My doctor is suggesting the use of Methotrexate for my P. I have some fear of a drug that kills my cells. Any body out there who has found this treatment to be of substancial value?

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Methotrexate is a pretty serious drug and does affect the liver in a negative way...for that reason I would not use it unless my P was totally out of control (my case is about 30% covered currently). I certainly seems that the new biologics are the wave of the future and gaining much popularity such as enbrel, raptiva, and amevive. Sometimes insurance can be an issue to get coverage and therefore the biologics are not an option until you have tried all other (cheaper) options. Other times doctors are overly conservative (many times uneducated) and refuse to Rx the biologics. If I was to take biologics out of the picture I would do either UVB, PUVA, or soriatane. Soriatane is an oral retinoid that is much more mild that neoral or methotrexate, but still has it's side affects. Generally the safest option for severe P is UV treatments (either UVB or PUVA).....insurance may cover a home UVB light box under durable medical goods.

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The first oral treatment I was ever placed on was Metho. I was worried too, but my derm was very cautious. I went in once every three weeks for blood treatment and never had any side effects. However, about 3 months in, there was no sign of improvement and I decided that the benifits did not outway the risks, so I started with Soriatane. It works great for me when combined with the sun and high powered cortozone cream. But by itself(like now with no sun and not enough money for prescription creams) it does little to nothing for me. I got some great ideas yesterday from this board about over the counter creams and lotions, and for Christmas I got a year membership to the tanning bed. Hopefully I can have a clear winter for the first time since I was a teenager.

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Hey Jobsen just a curiousity question....what is your dose of soriatane??
It was a good idea to get the tanning salon membership because we know that soriatane works much better in combonation with UV.

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25mgs a day. My doctor tried to bump me up to 50, but it was toture on my lips and skin. It made my skin super sensative and whenever I exercised and worked up a sweat it really burned, so he droped me back to 25.

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Hi, I'm on my second week of Metho, but it has caused me to have swollen gums, a sore tongue and my skin that started to clear seems to have broken out with a rash. It probably is p but it is really itch and irritated. I called my doc and told him I wanted off of this. Rather have p or try something else. Any advise on this?
Like to hear input on people who have tried mtx. I'm new to this foundation and find it very helpful.
Thanks!

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My docs put me on mtx when it was clear topicals didn't even make a dent in my p. I had it over 95% of my body at my worst. I never experienced the nausea that many ppl seem to have had to deal with and it worked wonders for me. I always saw a huge difference within a couple of weeks and was mostly clear for the duration of being on it. Unfortunately my liver enzymes hiked at one point and they took me off it. I started phototherapy soon afterwards and that was a godsend - I think it's a better option but in my case the docs wanted to get me on the mtx to calm it down before starting the light tx.
I know I'm babbling now so I'll stop - I hope this helps. :o

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I heard they used this drug to treat cancer patients is that true?

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Hi...I am a new member here, but not new to P. Have had it for 30 years. MTX is the second thing that helped me..the other one was Cyclosporine. But you can only take that for a year. I get nauseated from the MTX, and have slight vomiting. So I got an RX for Compazine. You take it every 8 hours, and WALLA..no nausea. I also have my dose split in three. That is divide your dose into one dose every 12 hours. Hope this helps. Peggy