I would recommend that you mother go back to talk to her rheumatologist about this. I assume that your mother is getting her methotrexate on a weekly basis? How much of a fever does she have and how much does it affect her life? Eg., if it knocks her out for three days of the week, it may not be a reasonable side effect - the point of the DMARDs (disease modifying antirheumatic drugs like methotrexate, Plaquenil and the Biologics) is to enable you to get back to living your life, not limit you as much as the disease does. It may be time that your mother talks to her doctor about exploring treatment options such as supplementing the methotrexate with another one of the DMARDs or switching to another medication altogether.

As far as I know, the hair loss may be eased by increasing the folic acid and possibly by increasing your intake of vitamin B12, either by tablet form or in the injection. Again, your mother should consult her doctor about this.

Deppe

3/25/10 9:04pm

Has anyone had trouble with folic acid?  I have in the past had serious GERD and surgery, but the folic acid immediately burns from throat to stomach.  Anyone else? deppe

Lene Andersen, Health Guide

3/29/10 11:12am

Methotrexate can be very hard on in your stomach, so it may be that you're sort of behind the ball already because of the medication you take. I've never heard of folic acid being hard on the stomach, but if that's your experience, that's what you're going to have to deal with. Are you on any stomach medication like eg., Pantoloc or Nexium? If not, you may want to talk to your doctor about that. Try taking a Gaviscon tablet just before you take the medication and then drink it with milk or hide it in a spoonful of yogurt - it might make it slide down without the burn. As well, as you talk to your rheumatologist about the problem (and check with your pharmacist) -it's possible that folic acid is available in capsule form.