Part 4: Considering Methotrexate as a Disease Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis

But you don’t look sick: making methotrexate work in your favor

Some people fear taking it because they say, “Hey, that it is chemotherapy!” which makes it sound so menacing. I read one post of a woman who actually discontinued methotrexate treatment because she realized that it is a chemo-type drug.

It was working against her psychologically because of fear. However, I think that we can turn this around so that it can work in our favor. Let me show you how:

Taking methotrexate can offer you validation of your invisible illness. You can tell yourself this: “Yeah, I do have to take some really serious medicine; I have a really serious disease!”

Every day, I hear from RA’ers who struggle with folks who are ignorant of Rheumatoid Arthritis and pass off their illness as nothing serious. Methotrexate can help you to understand, “Hey, I really am sick.” In other words, “They don’t prescribe chemotherapy to people who are not sick” is the best answer I know to “But you don’t look sick.”

Considering the alternatives for methotrexate and RA

Methotrexate is an important drug. It has changed the lives of many Rheumatoid Arthritis patients. However, like military generals who are extremely powerful, it is much maligned.

There is only one fair way to make any decision. That is to consider the alternatives. There are three alternatives:

Not treating the RA medically
Treating RA with a regimen which includes methotrexate
Treatment without methotrexate.

3 Questions to ask yourself

1) When you compare methotrexate with other medications you can use for Rheumatoid Arthritis, ask yourself whether each one treats the disease (like methotrexate does) or just symptoms. That will help you in your determination of what benefit it might be to you.

2) For any treatment you use, you ought to ask yourself this: Are the side effects lasting or permanently damaging? They can be for many drugs, even many NSAIDs or steroids.

3) And ask this: How do the risks of this treatment compare with the toll which Rheumatoid Arthritis can take on its own? Is RA unchecked more dangerous than the drug?