Re: a couple med related questions

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Once my Dr. was going to put me on Mtx, and he wrote a scrip for Folic

Acid from the pharmacy. Also, I am on 5 mg. prednisone every day, down

from 10 mg, then 7.5. I find I get a lot of relief from it. I would be

worried a bit about taking more then 20 mg. a day. I would definately

discuss it with your Dr. =)

Sandy

--- In , " " <melissahull_1975@...>

wrote:

>

> I have read a couple places now about taking folic acid with

> methotrexate. How much do I take? What else should I know about

> dealing with taking methotrexate?

>

> Also, is prednisone supposed to take away all the pain or just reduce

> it a bit. I'm on 20 mg/day and while it made me feel better than how

> bad I was last week, I'm still feeling a quite a bit of pain. Should

I

> ask about increasing the dosage?

>

> Any help/thoughts you can give are appreciated.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

My rheumy recommended that I take 1 mg of folic acid when I was on mtx,

but some people here take more than that.

Sue

On Monday, March 6, 2006, at 10:58 AM, wrote:

> I have read a couple places now about taking folic acid with

> methotrexate. How much do I take? What else should I know about

> dealing with taking methotrexate?

[Guest guest]

Hi :

My doctor also recommended one mg. of Folic Acid. As

far as Mtx, I take it on Friday night, after dinner,

and right before bed. That way, I figure I sleep

through whatever nausea I might have right after

taking it. I also have more fatigue the next day, but

since it is Saturday, I get to rest pretty good. The

Folic Acid is to reduce symptoms like nausea, mouth

sores, and problems with liver enzymes. Make sure you

get your blood work every 8 weeks to keep check of

your liver enzymes, and your blood count. Very

important.

Also, I found that Prednisone was very effective for

my pain, not that it all went away, but enough that it

was a great relief to be on it. I was placed on as

high as 30 mg. daily, but only for about 2 weeks, and

then was tapered off within two to three months. I

don't think that you want to be on too high a dose for

too long, but for a couple of weeks, it might be that

you want to ask your doctor about an increase for a

short while, and then taper back down. It is very

important not to just stop the Prednisone, you have to

taper it slowly.

Hope this helps. Kathe in CA

--- <melissahull_1975@...> wrote:

> I have read a couple places now about taking folic

> acid with

> methotrexate. How much do I take? What else should

> I know about

> dealing with taking methotrexate?

>

> Also, is prednisone supposed to take away all the

> pain or just reduce

> it a bit. I'm on 20 mg/day and while it made me

> feel better than how

> bad I was last week, I'm still feeling a quite a bit

> of pain. Should I

> ask about increasing the dosage?

>

> Any help/thoughts you can give are appreciated.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

Kathe

" To ride a horse is to borrow freedom. "

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

My doc also started me on folic acid as soon as (actually slightly

before) I started Mtx.

I've been meaning to ask... I've taken 3 doses of Mtx now, and I

haven't had any problems with nausea, which was good, since the

Plaquenil gave me really bad tummy problems. But I have had

something funny happen, and was wondering whether this was common.

With the first dose, I had no side effects at all. After the second

dose (taken on Friday, and this happened on Sat.) I thought I was

either coming down with a cold, or was allergic to something. (I do

have allergies) My nose was running like crazy, and I was sneezing

a lot. Otherwise I felt OK. The next day I was fine, so I chalked

it up to allergies, though, at this time of year, I couldn't figure

out what had caused it.

I took my Mtx this last Friday morning> I felt fine during the day,

but by the evening I was totally exhasted. I got into bed around

7:00, figuring I'd watch a movie. Within an hour or two I felt

_awful_. I felt like I had the flu. I was aching all over, but not

just my joints like from RA; even my skin hurt, the way you do when

you have the flu. I had such chills that I couldn't get warm even

with the electric blanket turned onto high. I don't know whether I

had a fever or not because I felt too awful to get out of bed to

check. When my husband came up to bed much later, he brought me up

my evening pills, because I hadn't even been able to go down stairs

to get them. Then on Sat., the same thing happened as the week

before. I had a runny nose and sneezing during the day. At first,

again, I thought it was allegies or a cold coming on. Then I

realized it was just like last Sat. By Sunday, it had gone away

again.

I have an appointment with the doc on Thurs, which is before my next

does of Mtx, so I will definitely run it pasther before I take any

more, but was wondering if anyone else had anything like this happen.

The good news is that I _have_ felt better today in terms of the RA,

in spite of starting to taper my prednisone. So I'm hoping that

means that the Mtx is starting to work.

>

> > I have read a couple places now about taking folic

> > acid with

> > methotrexate. How much do I take? What else should

> > I know about

> > dealing with taking methotrexate?

> >

> > Also, is prednisone supposed to take away all the

> > pain or just reduce

> > it a bit. I'm on 20 mg/day and while it made me

> > feel better than how

> > bad I was last week, I'm still feeling a quite a bit

> > of pain. Should I

> > ask about increasing the dosage?

> >

> > Any help/thoughts you can give are appreciated.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

> Kathe

>

> " To ride a horse is to borrow freedom. "

>

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/6/2006 10:13:18 AM Central Standard Time,

melissahull_1975@... writes:

I have read a couple places now about taking folic acid with

methotrexate. How much do I take? What else should I know about

dealing with taking methotrexate? Yes folic acid is good to take when on Mtx.

1mg i believe once a day, but some of us take more than that. It curbs some

of the symptoms you may have and helps protect your liver. My best advice

about mtx is take it at night about 45 mins before bed. That way you can sleep

thru the side effeccts. I know i do! lol

Also, is prednisone supposed to take away all the pain or just reduce

it a bit. I'm on 20 mg/day and while it made me feel better than how

bad I was last week, I'm still feeling a quite a bit of pain. Should I

ask about increasing the dosage? If you are still feeling quite a bit of

pain, i'd ask to increase the dosage for a couple weeks... then taper it off to

where you are comfortable at the lowest possible dose.

Any help/thoughts you can give are appreciated.