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...
After various joint problems for 3 years, I finally saw a rheumatologist. Started prednisone about 10 days ago and took the first dose of methotrexate two days ago. The pred has helped some with both pain and swelling. I've developed strong pain in new places, though, and when I got up this morning I must have looked like a 90-year-old with a drinking problem trying to get from bed to shower. By early afternoon I was feeling significantly better.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Have you had side effects like this? Would I feel way, way worse right now if I hadn't started the drugs? Thanks for any responses.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Have you had side effects like this? Would I feel way, way worse right now if I hadn't started the drugs? Thanks for any responses.
Methotrexate makes a lot of people feel sick for a time, after taking popping a dose, and RA is often a progressive disease, so sounds reasonable that you would feel that way. Don't know how anyone else can tell you if you'd feel worse or not. Methotrexate just doesn't work for some people, but if you are projecting to the larger picture of taking drugs vs not taking drugs, most people would tell you that if you don't take them, you are more likely to have problems, like joint deformities, down the road. There are plenty of other options, so maybe you should ask about some of those.
Two days is not a long time to make an evaluation about the methotrexate. It can take upwards of 4 or 5 months for some unfortunate souls. Most people are not that patient. Will you be?
My concerns are more about pain in new places and some old places getting worse, although other old pain has lessened. Does prednisone contribute to the daily cycle of feeling worse in the AM and better in the afternoon by wearing off over the evening and night?
I understand that there are no quick fixes here, and that as ugly as the drugs can be, they help slow down something much uglier. I'm just surprised that after a few days of the prednisone I felt better, but now feel worse than when I started it.
It sounds like your body is adjusting and overcoming the prednisone though. In a few weeks, the methotrexate will hopefully start making a dent in your morning stiffness.
Did your doctor also prescribe an NSAID? I find that I do best taking advil before bed.
Hang in there!
I tend to feel better in one spot, just to find I hurt somewhere else. It's like my brain can't decide where it hurts. Prednisone does make some people feel ill, especially if you do not take it with food. If it continues to make you ill, you could try taking it at night, as long as it doesn't keep you awake.
Methotrexate makes some poeple ill and tired. I always feel better the day after MTX, but I seem to be in the minority there.
So it is possible to feel worse after you start you medication with nausea and fatigue, but should not make your swelling worse, or your ability to move. Most RAers joints loosen up as they move.
If you can continued without meds, your pain, your abilities would steadily increase. Treatment is definitly the best choice, even if you need some time to get on the right ones for you.
Good luck!
Bcatz (or anyone else) does a person build up a tolerance to prednisone pretty quickly? I'm hoping to get off it sooner rather than later, and that is my doc's plan also. The only NSAID I can take is good old aspirin. I try to take it easy with aspirin for a few reasons. You may also be right that it has just gone into high gear. I'm sure I would feel much worse without the prednisone as it made a quick and sudden difference in a lot of things. I'm just dismayed that so many new pains have cropped up.