Ok, it's Friday evening which brings the dreaded methotrexate dose and zombie-BW will soon be in residence for a few days. Unfortunately, as I'm getting up to stronger doses I'm getting a hefty dose of nausea along with it...
I mentioned this to my GP and asked for something to help with the nausea and simply got told "take folate". Ummm... if taking folate was working, I wouldn't be asking for anti-nausea drugs!
So... it occurred to me today that I still have motilium in the house from our failed attempt at establishing a decent milk supply. I have used motilium in the past when suffering from a severe stomach bug so I know it can be used to help stop vomiting (and diarrhea), but does it just stop the vomiting, or can it help to reduce nausea too?
I'm not too keen on the idea of just taking some and seeing what happens - I have to take enough drugs without ending up experimenting like that! If it can be useful to me, then fine, but if not... it can stay in the medicine cupboard.
BW, you still need to be taking folate 4 times a week though as the MTX leeches it from your body and you become deficient and thats not good for you because it will start to affect your kidneys and liver then. I have to take 5mg of folate on Mon, tue, wed, thurs with a day off on friday, MTX on sat and a day off folate on Sunday as they can never *meet* in your system. I would be asking your Dr about that hun when you see him next.
I was wondering how you were going with your dose yesterday though and it sounds like it's not really agreeing with you at all. How long was he prepared to keep you on it for? I know sometimes the side effects outweight the benefits the meds are giving you, but when you've got a baby to care for it's not worth it to be wiped out like that
ETA - I forgot to ask how much water do you drink after you have the MTX? It's vitally important that you dirnk at least 3+ lts of water after your dosage to reduce the toxic load on your kidneys and liver by using the water to flush it out and minimise the damage the MTX can do, like a detox for them. It night make you feel a bit better too.
Last edited by Trillian; March 7th, 2009 at 07:48 AM.
I am on folate, Trillian. The rheumy suggested the 5mg folate tablets, but when DH said we still had 0.5mg tablets in the house left over from IVF treatment, my rheumy said it would be fine to take them. However, after the reading I have done today, DH has been sent out to get the 5mg tablets for me. My rheumy said to take the folate every day, so I will certainly question him about that next time I see him. It's not unusual for me to have horrendous side effects in the initial stages of taking a drug - the previous arthritis drug was absolute hell getting onto it, but after than initial stage, I had no trouble with it at all, until it stopped working. I know that for me, it's way too soon to say it's not worth it. I need to get up to the maximum dosage and then give it a few weeks to get used to it before we write off this experiment and try something else.
The good news is that this time, apart from the hellish nausea I went to bed with last night I'm actually doing relatively ok today. There's been no more nausea and I actually woke up at 7am instead of 11am. Still fairly tired, but nowhere near as bad as last weekend. I think it will be more telling if I'm feeling ok tomorrow or whether I'm still fairly wiped out, but I really am doing much better this time. I still couldn't feed Sam overnight, but DH was around for that - we just have to make sure he is!
The water consumption - noted. I probably don't drink anywhere near enough anyway... off to get more now.
Not your usual motilium question...
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