Methotrexate and Tramadol HCL for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Methotrexate is a cancer drug so the warnings you are reading are for much higher dosages than your mom will be taking. I've been on it for several years for treatment of psoriatic arthritis with few problems. Because the methotrexate came take several months to show if it's working or not, physicians usually give something for the pain or steroids to help with the swelling. :

I'll pm you with tips on taking the methotrexate so it'll reduce the side effects until mom gets use to it.

my mom takes them and has for years...shes switching soon due to not working anymore...but she literally looks like shes sick, she weighs under 100lbs, she threw up for the first 5 months of taking it, and still does...

Tramadol is one of the few pain relievers that I can take. It's half narcotic, half tylenol. It works for me and I have no side effects from it. I don't get all loopy like on other pain relievers, so it's nice that the pain has gone, but I can still function! I can't help you with the Methotrexate. And yes, side effects are scary, but living with chronic pain is much much worse.

I hope your mom gets relief soon.

My dad has been taking methotrexate for RA for more than 10 years now. It works great for him. He takes it once a week and goes for liver function tests every 6 months to make sure everything is ok. But so far, no serious side effects, and it made a world of difference for his RA. After a few months on the metho, he was able to greatly cut back on his other pain meds. And he went back to golfing once a week in the summer, which he had to give up before he started the metho.

He did have some side effects (tiredness, etc) for the first few months on the day that he took it, but he adjusted to it and now it doesn't bother him.

Good luck. I hope it works for your mom as well as it did for my dad.