Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Mtx & Awful Nausea

I took my second round of mtx this past Saturday night. I woke up yesterday morning around 5 a.m. with a rip roaring headache and the worse nausea I have ever had. I was able to get back to sleep for a another hour or so, but woke up still feeling awful.

I was able to dim the headache abit, but the nausea took hours to finally dissipate. This morning same thing, headache/nausea only not quite as bad.

What do you do for the nausea? I can control the headache with medicine, but the nausea?

I could use some suggestions. Thanks.

Hi there,
Sorry you're feeling like crap. Mtx is hidious stuff, but hopefully it'll work well for you. When it got too bad for me, I was told to split the dose by 12hours. i.e. when I was on the 10 pill dose, I would take 5 friday morning, and 5 in the evening. That seemed to spread it out enough to make it tolerable. If it still made me ill, then taking it friday allowed me to take the weekend to recover to get back to the real world on monday. Ug. I remember that being such an awful feeling, and to be honest, I would take pain over that kind of nausea any day. I sooo hope you're able to find something that works for you.
I've also heard that taking it by injection can cut out the nausea for some, however I didn't ever try shots.
I also ate candied ginger, or ginger ale to settle my stomach, and tried to always keep a little something in my stomach. It seemed when it got empty, that's when I got really sick.
My heart goes out to you. Hang in there!
Megan

Hi Sherree,
I've not tried it but was told too that ginger/ginger ale was good for upset tummies. Maybe some crackers or toast too might help. I'd try the ginger ale first. If your tummy calms down then maybe something light on your somach. Being nauseated is the worse feeling for me. Hope you feel better soon!!

Michelle
"If you love me only in my dreams, let me be asleep forever." ----Unknown

aloha starrnr

in the past three years the single nicest words i heard from a doctor were, ' ok. now you can stop the methotrexate;'
spoken about half an hour after my first enbrel shot...this is horrid, toxxic stuff...that slammin' nausea will go away
after a month...then there is perpetual queasy tummy and that glow in the dark feeling.

i sure hope your enbrel starts working better so you can quit the mtx...aaaarrrgggh!
wishin' you all the best
aloha Ben

ps...oldest nausea cure in the world is saltines and gingerale

Hey there, sorry to hear the MTX monster has come to pay a visit. The others are right, ginger is extremely good for upset tummyies. When I was trekking in Nepal and came down with a bug (bacteria or altitude sickness - I never did know which it was), the Sherpas gave me ginger tea, plain white rice and mangoes to eat. It did help.

Hope you're feeling better soon, hon.

Hugs,

Kat



"A life lived in fear is a life half lived." - Strictly Ballroom

Hi all...thanks for the tips, but I think I'm just going to stop the mtx all together. It's poison for heavens sake and I wasn't too keen on taking months ago when first suggested. I haven't quite decided yet.

In the meantime, ginger ale has now become a staple in my fridge! The nausea seems to go away by the 3rd day, so we'll see what happens next weekend (should I decide to continue it).

Thanks again.

Sherree
Have a nauseous stomach most mornings myself, nothing to troublesome but I am always aware of it. I note you take you Mtx in the evening, I take mine in the morning. I don't know whether that makes any difference to you.

Stay Well
Paul


"I have come here to chew bubblegum and KickAss. And I'm all out of bubblegum". - (Nada in They Live)

Hi,

Sorry to hear about the nausea, I know from experience its not fun at all. Can your doc give you any meds for it? I am going through chemo (which mtx is a chemo drug originally I believe) so would think they could give you an anti-nausea med to take with it. I take three different ones. I get one through IV during chemo treatments. Then take Zofran (its a small pill that quickly disolves so don't have to worry about keeping it down) Then I also have compazine that I can take every 6 hours as needed for nausea. Sometimes just one of them is enough for me depending on the day.

I hope whatever you decide in continuing the meds or not, that things get easier for you.
Take care,
Pam

My boys, Noah & Isaiah

Hey !!!

I cringe at the sight of those three letters together. Wow. I am really lucky and I am down to 4 pills a week. I know that MTX helps me with fatigue and with the hands/feet. So I continue taking it at the lowest does that seems to work. My Dr. has told me that it seems to him that MTX does not help AS much at all except for the fatigue and perif. swelling. Good enough.

I have taken it several different ways. Spread out over the day. 3 in the am 2 in the pm, blah blah blah

Something that REALLY improved and let me keep taking this fun drug is ....
On Sundays I try to eat a huge late 2 pm lunch and a lite dinner then

Around 8:30 I take 2 MTX pills, a multivitamin, 800mg Folic Acid, and my Indomethacin with a quart of Gatorade

I then take 2 more pills about 10:00 pm with as much Gatorade as I can drink (no, not another quart)

Then I go to sleep as soon as possible. The first dose makes me sleepy and if I am not asleep by 30 min after the second round I am up for a couple of hours !!!

Next AM I take more Folic Acid, Multivitamin, Indomethacin and try to drink water, and my usually venti coffee AND a small breakfast that has protein in it.
I am then hating life, a lot like a major hangover.

By 11 am I eat a little more, usually pizza. At 1:30 pm I eat again. Seems like once I can get the food down the more the better.

I would really rather feel bad at work than loose a precious weekend day with my wife and 7yr,4yr and 20 month old boys !!! I used to take it spread out across Sat and "recover" on Sunday...it was HORRRRRIBLE

This is what works for me. The keys for me is being asleep while the meds do their thing and the nurishment.

After my first couple of months I was ready to give it up, then I talked w/ dr and changed what I did.

Good luck !!!

Hi, sorry to hear how bad it's treating you...I've been on it 20 mgs by injection and nothing but good things. I have never had any nausea but a slight slight case in the beginning few shots, but once I started taking it in the evening, it went away. Also had a slight headache, again went away once I started it at night. Is there a possibility that your doc can have you do injections instead? It really has worked so well for me but it took about a mo or 5 weeks, and then I really started to feel more like my old self than I had in several years. Anyhow, what ever you decide, good luck.

Aimee

Scott, Aimee, Hallie, Caitlyn and Gabriel