Re: INFO - Medscape: Folic acid or folinic acid with methotrexate

[Guest guest]

, thank you for posting the Medscape article. Interesting, but now I'm more

confused than ever.

For one thing it says " Weekly vs daily schedules have not been compared. " Also

it's bothersome in that it suggests that " Folic acid supplementation and dietary

fortification with folic acid may increase MTX dosage requirement. "

Also, it didn't address the issue that I'm really wondering about: Which is the

better supplementation: Leucovorin (folinic acid), or folic acid. Several

people in this group have mentioned that they take folic acid with MTX, but

haven't heard anyone say they take Leucovorin.

Jan

On Mar 14, 2011, at 9:49 PM, wrote:

> ... suggested folic acid supplementation may decrease MTX

> efficacy. Folic acid supplementation[4] and dietary fortification with

> folic acid[8] may increase MTX dosage requirements.

>

> Total weekly folic acid doses in the range of 5-27.5 mg have

> demonstrated efficacy in decreasing MTX adverse effects. Weekly vs

> daily schedules have not been compared.[1]

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/588229

[Guest guest]

RA Warrior has a discussion of this topic:

http://rawarrior.com/folic-acid-with-methotrexate-the-debate/

Janice in GA

>

> , thank you for posting the Medscape article. Interesting, but now I'm

more confused than ever.

>

> For one thing it says " Weekly vs daily schedules have not been compared. "

Also it's bothersome in that it suggests that " Folic acid supplementation and

dietary fortification with folic acid may increase MTX dosage requirement. "

>

> Also, it didn't address the issue that I'm really wondering about: Which is

the better supplementation: Leucovorin (folinic acid), or folic acid. Several

people in this group have mentioned that they take folic acid with MTX, but

haven't heard anyone say they take Leucovorin.

>

> Jan

>

>

[Guest guest]

This post is my way of telling you that, as this pharmacist said,

there is no consensus on the issue of folate supplementation for those

taking low-dose MTX.

She also states:

" The use of folinic acid, however, may not be cost-effective unless

pharmacoeconomics studies find it to be more clinically effective than

the less expensive folic acid.[3] "

Folinic acid acid is not necessary better than folic acid, but it is

more expensive.

There is debate on whether MTX efficacy is significantly reduced by

folate supplementation. Of course, you can ask your rheumatologist if

she has any concerns about that.

In the US, probably the most common recommendation is to take 1 mg per

day of folic acid.

Not an MD

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Jan <jmas@...> wrote:

> , thank you for posting the Medscape article.  Interesting, but now I'm

more confused than ever.

>

> For one thing it says " Weekly vs daily schedules have not been compared. "

 Also it's bothersome in that it suggests that " Folic acid supplementation and

dietary fortification with folic acid may increase MTX dosage requirement. "

>

> Also, it didn't address the issue that I'm really wondering about:  Which is

the better supplementation: Leucovorin (folinic acid), or folic acid.  Several

people in this group have mentioned that they take folic acid with MTX, but

haven't heard anyone say they take Leucovorin.

>

> Jan

[Guest guest]

Janice, thank you! The RA Warrior site looks as if it has lots of good

information. I'll be spending some time there browsing around.

Jan

On Mar 15, 2011, at 4:06 PM, jjo193 wrote:

> RA Warrior has a discussion of this topic:

http://rawarrior.com/folic-acid-with-methotrexate-the-debate/

>

> Janice in GA

[Guest guest]

Very interesting, Janice.

And on that page, I found this link to a video of a song that we all

can relate to. It's sung by Buble.

http://rawarrior.com/youre-not-lost-michael-buble-video/

Sue

On Mar 15, 2011, at 4:06 PM, jjo193 wrote:

> RA Warrior has a discussion of this topic:

http://rawarrior.com/folic-acid-with-methotrexate-the-debate/

>

> Janice in GA

>

[Guest guest]

Be sure to click on the bottom of the page to read the " comments " on the RA

Warrior site. They can be as informative as the articles.

Janice in GA

>

> Janice, thank you! The RA Warrior site looks as if it has lots of good

information. I'll be spending some time there browsing around.

>

> Jan

>

>