Hi Liza. I'm so sorry for the reason that you are here. I'm sorry that you are having pain. We understand so well here. If your doctor says that the RA is aggressive, it will serve you well to go onto the meds. Mtx is a very good drug. The more you read, the worse it sounds. I know that in the beginning, I was terrified of the drugs... now I wished I would have understood that "chemo" is used for many things; not just cancer and it really is NOT as scary as it sounds. The drugs have helped me get my life back to a good normal. It is not the same, but I now have long periods without pain, I now can get flares under control faster, I can exercise (used to not be able to get out of bed), I have many hobbies.... etc. I have opted to no longer work. BUT all that said, the drugs are what has helped me. NO ONE that my doctor has treated has ever gotten cancer. I asked her. She would NOT rx me something that is going to cause me more harm than good. RA without being treated can and WILL damage joints, lungs, brain, heart, digestive tract, etc... and there will be no repairing it once damage is done. Once I realized this, I was willing to take the biologics. I now take nsaids, plaquenil, and humira. They work great for me. I have little to no pain unless I over do it on the treadmill or lifting weights, etc.
I have 2 friends that I know personally that REFUSE to take RA drugs. They think they are horrible. One has had RA about 4 years longer than me. I stop and talk to her while she sits in her wheel chair as I walk / jog with the dog. The other person I personally know refused the drugs for years.... he can't comb his own hair bc his arms won't reach his head. He can't zip pants or button shirts. He belongs in a nursing home but refuses to go and his wife cares for him. He can barely walk. I also PERSONALLY know 2 men that have RA. They both take biologics (one takes humira and the other remicade) I've known them for 11 years. They both still work full time jobs, travel with their families, and have activities in their lives.
I've had RA for 7 years now. I've personally seen what this can do with and without RA drugs. I understand the fear that comes w/ them. I've seen the damage that can be done without them. I'm more afraid of NOT taking the drugs than of taking them. It's about quality of life. I wish you the best of luck. and I do understand what you are feeling. Don't be afraid .... it's going to lead you to a life of being much better. Namaste

I have suffered a lot from side effects to meds that is worse than some of the physical problems I have. I could never recommend meds to anyone knowing the risks even if most people do fine with meds there has also been people that don't :( I think it's a personal decision everyone needs to make after searching out both the risk and benefits of any meds or natural remedies :) Just my two cents LOL

I have taken Mtx in the past. This is one of the first meds that most rheumatologists will prescribe to new ra patients. Most of the time the prednisone is just there to give some relief or bridge the gap until the mtx has time to work. You obviously don't want to be on the steroids long term if possible cause it can bring on some nasty side effects itself. The goal is to get off the pred but some people can't do without it. Just about every member here that's had ra has tried or taken Methotrexate as some point. I was on it for 8 months but had to go off of it due to my liver enzymes being elevated. Some folks here have taken it for years with very few problems and got some good success from it. The good thing about it is when your on mtx, they should be monitoring your bloodwork every couple months to where if something does go wrong they can catch it quick and discontinue it before any real harm is done. Once I stopped mtx my liver enzymes retreated and fell back into the normal limits. The biggest problems I had with the mtx was upset stomach with a fair amount of diarrhea for a day or two after taking the med. Your rheumy should have gave you some daily folic acid to take along with it to minimize your side effects. The doctor can also lower your dose or change things around if the side effects get to difficult. I have found that the side effects did diminish after a few weeks once my body got use to the drug. Every one is different just like everyone's case of ra is unique. What works for one person may be useless for others. It's just a trial and error thing with the meds to find what works. The crappy thing with ra is the treatments are so slow acting. Most meds for us will take a couple months to see improvement and sometimes longer than 6 months to get the full benefits from it. I have been diagnosed for over 2 years now and was terrified of these medications. I have made the choice to listen and trust the advice of my doctor and it seems to be paying off if it doesn't catch up to me in some negative way in the future. I'm now on Humira, plaquenil, and an occasional nsaid which I haven't needed as of late. I'm feeling almost back to my old self and able to do about anything I want without any problems. At one point I would struggle to open a water bottle or twist a door knob. Just something as simple as knocking on a door was tough. I'm thankful that we have treatment options available.

The choice is totally yours and nobody elses. I went super slow with everything new I would take. Weigh out the risks and take how I was feeling and make the best possible decision at the time. I do know that for me once I would get so bad the urge to try something for relief looked more and more enticing. It's totally normal to feel the way your feeling. Most of us have been there and it's a lot to digest and takes time to adjust to your new normal and a different way of living. Hang in there. Hope that things get better for you. They sure have for me. God bless.

I was fortunate to get a quick diagnosis....over 20 years ago. I've been taking MTX all that time. If it wasn't for MTX [we didn't have biologics back in the day] I don't know where I'd be now. [Actually, I would probably have been in a wheelchair years ago.]

Most of the info you'll read for MTX is for cancer patients. That treatment [for cancer] is at a much higher dose.

Let me ask you this: If you had cancer would you refuse chemo? No, you wouldn't. RA is a serious disease and requires serious treatment.

We are a community of people with lots of experience with these drugs, so why not take advantage of this by asking questions? Chances are we can provide some knowledge and alleviate the trepidation you're having about taking the drug.

LIZ, I am sorry about your diagnosis. I know it is devastating and overwhelming.

It's hard to absorb but you have a serious potentially crippling disease that is incurable and progressive. You already know the pain it causes. You may have also read that the pain signals joint damage is occurring, so not only do you need meds that will stop the pain, you also need them because they will stop the progression/crippling of the disease. Click my thumbnail id photo (aka avatar). That's one of my two permanently deformed, disfigured hands! I have that because I was diagnosed before the new meds existed. 30+/-years of RA without decent treatment. NOW, I am on Orencia and in remission - have been for 6 years (minus a couple of months I had to stop for an infection).

You have a serious disease as hard a that is to digest. You need to be on medication. EVERY med has side effects including aspirin! The law requires they list all POSSIBLE side effects. Please remember that! The majority of people will have none. Most meds have long and short term side effects. Methotrexate MIGHT upset your stomach. I had to stop taking it orally because of nausea, but found taking it by injection averted that and made it totally tolerable. YES, many of our medications are injected. You learn how and it is not a bad as it sounds. Just think of all the diabetics, including children, who inject themselves multiple times a day! there are always things worse...that's what keeps me going all these decades I've lived with RA.

It's a constant matter of weighing the pros and cons of medications. It's never fun. We're all here to help one another with these difficult choices we have to make, many of which are between the devil and deep blue sea! Prednisone is high on that list. It works very well but is not for long-term us because of the side effects.

20mg prednisone is a fairy high dose. How long have you been on it without any relief?? It is surprising and indicates that you are in a really bad flare. One thing to bear in mind is that you will NOT be in this painful flare forever. Flares come and go, For most rarely. Most of us find a cocktail of medications that work for us. It takes time and once you find it you will likely have relief for YEARS at a time!

I would suggest you ask your doc about BIOLOGICS such as Humira, Enbrel or Orencia - but most are all given WITH methotrexate.

We're here for you!! We are ALL warriors, battling this *R*otten *A*ilment!! It sucks, but as I said there are worse diseases.

I take methotrexate. My rheumatologist put me on plaquinil first but I had severe headaches and abdominal pain and his MA said there is to many other RA meds for me to have to deal with those side affects. I started on methotrexate at 10mg then gradually progressed upwards. I was extremely scared to start the meds also but my pain was so bad I knew I didn't have a choice plus I have 2 young kids 7 and 10 and I want to enjoy them. Anyways I take mine at night on the wkend so if I don't feel well it's not as big of a deal as it may be during the wk and at night right before bed in case of any unpleasant side effects. At the begining I noticed I was a little bit more tired the next day but then it was kind of wierd it went to the 2nd day after I took it but it's not terrible seems to get better the longer I am on it. It gave me some diarrhea to a couple days after taking it sometimes to but I would forget my folic acid and I think that's what made it worse. All in all it really is not bad considering the amount of pain and fatigue I have from the RA which has been life altering. I had to stop it a couple wks ago bc I got really sick and I can difinetly tell the difference without it. I know it's scary but we are here for you. Best of luck.

Liza,

I too am new, have only been on MTX for 3 months now. I have been lucky and not felt any side effects in regards to nausea. I think the first few weeks the extreme fatigue I felt on Wednesday's, after taking my MTX on Sunday, was probably related to my body adjusting to the new medication. It has since stopped and I haven't had as much fatigue.

I think it is natural to Google the disease and the meds when it is new. I did the same thing and still do, trying to figure this thing out and what to expect. I scared myself by over doing the searching and reading, yet I have learned a lot also.

You, of course, should do what you feel is best for yourself. But it is good that you are asking others here for their opinions and experience with MTX.

I personally enjoyed reading everyone's responses to this post and it helped me in my own journey.

Wow, I feel you. Humira worked wonders for me, MTX did nothing. I have severe RA, unfortunately at moment I do not have insurance :( so bad flares are killing me... Good luvk in this journey....