Your experience of methotrextrate

[dan-o]

Your experience of methotrextrate injections would be greatly apreciated, as I'm most likely facing a course of this particular type of light chemo in a couple of weeks.

Did it affect you, physically, cycles etc?

All I've been told so far is it's very risky for the baby if you accidentally get pregnant in the 3 month waiting period after the injection/s & physically I might get a bit poorly afterwards.

Any horrible side effects I need to know about?


Thanks

 

[rabbit]

i've said this in one of your other posts too i think- i had the shot in nov, had no side effects at all, unless you count the fact that first cycle after shot (once i'd stopped bleeding) was around 50 days, this one so far has been 73 and nothing happening!

they suggest you dont ttc within 3 months for one shot, 6 months for 2 shots, however the same drug in similar quantities is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and people who take it for this aren't recommened to wait that long before trying (so my doc says). The give it you in minute quantities that would be out of your system in a matter of weeks.

also according to all the research i've done on it, if you were to fall pregnant accidentally they can give you shots of something or other to give you the best possible chance.

The main defects it could cause are limb abnormalitys and cleft plates.

Hope this helps, if you need to chat just PM me and i'll try to help x x

 

[dan-o]

Fantastic, thanks rabbit!
Sorry you are waiting so long tho, were you regular before you had the shots?

 

[bklove]

Why are they waiting a few weeks to give you the shot? There was no delay in them sticking that bad boy in my booty I just got it last Thursday for an ectopic in my right tube. I thought by now from what i'd read the reaction would be crazy but so far no real pain, slight discomfort which may not be related to the shot and a little spotting yesterday. I do hope it works though I don't want another shot. I think its 1 month for everything to get out your system then 2 cycles later (which works out to be about 3 months) before they want you to try. I understand its important for the chemical to be out your system, then you do need time to build your folic levels back up as it depletes that tremendously which can also contribute to the birth defects. fyi: you have to stop taking your prenatals and anything with folic, and no alcohol...my gyn didn't tell me that, which is pretty important, but I did read up on it. I do advise you to research as much as you can. You can pm me as well and i'll keep you posted on my experience. I was in the same boat as you trying to reach out and find others to relate to.

 

[dan-o]

Why are they waiting a few weeks to give you the shot?

LOL! Don't get me started on this one ...
Basically due to the cackhanded gyne still not sending my medical records to the specialist yet

Thanks for telling me that about the folic, my silly gyne told me to carry on, so I'm still taking it! Shall stop today, might even give my body the edge it needs to zap this last bit of tissue on it's own.

 

[bklove]

wow, i've learned doctors are special. My gyn didn't mention the not having sex for a while either. Did you start with a m/c? Maybe thats why there isn't an urgency. I believe the drug disrupts the use of folic acid in the growth of cells. Under the ectopic thread I posted a link that had some good info on ectopics and the treatments for it, what to expect etc.

 

[rabbit]

DOCTORS ARE RUBBISH!!!!!!

I stopped taking microgynon, had 2 cycles of 30 days then got pregnant so i've not really got much to go on, i was surprised the first 2 were regular becuase i was on pill for 14 years, i suppose i was lucky there!! I just wish this cycle would do something!

The drug totally depletes folic acid. When the hospital rang to say my levels were at 4 i asked if i was ok to start taking folic acid again..... the response from the nurse was 'i didn't know you were meant to stop taking it' OH MY GOD- she obviously shouldn't be in her job. If you take it whilst undergoing treatment it can interfere with the shot x

 

[bklove]

Did anyone have issue with their stomach still growing while dealing with the ectopic? My stomach is big, and its just bugging me out. I know I could be thinking it up and making it worse, but arrrrrgh!

 

[rabbit]

No probs with my stomach- how far along were you?

 

[bklove]

6 weeks. I just had to get the 2nd shot today, poopers! my hcg went up a little and my gyn was worried it wasn't responding to the 1st one. We did do another scan and it grew a little but I guess its not a matter for surgery. I think this will do it, I hope it will.

 

[buffycat]

wow...didn't expect to see a thread on mtx here....

i was on mtx for 4yrs for my rheumatoid arthritis. I stopped back in Sept 06 to start trying for a baby....you have to be drug free for at least 6months.......a bit of a killer when you can barely walk etc!

to note though,you do have to take folic acid with mtx, usually 3 days after taking the mtx.

it is a mean drug though.....i miss it for my RA, but there is absolutely no way that i would jeopardise this.....it's bad enough that my RA is probably to blame for my mcs, but i'm not going to give mtx a chance at taking this away......

 

[bklove]

I read its different if taking it for an ectopic pregnancy. For the arthritis folic is recommended to ease the effects and because of depletion, but it works counteractive with an ectopic.

 

[rabbit]

bklove, when did you have the first shot? your levels are expected to rise until the 4th day after the shot and then they should start falling again, they wanted to give me a second shot (because my levels hadn't dropped much once they had risen on the 4th day) but i refused..... i asked them to test my levels one more time before and low and behold they had dropped enough for me to get away without having it!

 

[rabbit]

I also read that it works differently with RA and ectopics

 

[bklove]

Rabbit, the first shot was on the 16th a Thursday, by Monday the 4th day the numbers did go up from 6691 to 9221, then by Thursday it had gone up again to 9287, so it did not drop, which they said was a first that they had seen, and I did an emergency scan which did not show a rupture but it did grow slightly, so I got the 2nd shot, exactly a week later. But good news is it has started to decline, saturdays numbers were 8592 and i'm waiting to here back on this mornings bloodwork. I did have some bad pains yesterday, thought I would have some bleeding today but nope, I just hope everything continues to work like it needs to. What sort of side effects did you have?

 

[mazza2003]

Hi Dan-O I read on another thread that you are off for a shot tomorrow and OI just wanted to say good luck and I hope things go well and I am thinking about you. XXX

 

[rabbit]

I didn't have any side effects (not that i noticed anyway)

At the hospital I was under the shot would not have been considered for someone with levels as high as yours were. My levels only went up to 900 or so at the highest, they consider 3000ish as the highest level they would use the shot for.

Excellent news about your levels dropping now though! on the bleeding front i was only bleeding very lightly throughout it all, never heavy, however it took until the end of December for the bleeding to stop altogether (i had the shot mid Nov) x

 

[bklove]

a couple ppl i've come across bleed for about a month, so far still nothing and I really hope I don't experience anything crazy. My numbers were high, but since I hadn't ruptured they gave it a go, just took 2 go's I read a study that tried it up to like 15,000 and most responded by the 2nd shot and some required 3. Not sure how frequently that happens though.

 

[bklove]

So the shot is definitly causing some cramping/pain and I started passing clots yesterday which I guess explains the pain...tmi, I know. I'm just glad its doing its job, and I hope well. Today I don't feel to bad, just tired.

 

[dan-o]

I got my beta results & my numbers are down to 58 so it looks like I might get away without having the shots after all, just depends on the outcome of my pathology report now

Bklove I hope you are not in too much pain, sending you