Hello! I have been on MTX since May and have not seen a change in being sick. I was on the pills originally and always felt bad. I switched to Otrexup and feel fine so I know it was the pills. I am usually one who catches everything that comes along but have actually been pretty healthy so far. I was worried about the immune part also especially when we added Enbrel but I honestly haven't seen an increase in illness. Hope this helps you. Good luck :)

Dana

Hello...lovethebe...I also am a nurse. I was on methotrexate the first go round and got a bad sinus infection. I was taken off of it because of the infection and it also wasn't helping. Next was Arava that didnt work. Next was humira injection. ..that I think was working but again ended up with upper respiratory infection and horrible sores inside my nostrils. So I am not sure if I am just prone to the upper respiratory crap it seems and may have not got it from anyone in particular. If I dont take the meds the long term effects aren't so hot either. All the meds to treat RA lower your ability to fight infection. As we nurses know...wash hands...wash hands. Good luck

I was on it only 3 weeks, BUT I was on Arava, Enbrel and Plaquenil all at once. Never got sick, but I did get very sick med free immediately after surgery the end of August.
I have read many on methotrexate not getting ill. Just wanted to give some piece of mind :)

I have noticed that when I do get sick, it has lasted longer and symptoms have been worse. I was on 7 tabs of metho. That dose made me sick- blah. I went down to 4. With my biologic, Enbrel this seems to work okay. Can't say that its the metho exactly as I teach 2nd grade now where they sneeze , cough, hug, and are all over me. I used to teach middle school. Not really a prob spreading germs,at least to the teacher!
I went down to 2nd because after I was diagnosed I thought teaching younger kiddos would be less stress. Not really. I may be heading back to middle school next year. Maybe part time-wouldnt that be nice. :)

I hated the stuff..... It made me sicker than a dog. Was only on it for about two months and it did nothing for me.

I have the same concern. I am in sales and travel lots - dirty airplanes, dirty hotels, dirty restaurants, around people coughing and hacking. I recently started Methotrexate and immediatly got sick - cold. I'm willing to write that off to a coincidence and try again after this is over but will pick a week when I can stay home - just in case. The other thing was the MTX made me so incredibly tired and sleepy. I fell asleep at my airport gate and no one could wake me up - TSA finally did right before my plane took off - how am I supposed to drive and do my job with such a fuzzy head? I get food poisoned on average about once per year. Will a strong e-coli bug kill me or put me in the hospital where there are even more bugs? I toy with the idea of waiting until I get real bad and can't work anyway before I start DMARDs - but then the permanent damage will be done - I'd kind of like to delay that for as long as possible, but gotta work. My grandmother had RA and my dad is still alive and has had RA for 40yrs - now I've got it - I pretty much know what to expect. Not pretty, but there are worse afflictions out there.
Any advise folks?

so what do we do...us "non-responders",that's what my rheumy says I am.i've been on every single RA med out there over the last 12 yrs.For a while now it's just prednisone 18 mg QD and i'm still a mess...how do the rest of you do that can't take the meds ,how do you manage the disease.take care everyone.oxoxoxo

Honestly I was healthy as a horse on MTX but when Humira was introduced- I had 2 sinus infections in the short time period I used the drug

I have been on methotrexate for 3 years now. I do have more sinus infections and upper respiratory infections, but I don't know if the methotrexate is to blame. I think I would have them anyway, but with the immune system suppressed, I feel that once I get something I cannot fight it off without antibiotics.

I was on MTX for just 7 months. Pretty healthy person normally, but I never even had a cold while on the stuff. I work in and office with a lot of Moms so the opportunity was there. Side affects like fatigue and diarrhea were the biggest problem.

good luck

I took MTX for about a year while working in a busy public library surrounded by germs. During that time my mother was admitted to the hospital and I stayed quite a few nights there with her. I did not get any more colds then usual, I may have even gotten fewer. Maybe because of the extra folic acid or better hand washing, I'm not sure.

No..I tell everyone to stay home if they are sick and I carry my germ x everywhere I go and I do not touch anything in a doctors waiting room. i bring my own little word search book and only use my own pen to sign things. then I still use the germ x...I have only been sick once with pneumonia since dx in 2004.. slight cold maybe twice.. that is it..You just have to be more observant and tell people to stay away if they are sick, if someone is coughing and hacking I get up and move.

If I have any advice to anyone else out there regarding RA, it is to stay the h*!! away from Methotrexate. It also made me sick as a dog, to the point where I couldn't see any reason to go on living like that. Then, lucky me, it threw my kidneys into failure, and I had to go to a Nephrologist for the next three years taking a cacophony of drugs until we could get it turned around. I will never, ever, ever touch that stuff again.

I've taken mtx since 2012 and do usually get one or two upper respiratory infection s a year that only go away with antibiotics. I have 5 grandkids, so consider the source. Good news is my last visit I was told I'm in remission. Trish