Methotrexate injection side effects

[my little penguin]

So ds is switching from pills to injection on mtx
He was on injections a few years ago but it's all fuzzy now
How long after the first injection did your kids start to have side effects ?
A few hours , a day ?
More than one injection?
Just trying to time it as best as possible

He is switching from 17.5 mg orally to 25 mg injection
Thanks

 

[crohnsinct]

My girls had the nausea/headaches/ feeling like they were hot by a truck within the first few days but as their bodies got used to the med the side effects decreased. That said, O has never been on more than 15mg and T was only on 20mg. They say the side effects are typically less with injections than oral so here's hoping.

 

[Maya142]

My kiddos have both been on the injections at 25 mg.

My older daughter did pretty well - mild nausea but Zofran took care of it. She was also on 2 mg of Folic Acid. She was always tired the day after MTX, so we did it on Friday nights.

My younger daughter was an absolute disaster and was nauseous and dizzy for 2-3 days after it. She would even throw up, sometimes more than once. Needless to say, she did not last very long on 25 mg!

We tried lots of tricks to get her to tolerate it because it worked like magic for her joints, but nothing worked. We did Leucovorin, Zofran 2-3 times over the next 2 days and 2 mg Folic acid.

That said, both girls did much better on the injections than on the pills. M just does not tolerate ANY dose of MTX, so you should not go by her experience (she honestly got sick on just 7.5 mg!!).

 

[FrozenGirl]

When I started on the injection of mtx I had mild nausea in the hour after injection and fatigue the day after. It got progressively worse to the point of throwing up before the injection because my brain freaked out when I even smelled the alcohol wipe. That point was about 2 months. After that I started folic acid 5 mg per day and had only mild nausea for about half an hour after the injection. Good luck!

 

[my little penguin]

Increased folic acid from 2 mg to 3 mg per Rheumo
First injection in
This morning
No real issues with nausea (yet)
So now we wait

 

[crohnsinct]

Morning?! You are brave! We do before bed so they sleep through the worst of it.

 

[Worried mama]

My son does not have any side effects from the injection....hopefully same for you.

 

[DanceMom]

The only side effect A had was hair loss.

 

[my little penguin]

Ds tends to react 12 hours after (at least he did 5 years ago )
So we gave it in the morning so he would be tired etc after school
So far so good
But he had been on 17.5 mg orally for a few months and mtx in general for a few years and 2mg of folate so I think that made the difference but will see ...
Cautiously optimistic

 

[CrohnsKidMom]

My son had effects immediately after each injection, but only lasting about 24hrs, and diminishing after 12. He could "taste" the med, felt very nauseous, and fatigued. Looks like your son may have an easier time with it. I hope so!

 

[Farmwife]

Grace also got hers in the am for the same reason.
She did fine with hers but at a smaller dose.

Curious, why the change?

 

[my little penguin]

Farmwife -change
Ds has an extremely rare extra intestinal manifestation
Acute febrile neutrophilic dermatoses (aka Sweets syndrome )
No trials or large studies
Just individual case reports
Most only get it once or twice
30% are lucky enough to have reoccurring sweets syndrome
So we have spent the past year trying to find a med that doesn't make his crohns and JSpA worse while fixing the sweets
Last ditch effort is to increase the mtx to max dose and switch to injectionso we know he is getting it all

Sweets gives you flu like symptoms
Extrene Fatigue headache achy all over joint/muscle pain flushing and night sweats
For 2-3 days and a week or two of painful lesions
Then a week or two break
Rinse repeat

http://www.dermnetnz.org/topics/acute-febrile-neutrophilic-dermatosis/

And sweets syndrome has its own extra manifestation

Fingers crossed the methotrexate works

 

[my little penguin]

Spoke too soon
Extremely dry mouth and cracked lips part two days

 

[Farmwife]

Understand, it's hard finding what works.
We're still trying for grace.
Hugs

 

[kimmidwife]

Very sorry to hear. Caitlyn had extreme nausea from methotrexate.

 

[my little penguin]

Rheumo
Called Friday and had us give the rescue drug which fixed it for the most part
Only one large mouth ulcer
Just not going to wait longer than 24 hours to give the rescue drug this time for next week

 

[dodie74]

Kian had no side effects at all with injection. Recently added infliximab and changed to mxt tablets, no issues, touch wood xx
Hope it's going ok with the injection xx

 

[my little penguin]

Thanks
He did much better this week
Gave the lecovorin with 24 hours afterwards