Has anyone taken methotrexate????

Since about december last year I have been suffering from some kind of weird eczema, dermatitis psoriasis thing all over my hands and feet. Up to now we have been treating it with oral steriods (prednisone- started at 50mg a day, i am now just coping on between 15 and 20mg a day) but while they are keeping it at bay- it doesnt take much to trigger a break out of itchy bumps all over my hands and feet. (washing dishes, touching nappy wipes...)

So my dermatologist has been at me to wean myself off the steroids coz they have apparently really bad side effects, but taking nothing is just not an option so she has suggested a drug called "Methotrexate". Its medicine which will effect my immune system and should solve the problem.. she told me to have a look on the internet and i would have to have a few blood tests, a chest xray and be monitored closely while i take it.. but her exact words were that if it was her.. "She would rather be on the methotrexate than the steroids"

So i looked and OMIGOD, i think i looked at the wrong site coz the second line stated some of the side effects may cause death... it went on to basically scare the life out of me, i looked at a few other sites and they all basically back up that its a pretty full on drug, but they dont all scare you with death!! There are pages of side effects and a whole list of things not o do while taking it and things that you cant have had if you want to take it. To me from my research, the side effects of the steroids are minimal compared to this, however, this drug will most likely clear it all up completely rather than "just keep it a bay" and i would be able to use my hands again!! But still, i think my dr is loopy to rather be on this than steroids which yes do come with some side effects, but never once did anyone mention death!!!!!

So i am supposed to go for my chest xray next week and i dont see the specialist again until next month so i am just trying to gather as much info as i can before i see her and decide what to do.

The other thing that does kind of play a part sadly is cost.. we have no private health insurance, and no health care card (we fall into that cool little finanial area where we earn too much for one, but cant afford the other!! :wall:) so i was also kind of wondering if anyone out there knows how much the drug is (i am guessing it would depend on dosage etc though)

TIA for any responses!!!

Mathotrexate has many many uses! It is used as a treatment for ectopic pregnancy to sometimes avoid surgery, it is also used in Multiple sclerosis treatment as well.

It is a very potent drug but can work wonders for treatments.

I hope it works for you.

Thanks feeb, i did a quick look on BB and found thats what most people had used it for (EP)... part of me is so scared to tak eit, but another part is sooo completely fed up with my hands that i would be willing to take the risks!!!!!

i have just messaged BW to come in and post - she was taking MTX for arthritis

I take it for my psoriasis. I have been taking it on and off for 3 years now with huge success. It can be quite a nasty drug and some people do experience side effects, but I never experienced any myself. I am just about to go back on it as I rest over summer and take the MTX over winter. I usually have a dosage of about 20mg which is pretty conservative. I think you will find that you will see a good result from taking it and it is definitely worthwhile. You will also have to take megafol folate tablets as the MTX leeches folate from your body and if you don't take it you will become deficient. You also need to drink a load of water on the day you take it as it can be very toxic on your liver and kidneys - which is what the blood tests monitor and you will need to have them monthly. As for costs, the MTX costs $18.20 for a bottle of 30 tablets - I don't have a HCC to get them cheaper. The most expensive part is the cost of the bloodtests. The Govt changed the rules about bulk billing of pathology tests ordered by specialist Drs and this includes dermatologists. From memory the last bloodtest I had done cost about $114 and they will send you the bill for that, so when you get it, take it straight to medicare to get the cheque from them and then pay the difference. I got lucky with one of the Pathology women and she would put it through as being a repeat test and I only ever paid for about half of them. You may even be able to organise for your GP to be the one to order the path tests to avoid having to pay upfront for them. Anything else you need to know about it, just ask - I'm more than happy to help

Methotrexate is an immuno suppressant so it has to slow down the immune system from producing things that are usually helpful in making the body heal. Sometimes however the immune system can actually compromise healing for instance inflammation.

Inflammation can 'over react' and make the problem much worse which is what you see in arthritis and skin conditions such as yours.

Anyway..methotrexate does have its side effects but in small doses once (maybe twice) a week it tend to be 'safe' especially for a person who isn't riddled with lots of other more serious health complications.

It sounds like you don't have many other options to help treat your condition as methotrexate is a last resort medication and isn't usual used as a first line of defense thing.

If you are really concerned enquire as to the dosage..maybe you can use it in conjunction with another medication?

Good luck :)

ETA: After reading Trillians post- yes definatley go to the doctors for a slip for blood tests. You may not require them for a long time though depending on how long your on it :)

Haven't really read through the replies, but having used both prednisone and methotrexate and having the methotrexate damage my liver, I still want to say - GET OFF THE STEROIDS!!!

Basically, prednisone strips calcium from your bones making your risk for osteoporosis much, much greater. My rheumy was flipping out over me being on 20mg of prednisone daily and had me taking special calcium supplements. I tried to stay at 10mg or under, but I was on prednisone continuously for quite some years. I see the effect on my teeth - fillings falling out and crumbling because the tooth has been weakened - I think I'm going to be dealing with that side of things for a while. I'm also at a stage where I'll deal with being in agony and unable to move rather than take the prednisone because it makes me angry and aggressive. Last time I took it was actually for an allergy that had my eye swelled shut. I found myself in a rage where I wanted to throw my son into a wall. I reduced my dosage much faster than I was meant to (but because it was short term this time, that was ok) and I simply flat out WILL NOT take prednisone again.

Now... the methotrexate.

Yes, it's a scary drug. Yes, it's used in chemotherapy - and that's what a lot of the sites you would have been looking at were probably talking about. You'll be taking it at much lower doses than a chemo patient. It does lower the immune system, but that's the way it works - your immune system is going nuts and doing stuff it shouldn't and you can't suppress the immune system to stop that without stopping your immune system from doing stuff it should be - if that makes sense. The big thing I would suggest - lots of hand washing and have hand sanitiser pretty much everywhere. Be absolutely anal about sanitising before eating, before touching your face, before dealing with food. If your kids are in day care, do everything you can to build their immune systems. I keep Sam in day care and I have to rely on his immune system to protect me (I'm no longer on mtx, but I am still on immune suppressants - stronger ones now).

You will need to have regular blood tests to keep an eye on your liver function. I've heard stories of one doctor telling their patient "don't worry about blood tests, just one day you'll wake up and you'll have turned yellow and then you'll know to stop". Scary. Monthly blood tests and they'll pick up any issues long before you turn yellow and long before permanent damage is done to your liver.

You will also need to take folate supplements. Speak to any doctor about folate supplements with mtx and you'll get a different answer on the dosing regime from all of them. You will most likely want the 5mg megafol tablets. I started with the lower dose general ones (can't remember the dose there!) and I had terrible trouble with nausea and diarrhea for about 2-3 days after I took my mtx. Switched to the higher dose folate and that became more manageable. It is important that you start slowly (I started on 5mg the first week and we increased by 2.5mg each week until we got to 15mg, stopped for a bit, then went to 20mg), it helps you manage the side effects. I'd also suggest that you take the tablets at night as they would knock me around something shocking. In the early days (I started when Sam was 8 weeks old) I would fall asleep, sleep for 12 hours and not hear a thing... So DH was obviously dealing with Sam over night! But it was just that first night. I'd be sleepy and nauseated and generally out of it the following day, so again liked to have someone around on that day to help with Sam, and would avoid driving. After a while, I had none of these issues and my sleep after mtx was normal, I was still a little fuzzy on the day afterwards, but could cope. You may not be effected this badly, you may not be effected at all.

I must be lucky that I was through a rheumatologist - I get a blood test form every 6 months, and he has repeat blood tests on that for me. They are ALWAYS bulk billed. If the dermatologist-ordered blood tests are going to be super-expensive, get your GP to order them and copy your specialist in on the results. My specialist copies my GP in so he has huge files of blood test results, but that's helpful - I have everything to take to a gastroenterologist tomorrow.

My liver issues aren't uncommon, but there's no guarantee that it will happen to you as well. We know my problems were caused by the mtx (my liver started to get upset at 17.5mg, so we took a break but then had to push the dose to 20mg in order for me to qualify for a different line of drugs), but I was on at least two other liver-toxic drugs at the time. The liver issues have continued as well, so it's certainly a bit more complicated than "mtx trashed my liver" for me.

The final thing - you absolutely MUST have some form of reliable contraception. They prefer the OCP, implanon, mirena, etc. Something hormonal, they trust it more, it seems. Methotrexate causes horrendous birth defects (and miscarriages) so they insist on good contraception, and if you do wish to have another baby, minimum of 3, preferably 6 months off mtx and continuing the high dose folate tablets through this time before you even start to TTC.

If there's anything I've missed, feel free to ask. I know I have a different condition, and in the end it wasn't controlled by mtx, but it did work initially and it worked WELL.

BW

Thanks everyone!!

BW- that is loads of really usefull stuff to know!!! Thank you!! I will be taking a tablet every week and she did mention the folate, but never mentioned i might feel off, so i will be taking the tablet sat night so DH is home with us on sunday!! Very useful to know!! Just in case!!
I am looking at getting a merina put in, i havent been able to because i was also getting infections from my hands (staph) and it meant my body would most like;ly freak out about it, so i will be looking into that, we are 99% sure we are done in the baby making business so i am not too worried about those side effects at the moment!

So i guess i will be going for my chest xray then!! I think i will give it a go, but i am sure i will be asking loads of questions once i start lol!!

Oh and my derm could bulk bill me the first lot of tests. will it be different for the next ones??? I may see if the gp can do it instead, i am pretty sure everything is getting sent to her, i just havent been back there since i started seeing the derm.

Thanks everyone for your help!!

One thing I forgot to mention... If you vaccinate your kids, you need to be really careful if they are given a live virus vaccine. Rotavirus was fun - that was two weeks in gloves to change dirty nappies, and I still caught it from Sam once. MMR was also stressful, but we coped with nobody getting sick. The chicken pox vax - we skipped that and will worry about it when Sam's older if he doesn't manage to catch them.

Immune suppressants are scary, but they are also life-changing.

BW

Thanks - yeah DD will be due for her 12 month ones in a few months... I might delay them a bit - or actually maybe i will do them early, before i start the meds.. I might look into that actually. I see the Dr on the 9th of June and DD is 12 months on the 3rd of July.. I might look at getting them done early then I am ok for 6 months with out having to worry! Thanks so much for sharing all your experience!! It has been really helpful!!

So how are you going now that you can't take the methotrexate?? Are you managing your arthritis ok??

I've been allowed to go on to a different class of drugs all together. They are called biologic agents or tumour necrosis factor alpha blockers (but could be inhibitors). I have an injection once per fortnight, and I'm actually doing quite well with it. Unlike the mtx, they have started working very quickly (did anyone mention that it may be 6-8 weeks before you start to see results from taking mtx?). So after my very first injection I actually had my first pain-free day in years. Get a few more injections in and I'm almost making it to the end of the two weeks before I get sore. I inject tonight and I've woken incredibly sore, but that's ok. I know relief is coming, and quite soon too.

I've just found out I have a liver condition which means I can no longer take things like prednisone and must avoid all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, so I'm now down to only paracetamol and codeine for pain relief, so it's a good thing I've got these biologics going or I'd not be able to move at all. There's very strict rules for who qualifies to get these drugs - two injections have a full cost of $1774, but because of my PCC I only pay $5.60. Could you imagine paying that much for medications every month?!?!

BW

That would be crazy to pay that much!!!! No matter how good it was!!

So if it takes 6-8 weeks to have effect. would that mean i would stay on the prednisone until it starts working or i would have two months of essentially nothing?? (coz that would cause serious hand blisters and stop me from doing basically anything!!!) I think i should pay you the $100 buck a month i have been paying my specialist lol you have had more info in two days than she has given me in nearly six months lol!! Although I know its all down to rememebring to ask questions.. i still walk out of the rooms and then ten minutes later i kick myself coz i have forgotten to ask something!! Even when i write it down!!!

Ohh on a completely un medical related queiry.... did the methotrexate (i keep going to write meth as an shortening.. but it just looks wrong lol) help with any weight loss??????? I have been slowly stacking on the kg's after DS, adn then again after DD and now i just still keep putting it on. i have stated excercising and it slows down the weight gain, but doesnt help me loose any.. so just wondering if maybe its somehow related and if maybe the meds might help a little with either me not gaining any more and maybe helping me loose some!!

If it were me, I'd stay on the prednisone until the mtx is starting to work - but you'll have to talk to your specialist about that.

The weight gain is quite simply down to the prednisone. In my experience, while on prednisone you gain weight. Exercising and watching your diet can slow it, but I've never been able to reverse it until I'm off it. I imagine at your dosages it would be fairly similar. I don't think the mtx will help with weight loss on its own, but it should allow you to get off the pred and make it easier to lose weight. I've also been stacking on the weight (even without pred!) and now find myself weighing the same as my highest weight during pregnancy. It's depressing, but I'm now getting to the point where I can start exercising again - need to start slow and gently, but I know I can start to do something about it now.

BW

If it were me, I'd be asking your Dr what he thinks you should do regarding taking the steriods at the same time. Personally, I found the MTX worked quite quickly - don't forget that BW is taking it for a completely different issue and for her circumstances it may have taken longer to work. Within 2 weeks of taking it I found that all the redness on the plaques had nearly gone and within a month I saw a remarkable change in the plaques and they were all but gone in most places - some of the larger areas were more persistent though and did take up to 2 months to clear up. But I had a severe guttate flare up and had psoriasis over 80% of my body at the time.

It is the type of drug that you really do need to try and then find the right dosage amount. I am on a large US forum for psoriasis and some have found a small dose works well, some found they need a larger dose and for some it doesn't work at all. You really need to be asking your Dr these questions because we can only tell you our personal experiences which will obviously be quite different to yours.

Yeah Trillian, i will definately check with the dr about what to take when. At the moment the steroids have it pretty under control-ish.. as in i have only small hard lumps on my hands and no where else, and they arnt all peeling and red and exposed as they have been. The finger tips on my right hand are a bit tender, but all in all they are nothing like they have been- but mind you i can go from nothing to full on blisters and bumps in a day or so.. so i would say that fingers crossed the MTX will work pretty quickly. The only delema i have though there is that as soon as i stop the steroids or drop down to anywhere below 10mg, i break out.. so I could be in for a week or so of transition where they will get worse before they clear up totally kind of thing, and i will be checking with the dr to see if its ok to maybe keep using the steroids for a week or so, and at the very least drop down to below what i ahve been taking maybe...


Its good to go to the next appt armed with some personal experience info and some questions to ask.

Which forum are you on trillian?? I found one that i think was american but it didnt seem like people frequented it that much so i stopped going there myself!

Well i took my first dose last night and so far so good!! I took them right on bed time, and they did make me a sleep a bit deeper, but nothing too crazy, and no nausea!! YAY!!

I am really glad i talked to you girls about it too, i was armed with loads of questions for my dr (all written down so i didnt forget them!!) and i feel good about starting the meds!

I am to keep taking the steroids for a few weeks until the new meds start to work, and she did say realistically it may take a few weeks to a month for them to really take effect, so fingers crossed its the start of something good and soon i will have normal use of my hands again!!!

Great to hear, Starbright! I do tend to the extreme side of the range of side effects if I get any, but it's good to know the worst and be prepared rather than having it hit you out of left field. What dose did you start on? I started with 5mg and didn't get much nausea at first but as my dose increased it got worse. But I wasn't taking the high dose folate at that point, so that probably had something to do with it!

BW

I had 5mg last night, take folate today, then next week i move up to 10mg. What dose of folate were you on? I am just using some i had left over from pregnancy (which i just checked is actually folic acid.. IS THIS THE SAME THING??? EEEEEK???? Just googled and i think its ok) which is 5mg tablets.

The 5mg ones are the ones you want and folate = folic acid. They are the same thing. At the beginning I was taking a much lower dose - something like 0.5micrograms? The regular pregnancy ones - my rheumy said to take them because I had them left over, but they did nothing.

BW

Ok, just double checked, they are .5mg.. so i think i will head to the chemist this week and look at some stronger ones! Thanks again Dr BW!! :-)

I really really really really hope they work for you!!!!!!

come on yucky hands get outta here! and bring back SB beautiful healthy ones so she can be elbow deep in baby poo and dishes again =)

love you xoxox

Well i have started, so far no miracle cure!! But its still early days! I didnt make it into town for my first week check up bloody test, so i ended up having two weeks on the half dose (5mg), but i will be taking the first full dose tonight.

Last week i broke out in a bad dermatitis rash on the back of my hands and up my arms, my hands were good, but the rest of my body went haywire! Yay! This week it hasnt happened, so i dont think it was the meds, i think it was probably going to happen anyway!

I did also get a little headache both weeks three days after the meds which i will be telling the Dr about, nothing terrible, i didnt even take a panadol, but it was there. Did any of you get any headaches??

Startbright just wondering if i can pm you with some questions about your eczema? For the past 2 months i too have been suffereing from a 'weird eczema' and it sounds a little similar to what you describe. So far the treatment is nothing like you describe but i'd love to know a little more about your experience and how you got to where you are with treating it now.

Talk soon :)

Go for it *EJ*, i am happy to answer any questions about my mystery skin disease!!! PM me, or just ask here whatever is easier!! I have photos too i will share so you can see the different stages and variations of bumps and blisters!!!! Its taken me over six months to get to the treatment i am on now, it started with simple steroid creams whcih made it worse, antibiotics to battle the staph infections that would come from all the cracked skin and then oral steroids which were the only thing to help keep it at bay, but not make it disapear completely!!

At the moment i can say the new meds have gotten rid of "most" of the stuff on my body, my palms are good, but my finger tips are still cracked and very tender and sore!! But the dr did say it may take some time to kick in!! Still taking 15mg of the steroids, which i am soo looking forward to stopping so i can try to loose some weight!!!!

Starbright, I think I remember getting headaches... Mainly when I wasn't drinking enough water in the days after taking it.

BW

I'm happy to have a chat here Starbright i just didn't want to take away from the original post...

Wow what you describe sounds so similar to what i'm dealing with right now also. For over two months i remember just feeling itchy, it was strange but something i would kind of brush off thinking it was just a figment of my imagination. The itch has been all over from my feet to my scalp.

Then two months ago i got a scaly patch on my breast that was itchy and grew in size. I went to the Dr's and he said dermatitis, prescribed a cream that i should only use for a week but it had no effect.

From then on i went backwards and forwards to the Dr's and unfortunately seeing various Dr's depending on who i could get in with on the day. They really didn't know what they were dealing with, for the breast area they tried treating it as thrush which i now know it clearly wasn't and the thrush treatments made it so much worse :o.

With following dr's advice i took antibiotics as the bb area became infected (staph just like you described) and not long after that i started getting a pimply rash all over my body that was itching like crazy. I think they thought it was a reaction to the antibiotics but it wasn't. I tried antihistemenes (sp??) which had no effect. I always thought it was too coincidental to not have the bb, the rash and the itch all be related but the dr's seemed to think they were seperate things.

Finally at my 6th appt i got a referral to a dermatologist. He said it was eczema and told me to bath for 20 min each night for a week then smother celestone cream all over my body. I did this, it got the itch and rash under control but with in 4-5 days of stopping the itch was back and now i'm at the stage where the rash is coming back also. I went back again last friday and he wrote a script out for more things but i'm not going to get them until after the nathropath. I'm now bathing again just to keep it all at bay.

Throughout all of this was that i was feeding my DD, I managed to keep doing it and at times i was extrememly uncomfortable. The infection seems to have maybe finally gone from the bb area and it looks the best it has in a long time but it's still itching like crazy.

So i wonder if we're dealing with a similar thing? Although some of what you describe sounds even more severe than mine which i'd hate to imagine. I feel for you immensly. My feet itch like crazy my hands aren't too bad. My rash ended up being visable on my tummy, back, arms, shoulders, neck, chest and tops of my legs.

I have just booked myself into see a natropath so i'll be interested to see the direction she will take and if it has an effect. I just feel like i'm masking the problem with what i've been told to do so far.

So do you have any idea of how or why you got your eczema?
Where you are now with yours you must have tried many different things to have to restort to the steroids and now the methotrexate.
Have you tried a natropath?

Thanks for taking the time to read and listen :)

(sorry, just finished my novel.. grab a cuppa!!!!!! :) )

It does sound similar!! It started for me when DD was four months old too, I didnt manage to keep feeding her, it seemed to effect my supply as well as everything else.

All my life I have never had any form of eczema at all what so ever. NONE

Just before DD was born I started getting dermatitis around my belly and stretch marks. It itched like crazy and I just kinda put up with it. Had DD and it got worse, all around my clothes lines, my bra lines and around my belly. I put it down to this special form of dermatitis (which i cant remember the name of now) I got given steroid cream for that and it helped, it all went away all good.

Fast forward two months (november) and I started getting an itchy finger. My middle finger on my right hand. It itched and itched, I scratched and scratched, broke the skin, it bled, it cracked, I itched some more. It was probably four or five hard lumps under my skin. Finaly when I was at the dr for something for the kids I showed the dr and she went oh a bit of dermatitis, here take some cortisone cream.

Well to this day I wish I had just put up with my bloody finger, coz two days after I started the cream, it spread. All over my right palm, tiny little blistery bumps. I thought I had gotten warts or something, thats what they looked like. They were itchy and sore, and then my left hand broke out. Within days they were swollen and sore. Back to the dr, here we tried three different creams, antibiotics, my supply dropped completley and I got AF back, which seemed to make a difference to my hands. In a not so good way.

They started doing this weird cycle with my period. Leading up to my period they would break out in the bumps. They would get sore and red and swollen, I would start bleeding and the bumps would go but I would be left with extreamly dry and cracked hands. Every crease in every finger was a deep cut. Over the week of my period and the week after they would start to heal. Then the cycle would start again. As new skin emerged, so did new bumps. I would run out of antibiotics so off to the dr again, more antibiotics, more creams wait another month. I started having an antihistimine a day (which I still take)

The same thing just kept cycling (only now it had hit my feet too) until February. (so three- four months) in late January my gp (I had been seeing the one gp the whole time almost weekly or at least fortnightly) finaly said it was too much for her and I would need to see a dermatologist. But I wasnt going to get in until the end of march. (yippee- NOT)

Then one night in early feb I was up all night itching and crying, my hands were so swollen- like spread your fingers apart as far as you can, and my fingers were all touching kind of thing. It was also the first time it had spread all over my body- all red and itchy and dry and sore. DH woke up and took me off to the hospital. There wasnt alot they could do, they gave me a shot of antibiotics and I still remember the little asian dr saying "ooohhh sh *t firetruck (but he said ya know) why you let it get so very bad???????? And I was like I am TRYING to get rid of it, nothing is working!!!!

So the next day my husband called every dermi in canberra to get me into see someone right away. The lady I had a referral for and the appt in march could fit me in in two days, but we saw another skin dr that day- which was a costly expedition.
She decided it was a fungal infection and got me to buy some medication that cost $120 dollars. I took one and went bright pink all over.
I didnt take one the next day and saw my dermi that day and she said no way is it fungal- she took swabs told me not to take it anymore, gave me more cream, and my new best friend, the steroids!!! (BTW, i have some really good anti fungal tablets for sale if you know of anyone who needs them ;) )

So I started on 50mg of pregnisone. With in a few days the swelling had gone down, we did wet dressings and all the horrible dry skin slowly literally fell off my hands and feet. It was sooooo grosss!!!!! But underneath was gorgeous fresh clear skin!!!! It took probably two weeks from starting the steroids for it to all clear. My mum had to fly down to help me with the kids coz I literally couldnt do anything with my hands.

The day after she hopped on the plane home, I got the first of the tiny little stupid bumps back. :wall: But it wasnt as agressive, it took longer for them to come up and they werent as bad. But they were still there!!! The final cream I ended up with was Advantan- it was the only one that worked for me. And even then, never made it go away all together.

So I started seeing the derm once a month. She was at me every month to drop the amount of steroids I was taking, I was still cycling with my cycle.. it would come and go, but never got as bad as that night in feb!! But it also wasnt going away, and each and every time I dropped my dose, it came back worse!!! I was a bad patient and I self medicated and kept taking a higher dose than she would have liked. I told her the truth when I would see her, that yes I tried to drop the dose, but it got worse so I upped it again to make it go away! I did manage to drop from 50mg to 25mg.

I also noticed that DD would get a bad nappy rash whenever I was at the peak of the bumps. I mentioned this to a few people who all said it was a coincidence, but I don't know. I started using disposable gloves when changing her and that seemed to help.

My whole life was overhauled. Everything I used for washing, for dishes, for cleaning was changed. Nothing helped. I couldnt find a soap that didnt make me break out. I couldnt even shower everyday because just plain water stung my skin. Nappy wipes hurt like hell. We changed everything. I should have bought shares in cotton and rubber gloves I have been through so many!!!!
My poor DH was lucky he didnt loose his job for the amount of days he had to call in sick to say sorry, my wife cant even pick up our daughter let alone change her nappy or wipe her face, or open a jar of vegemite. We paid hundreds in dr bills and lost hundreds in wages. (sorry just abit of a boo hoo there!!)

Ooohh and I havent even started on the natropath!!!!!!!!

Ok, so in all that after seeing the dermatologist I also saw a natropath. She was good, she sat me down and we talked for about an hour. I felt listened to and that she was investigating alot more into the "Why" than the derm was. She did reflexology on me (this weird thing were she tapped my arm and thought of things and gaged how my body reacted to her thoughts!!!!) I walked away from there with a bag full of stuff and even more money out of my pocket.

Now when I saw her we thought it was excema. She gave me a lot of things that helped replenish skin, and encouraged healing and skin regeneration to help with all the cracked skin and things. Also some stuff for stress which can contribute to skin disorders. And a whole bunch of other stuff. My whole day revolved around whether I had eaten with this medication, not eaten for this one, taken that one or stood on my head and spun around in circles for ten mintues while I took another one. It was horrible!!!!

Then when I saw the dermi again AFTER seeing the natropath- the derm put it out there that it could be psorisis.(She is still undecided on that, apparently i am a combination of both eczema and psorisis) After some googling I discovered that with psorisis, the skin on my hands were multimplying and regenerating at a too rapid pace. Which half the meds that the natropath were also ENCOURAGING!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I hold nothing against the lovely natropath, she wasnt to know. I had these nasty bumps before I ever saw her, but from what I had researched, half the stuff she had given me was actually feeding what was going on in my body that was bad, not good.

So I got jack of all the med taking and stopped all the natropath stuff and stuck to my steroids. It all actually cleared up a little bit more!!! And thats when I was able to successfully drop the dose from 25mg down to 15mg. But it still wasnt completly gone.. better, but not gone.

So finaly the derm decided that ok, its time to step it up. We had talked about these other drugs and the possibility that what I had was part psorisis and part eczema. And she really wanted me off the steroids. I was scared, I have hung onto them coz they are the first thing that made my hands ok, they are my god!!!! But I know they arnt good for me. I have put on weight from them for starters and everyone I speak to tell sme that they are bad. So these new magic drugs (methotrexate) would help either eczema or psorisis so it was the next step to take.

I got to my appt a few months ago all excited thinking yep, today is the day, only to be told ok, this is what we are going to do, BUT FIRST you need to have a chest xray and a blood test, so come back in a month after you have had them and we will start. So I did all that. Went back two and a half weeks ago and I started the methotrexate two weeks ago. I took a half dose the first week, and then needed a blood test befoe i could up the dose. I wasnt able to get to town for a BT, so i have had two weeks of the half dose and took the full dose for the first time on sat night just gone.

So far, it has cleared up all the random rashes on my body. I did break out on the back of my hands the first week, but its all clear this week. The itching has subsided, but I am still taking my regular antihistime. One night when I dont feel itchy and I find I have forgotten to take it and im ok I will stop!! At the moment I havent had any new bumps on my palms whatso ever!!!!!!!

:dance::dance::dance:

I am also still on 15mg of the steroids. I will try to drop it next week again after my next dose (the new meds are weekly) As mum will be here for a visit, so if they break out again I at least have some help around the house.

BUT my hands are still dry dispite moiturising many times a day. My finger tips are cracking still, and the skin is very tender and sore to touch, but I can tell its making a differnce.

I dont know why it started.

I dont know what it is.

I dont know how long I have to keep taking the medication for, but I am just happy I no longer am seriously contemplating chopping my hands off anymore!!!!

I dont know if I will live with this forever or if it will pass, but its been quite a journey!!!!

Sorry for the novel!! I am sure there is alot more there than you need to know!! lol But once I started I just kept going and going lol!!!! I hope your journey doesnt get as horrible as mine has been!!! And I hope your mysterious rash just goes away!!!!!!!

xxoo Kat

OMG i feel for you so much. The severity of what you've had to go through is horrible. I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of that.

Isn't it crazy that we can go through such a thing, out of the blue like this and it can have such a huge influance on our lives!?

Have you got any of the cortisone creams still? Have you tried the baths? The soak is supposed to help the pores open up to then absorb the cream 100x better than if you were just to put it on your skin. But like i said it helped make the rash and itch disapear but it came back as soon as i stopped.

I have a history of dermatitis on my hands. It mainly on my fingers but there are a few patches on the backs of my hands that flare up now and again. It can start off as little lumps, they are really itchy and when i itch them they weep. To keep this under control i apply Elocon and have been doing it for years. It just gets rid of a flare up because it's never fully gone away. My fingers split when it gets really bad (and they've been bad lately) but the few splits i've been complaining about seem like they may be nothing compared to what you've had to deal with.

The first cream i ever was prescribed for the bb area early May was Advantan, i was only supposed to apply it for a week. It had no effect at all. After then was when the Dr's i saw started treating it like thrush. For the body rash i was given Tricortone which had no effect also. This went on for about 6 weeks before i was finally in at the dermatologist and like you i called up begging for an appt on the day.

The dermatologist said it was Dyshidrotic eczema. It sounds like this may be what you have because it says it's typically on the hands and feet. Mine has been a little different though. My feet are itchy but there are only a few little pimply bumps on them. So far my hands have not been effected other than my usual dermatitis.

So the first time i saw him he said to the apply the Celestone after a bath for one week. The second time i went back because the infection around the bb area was not going anywhere and i was getting itchy and rashy all over again. This time he wrote a script for Burrows Solution, Advantan Fatty Ointment and Mupirocin calcium ointment i haven't filled it yet. The infection seems to have really settled in the last few days and i'm almost finished my second lot of antibiotics. For once i don't have to peal my bra away from my breast.

Like you i've spent a fortune on dr's appts and things from the chemist. I use soap free shower washes and have for years, i'm so particular about my skin just from having a dermatitis on my hands. I was racking my brain about the washing powders, change in diet all of that but could not think of anything. I'm not working and i'm home with 3 kids i really can't afford to be going to all these appts and spending so much money at the chemist.

I'm a little nervous about the natropath now from what you said but i don't know what else to do. There has to be a reason for this!! Our eczema isn't your every day eczema.

I wonder if the little ones have anything to do with it or if it's just coincedence? I asked the dermatologist why so bad around the bb area and he really didn't know why but seemed to think it could be that because eczema tends to appear in thin areas of the skin and with feeding DD it's just really had an opportunity to thrive!? I breastfed all my children and have never experienced anything like this. I am yet to get my AF back so your experience makes me a little nervous about that now also.

So i think i'll just go Friday and see what happens. I'm a little nervous now from what you say, i want this **** gone, i've had enough. We have to be able to go back to our normal selves surely?? Before this i never hardly took a panadol, never really got sick or needed antibiotics. Now i have a drawer full of stuff and feel like i live at the dr's.

Good luck with your new medication and i hope it makes a huge difference for you. I'll keep in touch and let you know how i go.

Thanks so much for taking the time to tell me about your experience. We can complain together :)

All the best Kirstie :)

Sorry!! I dont mean to scare you! I hope you can manage your rash without all the craziness I have been through!! And dont be afraid of the natropath, just make sure he or she has all the information before you take anything!! I hope we can both be rash free and happy soon!!!!!

Haha all is good... We have some similarities and some not so much. It's kind of good though that the two of us happen to be here to be able to sympathise with such a a horribly annoying condition. I'll let you know how i go on Friday :)

Startbright i've been meaning to get back to you...

How are you going with your hands? Does the methotrexate seem to be doing it's job for you?

It's now been 2 weeks since i've been to the natropath and i have goodish news. Her thoughts were the rash wasn't eczema more so a condition on the inside that was making it's way out of my body via a horrible itchy rash on the outside. She sent me away with some inner health style things to rid me of whatever it may be and i'm thinking it's doing it's job. The rash flared up before it got better which she said it would do. I don't have a rash now but i can still feel like i want to itch now and again.

I am still however battling with the irritated bb area. I had a prescrption from the dermatologist for burrows soluation and i was just avoiding using it as everything he seemed to prescribe just bandaided the problem. I wanted to see if the things from the natropath would be enough but they weren't. So i got the burrows solution and it has gotten rid of the infection thankfully but i am now left with extremely itchy bb's and red dry skin. I'm hoping this too is just the path we have to take to be rid of it all together.

It's been a long few months of lots of pain and discomfort for me but it still seems to be quite tame compared to what you've had to deal with.

For both of our sakes i hope the end is really near and we are back to our normal selves soon.

Thanks for your time in explaining your situation and hope all is well with you :)

Hi EJ... thanks fo rchecking up on me!! :)

It seems to be doing ok, i have managed to dorp the steroids down to two 5mg tablets a day instead of three, but when i got all excited and went to go to 1 and a half, i got the tingle of bumps coming back, so i will wait a bit longer to see!!

I havent had any problems with the new meds, so thats good. They seem to be working, and when i saw the derm last week she said i was looking really good and she was really happy with how quickly they were working and that i should still ecpect some improvement over the next few weeks!! YAY!!!

Sounds like your natropath was on to it!! I am glad my story didnt scare you away!! (i still dont hold my natropath responsible lol, i had bumps before i saw her, i think just seeing too many different people was my problem!!)

Fingers crossed we both continue to improve!!!!!!! :-)