Starting MTX

[pingu]

Well its been a few weeks now but the psoriasis is being held at bay and not clearing as well as it did originally. May be the lower dose I am on, we will have to see I may call the consultant and see if I can increase the dosage but hat will mean more tabs.

It is better than it was but not as good as my first trial on MTX. Not disappointed but will see what the consultant says.

May have to wait until next consult.

[Fred]

Well its been a few weeks now but the psoriasis is being held at bay and not clearing as well as it did originally. May be the lower dose I am on, we will have to see I may call the consultant and see if I can increase the dosage but hat will mean more tabs.

It is better than it was but not as good as my first trial on MTX. Not disappointed but will see what the consultant says.

May have to wait until next consult.

Yes always best to get your consultants opinion before messing with the Methotrexte dose.

Could you phone them and ask if it's OK to increase?

[pingu]

Well its been a few weeks now but the psoriasis is being held at bay and not clearing as well as it did originally. May be the lower dose I am on, we will have to see I may call the consultant and see if I can increase the dosage but hat will mean more tabs.

It is better than it was but not as good as my first trial on MTX. Not disappointed but will see what the consultant says.

May have to wait until next consult.

Yes always best to get your consultants opinion before messing with the Methotrexte dose.

Could you phone them and ask if it's OK to increase?

Hey Fred Happy Christmas.

Yes indeed that is what I plan on doing. It is in check at the moment, not irritating or progressing but a few small patches coming through so the intention is to call them in the new year.

[jiml]

Happy Christmas pingu
yes Fred is right a phone call as soon as possible before it gets bad should do the trick, and get you back on course

[pingu]

Well apologies for not being around, I hope everyone is well. I was thinking of you all the other day and knew I was well overdue posting an update.

Had some confusion over appointment dates in that the NHS still insist on mail and I am not home a lot to get mail! So missed appointment and I needed to negotiate some additional drugs.

I have been on 15mg MTX for a while now and I am 99% clear, really just a few annoying patches and a little on my face when I don't get enough sleep but I can largely live with that. Not even sure if upping the dosage would make any significant difference.

Just back off holiday and the first holiday ever where I wasn't thinking of sun to improve my psoriasis.

Training a little and swimming more and not thinking about my skin too much feels weird though.

I have picked up what I can only describe as a chest infection while on holiday and coughing very badly but trying to shake it off. Have not taken MTX this week as I need as much of my immune system fighting this cough as possible. Been coughing a week and I think if I do not see an improvement soon will need medical advice.

My next appointment is 7th April so will have an update then.

[jiml]

Well apologies for not being around, I hope everyone is well. I was thinking of you all the other day and knew I was well overdue posting an update.

Had some confusion over appointment dates in that the NHS still insist on mail and I am not home a lot to get mail! So missed appointment and I needed to negotiate some additional drugs.

I have been on 15mg MTX for a while now and I am 99% clear, really just a few annoying patches and a little on my face when I don't get enough sleep but I can largely live with that. Not even sure if upping the dosage would make any significant difference.

Just back off holiday and the first holiday ever where I wasn't thinking of sun to improve my psoriasis.

Training a little and swimming more and not thinking about my skin too much feels weird though.

I have picked up what I can only describe as a chest infection while on holiday and coughing very badly but trying to shake it off. Have not taken MTX this week as I need as much of my immune system fighting this cough as possible. Been coughing a week and I think if I do not see an improvement soon will need medical advice.

My next appointment is 7th April so will have an update then.

Hi Pungu good to see you back again and good to read your update, I'm sorry you have got a rotten cough, there is a lot of it about
Good to hear that the methotrexate is working well for you, and your holiday was enjoyable not having to think of the psoriasis all the time
Long may your clearance continue ....I hope you shake the cold off soon and restart the methotrexate and stay clear

[Caroline]

Hi Pingu,

Nice to hear of your good results!
Smart to stop the medication shortly to fight the cough, important.

Any other side effects on the MTX? Or can you deal with them easily?
It really depends from person to person.

Caroline

[pingu]

Hi Caroline

I really have ad no side effects from MTX, the only thing I have noticed is that I pick up things that I would normally not and they seem more severe, however I might just be having a tough few months it is something I would need more evidence of but I am typically never ill.

The only reason I stopped the MTX is I had a slight problem just before Christmas (cyst) and my GP gave me antibiotics and said to not take MTX that week to try and give my immune system a chance to fight it as taking not taking MTX even for that week can help your immune system.

As I said 99% clear just some small patches on my bum that literally looks like red blotches about the size of a medium coin. I have a few tiny patches that look just like dry skin and indeed may just be dry skin.

[Fred]

Hello Pingu, thank you for taking the time to pop in and update. This thread has had well over 10,000 views so it's helping someone.  

Yes I'm with Caroline, it's a good idea to stop taking Methortexate for a while to help shake off a cold/virus. Good to hear the results you are getting as I'm often knocking methotrexate, and it just goes to prove that it can help some people without the dreaded side effects.

Long may it continue.  

[pingu]

Well latest update as it has been a slightly interesting couple of weeks.

I mentioned a cough! Well after flying back from holiday it manifested itself as a proper chest infection so off I went to the doctors.

Now my GP had advised that if I get anything that I felt was infectious to stop MTX. When being triaged by the walkin surgery the nurse said I should not stop taking any medication unless advised pecifically by a medical professional. Roll on examination and doctor to prescribe antibiotics to clear said infection and the advice to NOT take MTX until the infection was completely cleared. Well who'd have thought, I mean, how sensible would it be to continue taking an immunosuppressant drug when your need to fight an infection!

Roll on blood test a few days later and scheduled consultant visit where I validated the advice which is "even if I get a cold stop MTX until I feel better".

All of that said I am usually never ill and if I am even when I have had a bad cold or Flu once I am better in 3-5 days and cannot ever remeber finishing a course of antibiotics. WOW this chest infection started with a cough just before my holiday, continued through the holiday. OK swimming in a cold sea may not have been my most sensible idea. Developed to full blown chest infection a few days after getting home. Anyway it has eased today just after finishing my antibiotics so hopefully I will be well enough to resume MTX in a few days along with starting training again, but it will be nearly 3 weeks. I can only put this down to either, getting older, a particularly resilient little bug or MTX.

Anyway the advice in my case will be any infection stop MTX to let your body have a little better chance of fighting it.

Now my consultant visit, I am 95-99% clear which is awesome. do not have 5% psoriasis I am using that as a comparison to how I was. I would say my psoriasis coverage was between 0.1 and 0.5% of my body. Literally a little bit on my bum that looks like red blotches with no scaling and my face gets a little when I don't get enough sleep which is frequent as I work for myself and I am very busy. I will saty on 15mg MTX for the next 2 months as my consultant wants me to get rid of the chest infection and restart MTX as soon as possible and potentially increase the dosage to 20mg in 2 months. However I would say I am more than happy if they decide to leave it at 15mg as I can live with my skin now which was very difficult for the last 40 years.