How long for remission with MTX?

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JAmom

Posted Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:21 PM

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Last Login: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 7:13 AM
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Hello again,
My son has been on MTX for over a year and I'm wondering when docs usually think it's okay to stop in order to test whether the child is in remission? I really want to get him off this drug even though he seems to be tolerating it well--but the doc is reluctant to take him off too early. Has anyone on this forum gone medication-free after MTX? actually had their child in remission? I'm praying for this, but the stats seem to be that he only has a 50/50 chance once we go off MTX.
JAmom

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CritterHill

Posted Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:24 PM

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Our rheum said that they dont' see such great success rates after only 1 year in remission on MTX and the recommendation now is to wait 2 years.

We just passed the 2 years in remission point and got the ok to take her off 3 months ago. We just went last week for a joint check and everything looked great.

2 years is what my rheum recommended. Good luck.

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Suzanne321

Posted Thursday, July 23, 2009 8:10 AM

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JAMom,

What type of JRA does your son have? That makes a difference.

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Suzanne321

Posted Thursday, July 23, 2009 8:29 AM

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I saw that you posted he is poly on another thread. We are told that a non-medicated remission for poly JRA is rare.

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Juile

Posted Thursday, July 23, 2009 9:28 AM

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We tired to ween our daughter off after one yr on mtx and she flared so badly that she not only had to start taking the meds again, but had to take a higher dosage to get it under control again. We weened her off again over a year ago after being on it for almost two years she is now doing good. If your doc thinks it is too early, then it probably is.

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JAmom

Posted Friday, July 24, 2009 10:05 PM

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He's seronegative poly ANA positive, would that make a difference in prognosis? I had read that he only had a 30% chance of medication free remission, but the doc was more hopeful. I don't know if he's just trying to be positive or what. Since he has some new inflammation, I'm thinking because he's grown maybe the dosage of MTX will need to go up--hope not, but I wonder if this is not down the pipeline...
JA mom

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Suzanne321

Posted Saturday, July 25, 2009 9:00 AM

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I think it is great that your doctor seemed more hopeful than the statistic you read - he is the one who has examined your son and is treating him! He sees something that makes him feel positive. I would try to focus on one step at a time - control, then medicated remission, then med-free remission. Even with no bumps in the road, it is a longer process than most of us are used to dealing with, I think.

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Celia Sharbo

Posted Thursday, July 30, 2009 1:13 AM

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Last Login: Thursday, July 30, 2009 1:16 AM
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My daughter was on MTX for 2 years along with Celebrex. She was slowly weened off MTX and stopped the Celebrex at the same time, which was January 2009. She was fine for 6 months. In June, she starting flaring in her knees and ankles and we found out that the uveitis was back, too. She is back on Celebrex and Predforte and we're waiting to see if she needs to go back on MTX, which is likely. Her knees are so swollen and she is in pain almost the whole morning. We go back to the doctors next week for our monthly check up. I didn't like her on MTX - she would throw up for 3 days and nothing helped that, but it's better than seeing her in pain. Every kid is different - I would definitely do it again to see if she was in remission - we're always hopeful that next time we think she's in remission, it's for good.

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