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...
So I decided to try the Methotrexate yesterday and I did what the bottle says. It said take 5 pills in one shot. I took it even though it seemed like a lot. I was alright until about 1 hr in. I felt my cheat getting tighter and tighter. At this point I thought to brush it off, thinking I was having a panic attack. It was not a panic attack. My husband got worried and called the ambulance because he said my breathing sounded bad. EMS got here and my oxygen, sugar and blood pressure was low. When I get to the hospital I find out that I had an adverse reaction to the meds. So now for the next 6 weeks I have no medication.
And just so you know: when pharmaceuticals list all the warning on a label they include every tiny complaint voiced by anyone in a clinical trial. If someone is having her period and has cramps......well.....cramps will go on the list of possible side effects.
Many rheumatologists tend to start MTX at a lower dose and work up, week by week.
Figured I'd Share a little story that happened to me once. It was a couple years back. I had been hurting bad from one location to another for like 2 months straight waiting to visit my rheumatologist for the first time. At this time I had no idea what was wrong with me as I knew hardly anything about ra or what was going on with my body. I had tons of heavy worrying day after day combined with the unknown and the pains. I went to my regular pcp and told him how much I was stressed and pained. I was looking for something to take the edge off and help relax until we could figure out what was happening. He ended up writing me a drug called Celexa and wanted me to try it. It's a drug for depression and was supposed to help my mood and watnot. I didn't have a depression problem, the pain and stress of the unknown was causing the depression. To make a long story a little shorter. I took the Celexa and on the third day I had a strange feeling come over my body from head to toe. When it hit me it scared the crap out of me and that made everything much worse. Had trouble breathing and thought for sure I might have been having a heart attack. Off to the ER I went and ended up staying in the hospital for two night with a heart monitor. Everything was fine and it was just a big bunch of combined things that brought on this first ever panic attack of my life. I think the new med was just the trigger that set it all into effect. I continued to have those small attacks for a couple days but I found out that I wasn't really in pain and I wouldn't lose my breath like I did the first few times. Once I figured out it was not my heart or something serious it seemed much easier when this would happen. It went on for a few days afterwards I guess until the med had left my system. I think the worse part was really the anxiety I was suffering from was causing most of my troubles.
I'm not implying that you only had a panic attack. I just wanted to share a simular med reaction that I expierenced. I understand where you are at right now and it's tough. Trying new meds and carrying the pain around on a daily basis. The best advice I can give is research and learn all you can about your condition, find a good rheumatologist that your comfortable with, and be patient cause hardly any treatment works fast with this disease. My rheumy told me that I'm in a marathon, not a sprint. Hope your doing better and keep in mind that they are a lot of people here that understand your struggles. This board has been my lifeline.
If you think a drug is going to hurt you, it probably will [though it really won't be the drug.....it's your mind making you think it's the drug].
Maybe a better idea is to do the research, taking care not to read websites that scare people about drugs........and then think positively.
I was in a different situation: I was divorced, no family on this coast, and had a business to run. I didn't have the luxury of worrying that a drug was going to do me in. All I knew was that statistically this drug [MTX] was going to be the best possible choice for me. The rheumatologist gave me the MTX and I took it without trepidation. I hoped it would be the magic pill. And in three weeks it was.
I heard the head of a rheumatology research department talk about Remicade about 10+ years ago. When it first came out, they did double blind studies. This means that neither the patients nor the researchers knew if they got the actual Remicade. To make sure, they xrayed everyone's hands at the start of the study and a year later when the trial ended.
Over 51% of the people in the control or placebo group (the one that did not get the drug!) reported feeling significantly better. So they just thought the drug made them feel better, even though they weren't getting it! In fact, they compared the hand X-rays of the placebo group with the group that actually got it. The people that did not get the drug, even though they felt significantly better, had serious continued erosions compared to the group that got the drug.
In fact, the university discontinued the study and gave everyone the drug. It was unethical to let people think they were feeling better when they were getting worse!!
The mind works in mysterious ways. This is why I have no time for anyone that comes here and talks about some herbal cure or diet, based on testimonials. Because maybe those people were actually getting worse, but convinced themselves they were better.
Same with side effects. Take the drug and be aware of the symptoms of panic attack. Give it time, and if it keeps up or gets worse, then see your doctor or go to the ER. I read here that more than one person has worked themselves into a panic about side effects, instead of coming to the drug with an open mind. Mthx is a very common drug, the worst side effect being the long term effects on the liver.
I'm not saying side effects aren't real. I've had them with numerous drugs not just RA meds. But other than anaphylactic shock, which is impossible to predict, I think it is important to give any doctor prescribed drug a fair trial. Because you never know when placebo effect has kicked in because of anxiety.
Wouldn't it be a shame to miss out on the great effects of these drugs because you're convinced it will have so many side effects?