Not sure Acitretin is for me...

[Caroline]

In contrast with Dave I only could cope with MTX for a few weeks, then I felt so terribly that I just stopped.

Now i am on the easier variant of Fumaderm, but only available in the Netherlands. Already for almost ten years it works flawlessly.

[D Foster]

In contrast with Dave I only could cope with MTX for a few weeks, then I felt so terribly that I just stopped.

Now i am on the easier variant of Fumaderm, but only available in the Netherlands. Already for almost ten years it works flawlessly.

It just goes to show how different we all are Caroline

[OneBigItch]

What were the worst side effects when you were on mtx? The effects I'm having on acitretin are tolerable IF it works. I'd be interested to know How long have people had to wait before they've seen results.

[Fred]

What were the worst side effects when you were on mtx? The effects I'm having on acitretin are tolerable IF it works. I'd be interested to know How long have people had to wait before they've seen results.

I've not used acitretin, but in answer to your other question about methotrexate.

#1 It made me feel sick all the time.
#2 I always had bad indigestion.
#3 I had very bad headaches.
#4 I suffered from very bad mood swings.
#5 And I would have got a part in a Zombie film no problem.

But like Dave said. "We are all different" and it's important to remember that at the moment their is no one suit fits all as far as psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis goes, and what works for one may not work for another.

My best advise would be to try what you are comfortable with trying, and see from your own trials what is best for you. It's also important to remember that it's Your body they are playing with and you are in charge of it not them.

[Caroline]

What were the worst side effects when you were on mtx? The effects I'm having on acitretin are tolerable IF it works. I'd be interested to know How long have people had to wait before they've seen results.

See what i described over here on MTX, I even see that I was able to use it for 4 months....I have so much pushed it away, that I thought it was less...  

[D Foster]

What were the worst side effects when you were on mtx? The effects I'm having on acitretin are tolerable IF it works. I'd be interested to know How long have people had to wait before they've seen results.

When I was on MTX I had very little in the way of side effects when I first started with it and it worked though it never cleared it beyond 85% in all the nine plus years i was on . over the first six years the side effects got worse with stomach , nausea, sickness, tiredness problems. I took it on a Friday night and all the weekend I would be ill but when I started injections I was OK again but then after a couple of years it started again with all the same side effects but in the last year it got very bad indeed so I stopped using it. MTX is in its place not a bad treatment and can work very well it's been used for a long time and the side effects are well known.

[jiml]

What were the worst side effects when you were on mtx? The effects I'm having on acitretin are tolerable IF it works. I'd be interested to know How long have people had to wait before they've seen results.

The worst for me was the constant feeling of nausea for a couple of days after taking them, and never really feeling well, I can normally take anything, but it got to the stage that I had to force myself to take them and gagged before, and had a job keeping them down .....it was at that stage when I decided psoriasis was better than the feelings I was having...I stopped and went on to Fumaderm which had its own problems but I never felt ill like I did on methotrexate

[OneBigItch]

Well I say my dermatologist today, she took one look at my psoriasis and said it was much worse since being on acitretin.

She told me to stop them and mentioned mtx. I said I wasn't keen and mentioned fumaderm instead, she seemed happy for me to try it but also said she would ideally like me to do more light treatment first as it works quite well for me.

From what I've read fumaderm is a good option but lights may be a good choice to start with too.

Should I go for light treatment first then fumaderm later if necessary, or just in straight for fumaderm?

Would anyone even recommend fumaderm as an option?

[jiml]

Well I say my dermatologist today, she took one look at my psoriasis and said it was much worse since being on acitretin.

She told me to stop them and mentioned mtx. I said I wasn't keen and mentioned fumaderm instead, she seemed happy for me to try it but also said she would ideally like me to do more light treatment first as it works quite well for me.

From what I've read fumaderm is a good option but lights may be a good choice to start with too.

Should I go for light treatment first then fumaderm later if necessary, or just in straight for fumaderm?

Would anyone even recommend fumaderm as an option?

A good decision in my opinion not going for methotrexate if you have the choice of something else

Well I would recommend Fumaderm as its the drug that has worked so well for me.....yes light treatment was also good for me ...but that is an on ...off  treatment and can last a while but you will have to keep going back for more
It treats the skin rather than the mechanism that is causing the plaques
So I would short circuit the uv treatment and go straight to Fumaderm that can give you clearance and stay clear for hopefully years .....
With uv you will not get a top up until your skin is bad again which is annoying and not guaranteed to get it when you need it
But that's just my opinion

[Caroline]

As Jim suggests...
Light treatment will only help shortly, P will always come back, and in the mean time you may have damaged the DNA of your skin.
Psoriasis is not a skin disease so you are only treating the symptoms.

Fumaderm is treating the fundament, the auto immune disease itself.
DMF is relatively innocent for your body, as it metabolises into a body normal substance. You only have to take care of two things.
1) a permanent eye on your lymphocytes. The effect of DMF can depend from person to person.
2) in the beginning keep an eye on your kidney values. Most people have no problems there, but e.g. people who have used medications for MS are subseptiple.

In other words... Yes advisable.