Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
Good evening, everyone. I hope everyone is managing well. It's been so cold here but the sun has been kind enough to shine most days.
I have missed the conversations here. I have been helping friends whose baby was born last week with a genetic disorder and is not expected to survive long. It's heartbreaking but I am grateful to be able to help them in their time of need.
I have been helping out with their young children. The youngest has a cold and was needy, so I spent a good part of this week holding and rocking. Not the best thing to do, but under the circumstances, there weren't other options.
My question is, I took my third methotrexate dose on Wednesday evening. It's an increased dose this week. Today I woke not feeling well. I thought it was the usual nasty feeling I get every Friday after my methotrexate dose. I have also been tapering down the prednisone and this week I'm down to 7.5mg from 10, so that could be contributing, too. Well, as the day has gone on, I feel pretty bad. I have chills, a scratchy throat, and temp of 100*F. I am so new to this and don't know if it warrants a call to the doctor. I do also have asthma, but so far my lungs feel okay. I know the doctors said not to take NSAids with these meds, but what do you do to relieve symptoms when you get sick? Given it's a Friday evening, I know I'm going to have a hard time getting a hold of the doctor. Is it prudent to just wait it out and see what happens or should I bother the doctor
Shar
I have missed the conversations here. I have been helping friends whose baby was born last week with a genetic disorder and is not expected to survive long. It's heartbreaking but I am grateful to be able to help them in their time of need.
I have been helping out with their young children. The youngest has a cold and was needy, so I spent a good part of this week holding and rocking. Not the best thing to do, but under the circumstances, there weren't other options.
My question is, I took my third methotrexate dose on Wednesday evening. It's an increased dose this week. Today I woke not feeling well. I thought it was the usual nasty feeling I get every Friday after my methotrexate dose. I have also been tapering down the prednisone and this week I'm down to 7.5mg from 10, so that could be contributing, too. Well, as the day has gone on, I feel pretty bad. I have chills, a scratchy throat, and temp of 100*F. I am so new to this and don't know if it warrants a call to the doctor. I do also have asthma, but so far my lungs feel okay. I know the doctors said not to take NSAids with these meds, but what do you do to relieve symptoms when you get sick? Given it's a Friday evening, I know I'm going to have a hard time getting a hold of the doctor. Is it prudent to just wait it out and see what happens or should I bother the doctor
Shar
And, given all that you are doing for others, wouldn't you know you don't feel well. I'm so sorry. I find with news symptom, it's best to call my doctor. I tapered from Steroids and had the same symptoms you described, chalked it up to the Steroids and RA. Turned out to be a kidney infection . Plus, the doctor just called this evening, with rather unpleasant news. Who knew? I just thought it was the norm! Have you tried Arnica rubs, menthol rubs, warm packs, I find those help dial down the pain for a bit. Plus, if you are able, I find warm water therapy pools works wonders to ease hurting muscles.
I hope you feel better soon.
Good luck to you , hope you start feeling better soon. Sooooo glad you have been able to be there for your friends, Service always makes me feel better.
Thank you for your thoughts and advice.
are you liver numbers borderline so that your rheum does not allow you an occasional nsaid with the mtx? that's crappy for you.
hope you feel better very soon!
depot
Some of these meds really make things worse. It's hard to figure it out. Trial and error.
Good luck
Were you told not to take nsaids while taking Mtx? I was actually given a Rx for one to take until the Mtx starts working....the Prednisone and plaquenil stopped working as well and the pain/swelling was reverting back to pre meds.
Everything you listed can cause problems/symptoms. Sometimes it's just the nature of the beast....unfortunately.
YESSSSS it's probably the last thing I noticed about MTX when changing my dosages. I just thought I was catching more colds because we're most subseptible due to lowering our immune system. Maybe that's still it? But I noticed whenever I changed my dosage either way, lower or higher I felt like I would come down with a nasty cold or flu but no coughing??
I managed to plow through without OTC meds, although the doctor said I could take acetaminophen. I'm having pain under my right ribs so I am avoiding anything unnecessary until I have my blood work done this week. I've had lots of stomach issues since childhood and managed to finally improve them with a gluten free diet. The doctor seemed pretty adament about avoiding NSaids for now, so I'll have to find out the reason when I go over my labs.
With stomach issues rearing up, I'm not sure about the methotrexate. Again, I will check with the doctor once my labs are done. Oh, and these mouth sores are horribly painful! So far, MTX isn't helpful with pain. But it's really hard to tell while tapering the prednisone. I definitely feel a difference when I take the daily dose of that. This is a real trial and error disease, as I'm finding out.
Thanks for the wisdom and sharing. I sure am learning a lot.
Blessings,
Shar