Thanks for all the info RE:MTX shots....Dennis, , Cassy,

[Guest guest]

Thanks for all your responses to my MTX shot questions. I greatly

appreciate all of the helpful information you provided me.

My DH and I(DH was diagnosed in April '06 also has a form of RA ) saw our

RA doctor today and she is having me come back on Friday to get another MTX

shot injection and increasing my dosage. She said she will consider giving

me a prescription for my MTX shots in the future but for now she wants me to

come in to her office. I asked her about MTX shot prescriptions with

preservatives and she said in order to be able to reuse the vial of medicine

you must

make sure it has preservatives otherwise you are setting yourself up for a

possible bacteria infection if you continue to use out of a bottle without any

preservatives which makes sense. I have been on Enbrel in the past and have

given myself shots so that part doesn't bother me. Also, I have to give my

DH shots weekly.

I am in a really bad flair right now with my RA and Fibro. Your emails have

been most encouraging for me. Thanks again for all your help in answering

my questions.

I hope everyone has a sunshiny day filled with lots of love, laughter and

smiles.

Hugs,

Wanda in TX

[Guest guest]

>I asked her about MTX shot prescriptions with

> preservatives and she said in order to be able to reuse the vial of

> medicine you must

> make sure it has preservatives otherwise you are setting yourself up for

> a

> possible bacteria infection if you continue to use out of a bottle

> without any

> preservatives which makes sense.

I'm sure if you think about it, a Doctor has to be EXTRA careful because

your 'carelessness' in giving your own shots can be directed back to her as

liable. That's the reason for the one-use policy. I don't know how much

attention your doc is paying, but when I order a one month supply and don't

re-order until two months later, nobody notices. It's your choice,

ultimately. With the low price of liquid MTX, most people can afford to

throw the rest away, but for me, it's a large part of my budget.

Dennis in Eastexas

" You can't always fix it with money "

[ ]Thanks for all the info RE:MTX shots....Dennis, ,

Cassy,

> Thanks for all your responses to my MTX shot questions. I greatly

> appreciate all of the helpful information you provided me.

[Guest guest]

Hi Wanda,

Even supposing that the injectable Mtx doesn't have preservatives

(which I doubt, considering the long " stale " date on it) and

considering that MAYBE that means that you shouldn't use the same vial

more than once, injectable Mtx is one of the cheapest drugs out

there. The full retail cost is LOWER than my insurance co-pay, so it

is the ONLY drug I've ever taken where there is no co-pay at all. At

this price, if I needed to throw out part of a vial each week, it

wouldn't bother me.

(later) I just went and pulled out my Mtx vials to look at them.

They _do_ contain a preservative. In case it is helpful in getting

your doc to find the right thing (though I suspect a call to the

pharmacy would do the same) the company that makes mine is:

Mayne Pharma (USA) Inc.

Paramus, NJ 07652

The vials contain 2 ml, at 25 mg/ml Mtx. That means you and the doc

need to do some math to calculate dose changes, but it's not a big

deal. I currently take .7ml weekly, which, if I'm remembering

correctly is 17.5 mg of Mtx.

> I asked her about MTX shot prescriptions with

> preservatives and she said in order to be able to reuse the vial of

medicine you must

> make sure it has preservatives otherwise you are setting yourself

up for a

> possible bacteria infection if you continue to use out of a bottle

without any

> preservatives which makes sense.