresses. I'll give updates too.

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How are you doing on your methotrexate? I have taken the tablets for four weeks so far. You are so lucky that you do not have any side effects from that medication. For me on the day I take it the day after give or take I do have a little dizzy spells which I know are very very common but scary. I also have a blood test coming up and a doctors appointment which is an eight week appointment from the time I started taking the medication. I am basically taking one day at a time and hoping for the best! I would love to hear how you are doing and I wish you the very very best!!!

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michik | @michik | 1 day ago
In reply to @lindaadele "How are you doing on your methotrexate? I have taken the tablets for four weeks so..." + (show)
@lindaadele

How are you doing on your methotrexate? I have taken the tablets for four weeks so far. You are so lucky that you do not have any side effects from that medication. For me on the day I take it the day after give or take I do have a little dizzy spells which I know are very very common but scary. I also have a blood test coming up and a doctors appointment which is an eight week appointment from the time I started taking the medication. I am basically taking one day at a time and hoping for the best! I would love to hear how you are doing and I wish you the very very best!!!

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Thank you @lindaadele . I took my 4th dose yesterday. I really have not noticed any other side effects other than those I already had with Prednisone. I get what I call the wobblies also. But that has been going on since the start of prednisone, I sweat a lot and sleep badly, just to name a few. Strangely though I have been loosing weight (7 lbs since last November and I am not a heavy person to start with) instead of putting it on as many people on prednisone seem to do. Just had a CT Angiogram today as they are concerned about GCA and/or Vasculitis! This is an interesting journey that keeps us on our toes! Up and down and around ... maybe that is why we get dizzy at times ... LOL ... Keep me posted on how you are doing. Hopefully all of this will just be a memory in the very near future!!! Wish you all the best!!!

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lindaadele | @lindaadele | 16 hours ago

Thank you so very much for responding to my comment!!! I have many of the same concerns that you have. This whole PMR thing is absolutely no fun!!! I have ups and downs from day to day. I am just trying to take one day at a time and be as positive as I can which is not so easy for me to do! I wish you the very very very best going forward!!!

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