[Karly1964]

Sorry I have not been around for some time. I was diagnosed about 6 months ago with lupus. Right now I am on prednisone, plaquinel, imuran and next Wednesday I begin injecting methotrexate. I was on the oral medication but my rheumatologist said my inflamation is really high so she thought that giving myself these shots might help with it. Has anyone else done this? What was your experience? It has been a rough couple of months, in the past months I started passing out, which led to seeing the neurologist and having an EEG, CAT scan, labs, seeing a cardiologist and having ekg, heart catherization, echocardiogram, high blood pressure meds, and all that so far has not explained the fainting, but it has now stopped.:sad: I'm kind of down because my symptoms just seem to be getting worse and I have less energy than before, ulcers on the roof of my mouth, my tongue and lips, swollen legs, rash on my face and two months worth of insomnia. I want to feel some better because in a few weeks I will be picking up a new puppy--my first puppy ever. A Boston Terrier male, who's name is already Keegan. I am worried that I may not be able to care for him in these early months. He will be about 8 weeks old when I get him. If something happens to me my sister will care for him, but I've kept myself motivated by thinking about how wonderful it will be to have another living being here in my lonely apartment.:dog: I would appreciate any good thoughts you all could send out for me, as I will be thinking of you all and hoping for better days.:wink2: Karly
I read somewhere that when you have lupus you tend to collect specialists, I have definately found that to be true, so far I have a psychiatrist, rheumatologist, gastrointerologist, neurologist, cardiologist, family doctor, allergist and if you want you can throw in the chiropractor! Wears me out just going to appointments.:clock: hdear: :late: anic:

 

[Meryl2]

Hi Karly

I too am starting on Metho shots in a couple of weeks. I am on Pred, Plaquinal, Lansoprazole, Folic Acid etc. I don't tolerate the tablet at all and my Rheumy wants to double the dose of metho as I am in a flare and the dose I am on is doing nothing so thought the best way would be to inject it myself. Will be going to see the Lupus Nurse next week for her to show me and my hubby how to do it, might have to get hubby an Orange to practice on as he is quite bothered about it, but anything that makes life easier (I hope) is good.

The way I look at it is I am lucky, my Brother is Diabetic and has to inject twice a day, this will be only once a week and if it does the trick then all to the good.
Let me know how you get on with yours and wishing you loads of luck

Meryl

 

[raggedyann1]

Karly,

I'm not on the injectable form of Methotrexate but have met many members here over the years that do use it with good success. It will definitely be easier on your GI tract from what I have heard. That makes sense because it enters the blood stream outside of your GI tract.

I can relate to feeling like you are only getting worse. When I came out of remission 5 years ago it seemed like I just kept getting worse and getting new symptoms. At some point it finally leveled out and it seems to me that was about a year from when I got sick again. I won't say it has been easy since then but I don't feel like I am going downhill all the time.

The puppy will be good for you, I am glad you are getting him. My dog sticks with me almost all the time, more so when I am having a bad day.
Try and pop on the boards a couple times a week, it can help lift you up when you are down.

Hang in there,
Karen

 

[Bullwinkle]

Hi Karly. Wow , all the best with everything. Almost want to say been there done that , but not all that u have experienced.
I am on oral methotrexate and after almost 3 months feel it has at least muted or numbed some of the pains, which is a good thing. My respirologist said today that it is a "cummulative" drug ie: takes time to saturate your system and do it's thing. I am also on prednisone, trying to cut back to 15mg/day, plus plaquenil, the standard 400 mg/day, and a plethora of other stuff to have a "balanced diet" of meds. lol . So like u I am hoping this will be some of the answer.
Everyone is different so hope you are lucky and see results quickly. Search here for methotrexate as there has been literally hundreds of threads on this.
The puppy is a great idea...may even get u outdoors more often and will definitely perk up your day. The are very smart so you should enroll him and u in training/obedience classes and try to attend no matter what. A well trained dog is less stressful than an untrained one. And your puppy will be eager to learn and to please you.
All the best.

 

[Karly1964]

My First Shot

:thumbs: While I was pretty nervous about giving myself the first shot it ended up being 1) very easy, 2) painless and I felt a little more in control of what is being done to treat the illness. I am very pleasantly suprised and happy it went so well. Thanks for your support. Karly:wink2:

 

[K-MARIE]

Hi Karly,
I'm sorry I cant be much help on your meds, but I wish for you to very soon be feeling much better and am happy about your new puppy! I love dogs and have been dog sitting my grand puppy since my son works nights and his wife days , "oreo" is now 8 months and active. You will love having a sweet little baby to nurture, be sure to put up things you dont want chewed, especially shoes. some days are trying.. but they do get past this stage,,, let us know all about keegan when you get him home! HIs picture is so cute! God bless your health and spirit.. karen

 

[Meryl2]

Methotrexate Shots

Hi All
Been to the Hospital today to learn how to inject methotrexate, turned out to be very easy to do and also painless, so quite pleased with myself apart from went in carrying my injection and came out wearing splints on both wrists, I keep dropping things, so they thought it best if I wear them, I always seem to come out with more than I went in with.
Another hurdle over with, life certainly aint dull, what ever did I do with myself before Lupus came knocking.

Best wishes to all and thanks for your support.

Love

Meryl

 

[applesauce]

Hey I was on injection methotrexate when I was around 12 I think, and it worked pretty well for a long time then I had an issue with nausea, of course I was also in my pre-teens I was freaked about the whole needles thing, so I had my parents do it for me.