A bit Sad

[nepsom]

Hi There,

I've just joined this site as I've been on methotrexate for 6 weeks and am feeling so tired and sad. I've been told to stay on the pills for at least 4 months to see results. Some people say that the side affects fade away after a while - is this true? I am in New Zealand with psoriasis on elbows, knees, hand and toe. Just feeling a bit despondent. Hopefully things will get better

[jiml]

Hi There,

I've just joined this site as I've been on methotrexate for 6 weeks and am feeling so tired and sad. I've been told to stay on the pills for at least 4 months to see results. Some people say that the side affects fade away after a while - is this true? I am in New Zealand with psoriasis on elbows, knees, hand and toe. Just feeling a bit despondent. Hopefully things will get better

Hi nepsom and a warm   to the club. You have come to what I believe to be the best site for advice and support from a friendly group of fellow sufferers.

I hope you get on well with methotrexate, but your symptoms sound very similar to my experience of methotrexate.
I found it worked so well on my psoriasis and cleared my skin completely. But like you the fatigue and general feeling unwell got the better of me and I was moved on to a different drug which is not available in the Southern Hemisphere
If you keep feeling anxious or depressed with it. Do phone the dermatologist and tell them, in my experience the side effects didn't get less they got worse if anything
There are other options such as acetretin or cyclosporine that are still relatively inexpensive and can also work well ( they all come with some side effects ) but are different  
Follow this link in blue for more information Oral Treatments For Psoriasis
Good luck and come back often because here you are part of an ever growing community supporting each other , through this awful disease

Feel free to join us in the rest of the site and come across to the off topic where things are light hearted.
Good luck
Jim

[Fred]

Hello Nepsom   to Psoriasis Club.

First off I'm pleased to see you managed to get registered, I have sent you an Emil.

Second, don't feel sad. There is always someone here to listen and you are welcome to have a good old grumble if it helps. At least now you have found us you won't be alone, so just shout out somewhere on the forum and we will find you.

Now Methotrexate. My pet hate for treating psoriasis, but that is only my opinion and some do well on it. I'm with Jim what you are describing are common side effects with methotrexate, and I also agree with him when he said it will get worse not better. Some may disagree and suggest the side effects can/will get better but I'm not convinced as it never did for me.

My suggestion would be to contact your dermatologist and tell them how you are feeling and you don't think you can continue with methotrexate for the 4 month term if it's making you feel like this now. There are other choices, but most dermatologist still insist on starting with methotrexate. Most will fail and end up moving on to something else, and that is why I say it's pointless prescribing it for psoriasis. Methotrexate has it's uses but with all the other/better treatments available today for psoriasis, I wish they would stop prescribing it.

But none of us are doctors and what you get here is our personal opinions, and at the end of the day you have to make your own mind up. If you think you can continue feeling like you do now and want to see if you can tolerate it better then by all means do so, but if you don't think you can handle it then ask for something else as it's your body they are playing with and a good dermatologist will work with you to find what suits you.

Regards.

Fred.

[nepsom]

Thank you Jiml and Fred for your responses. I had a long chat with my partner about he methotrexate and how I was feeling. I have an appointment with my dermatologist in 5 weeks so might stick it out til then ad then discuss it with her. If my fatigue gets too bad I will stop.

I think i will take the list of oral treatment you suggested to my appointment, however I'm not sure which drugs will be available in New Zealand. 

I see Stelara is not on the list but I read somewhere that this was quite good? 

Have you ever heard of anyone ever getting better from psoriasis?

This site is awesome. I've been reading a lot  since I joined

[jiml]

Thank you Jiml and Fred for your responses. I had a long chat with my partner about he methotrexate and how I was feeling. I have an appointment with my dermatologist in 5 weeks so might stick it out til then ad then discuss it with her. If my fatigue gets too bad I will stop.

I think i will take the list of oral treatment you suggested to my appointment, however I'm not sure which drugs will be available in New Zealand. 

I see Stelara is not on the list but I read somewhere that this was quite good? 

Have you ever heard of anyone ever getting better from psoriasis?

This site is awesome. I've been reading a lot  since I joined

Hi nepsom I think it's probably a good idea if you are able to cope sticking with the methotrexate until your visit as its not to far away

Stelara is very good although I doubt if you will be offered it it is one of the biological injectable  treatments which is expensive and usually you will have to try and fail on more of the oral treatments before they give biologicals there is a thread about them here Biological Treatments For Psoriasis

The reason Stelara wasn't on the list is because it's not an oral tablet but an injection and they are classed differently by the medical profession

In answer to your question   sadly there is no cure but it is controllable with the right treatment and we are all different and not all drugs will work the same on everyone .... So it's a bit of trial and error to get something that suits you and gives you clearance or puts it into remission

Some say they can control it with diet but I am not strong enough to resist good food , but many say it works well for them
There are a few posts in natural treatments, but unfortunately they are rarely updated which leads me to think that it's not that successful ( I would love to be proved wrong)


There are also great advances in the medications coming on stream for the treatment. New innovative treatments that are blocking certain pathways and proving very successful.
I think if there was ever a good time to have to have psoriasis then now is it. . Keep coming back to keep in touch with the latest trials and new medicines. If there's anything new coming it's usually reported here very quickly.
jim

[Grizzly Bear]

  Nepsom    

Welcome to the mad house Nepsom  

I'm the in sane on on here, honest. The others are loonies, trust me, i'm a real bear  

Ask anything about our nasty skin condition, we will answer quickly.

Most of all, enjoy yourself Nepsom.  

GB

[Fred]

 Have you ever heard of anyone ever getting better from psoriasis?

This site is awesome. I've been reading a lot  since I joined

Thank you for the kind words, it's nice to know people find it helpful.

Unfortunately like Jim said. "There is no cure" it's all about management and keeping it under control. You are bound to find so called cures on the internet but don't fall for it they only want your money. Psoriasis once you get it is a life sentence, so you have to learn to accept it and then try various treatments till you find one that works for you.

It can go into remission, but it will come back again at some point. Also a treatment that was working well can suddenly stop working, so it's a good idea to build a good relationship with your dermatologist.

[KyPrincess]

Hi nepsom. Welcome to the club!

[Turnedlight]

Hi there! Nice to meet you

With the methotrexate, I was on it a year, I found the side effects actually got worse over time, it makes you look and feel old. I never had the sickness etc just felt really tired all the time. Also it only worked for a short time, it cleared me to begin with but the P crept back in and even though they put the dose up it seemed to stop working so I came off it. It wasn't horrendous to be on but I'm glad I'm not taking it any more, I feel more alive and awake.

So with your symptoms, you are definitely not alone ..

[Caroline]

My experiences with MTX are exactly Turnedlights.
Only I was only able to cope with it for a number of weeks and then felt that I had to stop.

There are a lot of possible other and less harmful treatments around nowadays. Also at your side it must be able to find them and get them prescribed.

Most recently I read that research is also getting results with treatments based on RNA. Unfortunately that also, are treatment that target the suppression of the disease, no doubt there will be research for the origination of it, but the results over there is still invisible.