I hear ya! I'm on MTX to and today is "the day after" and so far...I feel okay. Last few weeks I been an emotional roller coaster. I can also cry at the drop of a hat then be angry the next second.

I think it's mostly the stress and the feeling of being alone in this. I don't know about worry. I worried most before I was on meds. Now that I'm not hurting (besides the occasional background pain) I don't worry but I sure feel alone. Yeah, I'm not the woman I was 2 years ago and that sucks. Maybe that's what gets to us? I fatigue so easily and as my husband calls it, I get that "Zombie face" Gee thanks dear.

I just got a letter from my insurance saying "It's time to talk to your doc about DMARDs" Really? I thought MTX was? And it's taken this long to write a letter to me about my RA dx I got a year ago? Little slow.

Hope you feel better. I think it could be the RA making you feel the way you do. You don't know what alone is until you have RA. So stick around and we'll all have eachother.

Sounds about right. I'm not in terrible pain like a lot of people, but I am symptomatic every day. Just a constant reminder that damage is happening. Even tho on meds. Husband just seems concerned that HIS life will change. Well duh!

I believe it's more the subconscious worry about RA. I swear this thing is on my mind almost all day & I'm technically in "remission". It's the "what if" factor though? MTX "may" boost emotions a bit maybe, I don't know but because RA is so undefined, changes day to day & has the additional element of "deformity" that can, will or will not happen I believe that's the biggest issue. I say to myself & maybe "ignorantly" may I add that, "If this was Fibromyalgia & just pain related & had no possibility of actual damage & then deformity" I don't think my mind would be on it all the time?

I don't believe it's the MTX. You've got a chronic, debilitating disease. So when you take the MTX you have to think to yourself, "Will this work? Am I doing enough? Is there anything else I can be doing to get better?"

So I think it's more about the psychological aspects of the disease. No matter - it still feels like crap.

No doubt about it. It is niggling in my head all the time. I need to drink more -LOL!

No-no-no-no..........no drinking. Just come here and vent. :-)

Just saw this on another board: 5) Take folic acid on the all days except the day of methotrexate.
My doc told me to take it EVERY day. Anyone else?

I take folic daily

Be sure you are getting enough sleep too. Chronic disease, especially with pain or if you are anemic, can interfere with sleep. Being tired can certainly mess with your emotions!

I take it daily.

Over time, if you take it 6days a week, it's in your system anyway.......

I'm going to disagree with a few people here. Mthx is a type of hormone. That means, like any hormone, it can affect your moods. It affects the gonads of both males and females. Therefore, like anything affecting those organs, it can cause mood swings.


FEMALE:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21213337

MALE:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19260847

I know it really affects my moods, but fortunately, it makes me feel happier. Or, maybe just because I feel better? But no, the first 5 years I was on it, I was an RA mess, because it was not strong enough on its own. So I did have a lot of depression, even though it pushed me. Which is called "dysphoria" or "mixed states" I believe!

I disagree, Marlene. MTX is not a type of hormone at all.

Because it may have an effect on reproductive cells/organs ..... as all cancer drugs do........doesn't make it a hormone.

Also, that study was on rodents....not humans.

Still, emotional issues do happen with chronic diseases.

Yes, the studies are on rats. But still interesting. I also know mthx made me bleed badly when I went into menopause. It took several years to figure it out. I guess I figure anything that can trigger a 9 week period, is pretty potent! And then the fact that periods trigger mood swings. Not science, but I do believe more study needs to be done, as rheumatologists seem to know little about gynaecological problems and gynaecologists know nothing about RA drugs! At least mine didn't!

Oh, don't get me wrong, I also agree it was very interesting.

Like you, I bled like a stuck pig while on my higher doses of MTX. Unreal.

I still dismiss the mood swings. I didn't have any and I know a number of people with RA who didn't. I think that's more of a psychological temperament thing. But then again, with RA we do go through a form of bereavement [loss of a normal life] and that is definitely emotional. I also think, as with any other serious chronic disease, we go through a period where we're vulnerable as we feel our way through the RA maze.

I've always said that you've got to come to grips with RA and accept it early on and decide to take control over it.

So true about ob/gyn's not knowing diddly about RA drugs......and visa versa.

Like everything about RA and the meds used, each effects every person differently. YES, MTX did have an effect on my emotions. It still does though the massive anxiety felt at the beginning has greatly diminished with time/usage, guessing that is my body becoming "normalized" (?).

If you got these feelings with MTX Susie, just wait until they ad a biologic with the MTX! Oh my goodness, much more anxious and much more intense. It happened when I was put on Humira, eventually got better to the point it was easy to handle after a few doses.....then when I was recently switched to Actemra it happened again! So, you're not alone in having this happen. Yes, I let my Dr. know about the MTX and then each of the manufacturers of biologics.