Methrotrexate is a medication that is given to patients to help treat the arthritis that they have. If you are given this type of prescription, you are likely to get an injection of it weekly, or sometimes it is given orally. This medication is used to help your body to reduce the pain and inflammation in your joints as well as helps to reduce the speed at which the condition worsens. With the help of methotrexate, many patients are able to get back to doing the things they want and need to do without having to deal with the pain of doing so.
How Does It Really Work?
If you see your doctor, he or she should give you a vast description of the medication, telling you what it will do for your condition. If you have questions about how you will take it and how it will effect your particular situation, ask your doctor! In most cases, this medication is given as a tool to reduce the pain you are in and to help increase the body's ability to ward off the progression of the condition. Believe it or not, it is not fully understood why methotrexate works in the fight against rheumatoid arthritis, but for some reason it does. This is a DMARD type of drug, which is also called, a disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug. That means that it works the production as well as the maintenance of DNA.
Will It Work For You?
Since all cases of arthritis are different and each one has its own reaction to medications, it can be hard to say what methotrexate will do for you. What you should know, is that it does work for many individuals that take it. One of the benefits of taking this medication over other arthritis medications is that it allows for only a small amount of side effects, most of which are tolerable. In addition, most find some favorable result in using this medication. Most that start on methotrexate will continue on it. In fact, some studies have shown that those that take methotrexate will continue on the same medications for three years or more in 50% of the cases. That is significantly longer than any other type of arthritis medication.
Another reason that you may want to consider this medication over others is that it usually provides results that are fast. Some medications take months to see any benefits from them. Others will provide you with the necessary relief but it may be fleeting.
Methotrexate is not a cure for arthritis, though. Although it is one of the best tools in fighting the progression of this disease and the prevention of the destruction of your joints, there are some side effects that can play a role in you daily life. Such things as nausea, fatigue, skin rashes, and hair loss are some conditions you may face.
Take heart in the fact that methotrexate will provide you with some relief from your arthritis pain and discomfort. Although you may not realize it, this condition may be one that you can put in its place and get back in the driver's seat of your life with.
