Side effects - Isabella's story
About Isabella
In this video you will see Isabella, a 55-year old woman who loves her husband Roberto, and who both love shopping on the Internet. Isabella was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis by Dr. Stevens and was asked to consider taking Methotrexate. She has found some information about side effects, which made her worry. She decided to discuss with Dr. Stevens before making up her mind about this medication.
About methotrexate side effects
In this video, we learn from Isabella that:
- Of all the DMARDs, Methotrexate is the one that is least often discontinued.
- Hair loss, mouth sores, and nausea are common side effects of Methotrexate. Although they can be unpleasant, they do not cause any long-term damage.
- There are several ways to manage nausea, including taking Methotrexate by injection.
- Adverse events like liver toxicity, low blood cell counts, and lung disease are more serious, but rarely occur.
- If problems are spotted, Methotrexate can be reduced or stopped until everything comes back to normal.
- Finally, even though Methotrexate does suppress parts of the immune system, it is not linked to serious or severe infections.
One recent study showed that the number of patients who stopped taking Methotrexate or a placebo because of side effects was about the same:
-
- 10 out of 100 patients stopped taking Methotrexate because of side effects.
- 9 out of 100 patients stopped taking a placebo because of side effects.
Isabella's story
