Hi Greentea, I'm sorry to hear you're having that side effect. I have some trouble with 'shedding', for lack of a better term - it's like the skin inside my cheeks sort of sloughs off a day or so after the MTX. Unpleasant, but probably not as uncomfortable as your situation.

I had mentioned it to my dentist, though, and he said he sees it fairly often in his cancer patients, who will often take much larger doses of methotrexate. He told me that if it caused me discomfort, he could give me a scrip for a mouth rinse that might be helpful. I didn't take him up on it because I felt that this was manageable, so I can't tell you what the product is or anything about how it works.

But there IS something out there that might be helpful, and your dentist could be a good resource in helping solve this. Good luck.

Good grief......another message not uploaded. Annoying.

If you have mouth sores, your MTX dose is [typically] too high. Call your Rheumatologist. Usually, lowering the dose and gradually titrating back up to 15 mg helps the body to adjust.

He increased my folic acid
I’ve read that helps with mouth sores. This is my first time on MTX somwe peobably need to mess with dosage. I think I know what kind of mouthwash I’m to use. Pick it up tomorrow

I had that problem with MTX, then I met a woman from the UK that told me her doc had her do this:

1 mg folic acid every morning EXCEPT

The day BEFORE, the day OF and the day AFTER the MTX, take 5 mg each day.

Totally solved my problem. If your body doesn't need it, it will get rid of it. You can't overdose on it.

My doc writes a script for 1 mg pills. My insurance doesn't pay for it, but they are affordable. I tried to buy OTC folic acid, put couldn't find 1 mg, so I ended up having to take like 12 pills to get to 5 mg. It was a bit overwhelming.

Hope this helps you. It has been a life saver for me.

Thank you. My Dr prescribed the folic acid so it’s cheap and he said to take 3 instead of one. They are 1mg.
Not sure if I can do this. So sick at work today I cannot think straight. I’m in accounting for a bank. No room for error.

I have read that L lysine is good for the mouth sores. I also take a substantial dose to help keep the effects of RA down. It seems to help me. I also take mtx by injection.

Tansy - you have mouth sores and take injectable MTX? Never heard of that.

It's good that you're taking folic acid now. That should help with the mouth sores.

One of the best tips I ever got about MTX was to drink extra water the day before you take it as well as the day you take it. For me, that helped reduce the nausea quite a bit.

When I was on the MTX pills [higher dose than now] I would take a hi-carb dinner, then take the pills a couple hours later, before bedtime. That seemed to help with the nausea.

Hi there,

I have suffered with mouth sores since I was a child, and when I take my MTX I am more prone, So I can relate to your suffering. The L'Lysine really does work, this is the best thing I have found for it so far! I usually just try and boost my immune system over this period, or when I start to feel the "tingling" sensation around the mouth I start the L'lysine as well as take a vitamin C boost and the folic acid x2. The mouth sores generally occur when your immune system is low, and as far as I understand the MTX is an immune suppressant (that's why the folic acid is so important)

Hope this helps xx

Tansy R Just read your comment again now and I do exactly as you have mentioned. Also on MTX injection, also take L'lysine regularly and have actually been managing to keep the mouth sores down to a minimum.

no special diet for me other than the one that makes me happy. i take leucovorin by the rheumatologist's prescription. when I have mouth sores from rheumatoid drugs or esophagus issues from other ent stuff - the doc also prescribes magic mouthwash - a compounded liquid that I find wicked soothing. hope you chase them away soon.

depotblue

Lynn, when I was on injectable mthx back from 2005-2009, I had huge mouth sores. My liver enzymes were also sky high, on 25 mg. I should have been pulled off sooner.

My family doc thought the mouth sores were cancer. I had an appointment to see an ENT. But, by the time I got the appointment, I had been totally off mthx for 6 weeks, and the sores disappeared.

Mouth sores are related to the liver, not taking mthx orally. Something to do with the folate pathways being destroyed, which is why we take folic acid with mthx.

Strangely, my liver was a mess on 25 mg, and I was taking 5 mg folic acid a day. On 17.5 like I am now, I am taking 2.5 mg folic acid, every day except the day I take my injection. I have been 2 1/2 years on this protocol, and the liver enzymes have only gone up once, and I had no mouth sores. I would love to go up .5 or more on mthx, but I am not taking a chance, with my liver being so oversensitive, in the past!