Meds
Anyone having trouble on methotrexate plaque no and prednisone
Hi
. Mind if I ask what type of issues you are having? I can tell you that years ago my wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here) had Plaquenil added to her methotrexate and prednisone and it ended up not being a good combination for her. Her liver enzyme numbers went way to high and she had to drop the Plaquenil. Others have issues that may come from one drug or be compounded by another. Please make sure to report any potential side effects to your doctor. There are now quite a few treatment options, so don't hesitate to talk to your doctor if you feel you need a change. Best, Richard (Team Member) Hi Richard. Thank you for responding to my question. Sorry it didn’t work out for Kelly. I hope she got on something else. I was actually misdiagnosed two years ago with other diagnosis before I got the rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. The doctor started me on methotrexate six pills weekly and prednisone 20 mg a day and one folic acid.. I have to say I got relief from that. They reduced the prednisone and I got down to 5 mg over the next eight months. I was doing pretty well until last month. I actually got down to 2.5 mg of prednisone. I started to get more pain and inflammation and the bloodwork showed my numbers were up. That’s when I started placquinal. They say it takes about 6 to 8 months to start to work so I really won’t know until then so hopefully it won’t affect my liver and it’ll start to work. My next blood work is February so I think she’ll go by what those results show. Thanks for checking in. I’ll let you know.
Hi
. Kelly has found an effective biologic which brought her inflammation numbers into the normal range for the first time. It is an interleuken-6 inhibitor, which research has found tends to be more effective for juvenile RA (she was diagnosed at age two).
I also want to note that Kelly has been on low-dose prednisone (5mg a day) for many years and it has worked well for her, with no known major side effects. That said, others, like our friendhave definitely had their share of prednisone issues. I want to share this Forum discussion on prednisone where I go into further detail on the research on low-dose usage: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/forums/prednisone-experiences.
Wishing you the best with the new treatment and hope the updates to come are positive. Richard (Team Member)
Hi, I was taking mtx for two months side effects nausea and fatigue on top of that I’m on hydroxycloroquine, prednisone and celebrex as needed…Now I’m off on mtx replace w/ leflunomide. No effect as of yet still in pain in feet ankles hands all my body aches. Frustrated waiting a call from rheumy to start on biologic orencia. Hope this will take of the swelling and pain. Wish you well….Mel
(Mel), I am sorry you are dealing with that trial-and-error gauntlet trying to find the medication that works best for you (with minimal side effects). I know it can be frustrating and exhausting. I hope either the leflunomide starts kicking in or that your rheumatologist gives the green light to start orencia. Hang in there! I hope some lasting relief is in your near future.
Best, Erin, Team member.
