Quote:
Originally Posted by Beamers Mom  Just have her make sure they keep an eye on her liver count (think that is what it is).
I had a friend in New York that when his wife died he called me and he said it was sure it was because of the methotrexate - he was an EMT.
When my liver count was up and the rheumatologist kept saying he wasn't worried and my primary care physician was worried I decided it was time to find a new rheumatologist. As I said in my previous post when the new rheumatologist saw my liver count he said he would have taken me off the methotrexate before it got that high.
Of course, he put me on something that was dangerous too (the Cellcept). It is just to the point where I don't trust a lot of medications and so I don't take them.
If I ever get a new prescription for anything at all I google it and research it before I take it. If I have the slightest doubt, then I don't take it. |
When I was on the methotrexate my blood was monitored wkly, plus every 6mths I had to have a visual field acuity eye test.
These drugs collectively known as DMARDS - Disease Modifying Anti rhuematic Drugs, have some serious side effects. But so does the impact of RA and other inflammatory rheumatoid diseases. It is not a pleasant trade off the informed person must make.
There well in the past 10 yrs are a new class of drugs for RA and like diseases, collectively known as Biologics. They are said to be much more effective, and actually stops the disease in it's tracks, and can often repair damage done. But like the DMARDS heavy risks associated with their use. And unlike the DMARDS, aat least here in Canada a very large cost to each dose. Aricept $500 per injection.
And so, the weighing of pros and cons, has to be individualized for each person. The progression of their disease, its virulence, and the lifestyle needs and wishes of the person.
Personally I am in that process of weighing the pros and cons.