|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 714
|
Dear All
I wondered if someone could give me some advice please. I have been on Methotrexate tablets for two years and today I have had my first Methotrexate injection as they are hoping this will work better. A nurse came out to show me how to inject. I have used the pens for both Humira and Enbrel previously but the Methotrexate is with a proper syringe so needed a little tuition and encouragement.
The nurse who came out has completely frightened me. I know that Methotrexate is a toxic drug but she told me the following:-
(a) Use separate towels
(b) Double flush the toilet
(c) Sanitise the toilet after every use
(d) Take my temperature every day
(e) If I have a reaction at the site
She said this was all for the safety of my family and those around me. This is o.k. but she told me I should have been doing this for the last two years on the Methotrexate tablets!!!! I was not given any advice other than to watch out for sore throats and colds. She also told me:-
(d) Take my temperature every day
(e) If I have a reaction at the site draw around it and make sure it does not grow throughout the day
I am now completely freaked that I have been poisoning my family for the last two years. Has anyone else been told this?
Jackie
xx
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 838 Location: Nottinghamshire
|
Thats frightening.
I did read once, I think it was on here that someone had been given an apron, gloves and wipes if one got broken so to avoid contact with skin cleaning up the spillage.
I have read all of the information that I have been given about MTX. Read the leaflet that comes with the drug and the little booklet from the hospital and nowhere have I read this.
Hope someone answers just to put our minds at rest.
Paula x
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/20/2010 Posts: 1,749 Location: Somerset
|
Hello Jackie,
Gosh I bet it has freaked you out. Sorry I can not offer any advice not had injections
of MTX.
Trust someone will put you at ease. Take care
Rose
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 3,006 Location: Timperley
|
Oh Jackie - I despair of these bloomin nurses who get right under your skin with "too much info". Of course you are going to be careful if you spill any - it's toxic for goodness sake!! I inject on Friday, take folic acid on Sunday and that's it - no checking my temp, no looking down the loo, no wiping the pan after use etc!!!! The injections are so much easier than the pens and don't hurt at all. I hardly ever feel the needle go in. The war zone kit that comes with the injections is standard issue. For instance, if you dropped the whole month's worth on the floor, and they broke, you would need something to clean up safely with. Please don't worry - just do it and I'm sure you will strart to feel the benefits very quickly.
Love Jeanxxx
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 3,157 Location: Huddersfield
|
Hi Jackie,
What a palavar!
I'm guessing that if you are taking mtx as chemotherapy for cancer, at the doses given for that, then all these precautions may be necessary.
We only take a fraction of the dose given for cancer and no-one has ever told me that I could be toxic to my family!
Yes, we take precautions handling the drug but I agree with Paula, the mtx booklet we are given says nothing about double flushing the toilet etc.
Jeans' right too....inject and forget about it!
Good luck with it, hope it works better than the tablets for you.
Love, Doreen xx
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/25/2010 Posts: 1,289 Location: Buckinghamshire
|
hi Jackie,
after reading this lot no wonder you are frightened !!
although i am on tablet form i immediately dug out my booklet issued to me from the Hospital and nothing was mentioned about taking any extra precautions.
i hope Jean has allayed your fears and hope that the injections prove succesful.
Suzanne x
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/4/2009
Posts: 2,127
Location: Thornton Cleveleys
|
Hi Jackie These people seem to delight in causing us to freak. Why can't they act like normal human beings? Too much to ask I suppose! When I started Mtx I was warned about the toxicity and told not to share towels, double flushing the loo etc. Never had to take my temperature though. Most of the time I never bothered with any of it because as Doreen says the amounts we take are so small that they're unlikely to have any effect anyway. I was always careful with food preparation though especially when the kids were younger and I don't serve food at PTA events (but that's more to do with the chance of me dropping it  , but I don't tell them that!!! ) Don't worry Jackie, take comfort from the fact that we are all still around to tell the tale and not wiped out alongside our families due to ... Methotrexate!!! Hope you start to feel the benefit soon, Lyn x
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 714
|
Dear All
Thank you for your replies. I am less panicked now.
Jean - yes the syringe is so much easier than the pens. I did not sleep last night worrying and I never even felt it go in unlike the pens which I used to jump out of my skin when I pressed the button. (Glad for your thoughts - missed you).
Paula - Yes I did have a very large box with aprons, gloves, spill kits, plasters, cotton wool, antiseptic wipes and an enormous sharps bin. I am having a knee replacement in January and wondered if they were sending me the equipment for a bit of DIY at home.
I am going to check later and see if I glow in the dark now that I am "toxic".
Jackie
xx
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/5/2010 Posts: 364 Location: mid glamorgan
|
Hi Jackie
Please dont worry I have been injecting methotrexate for 6 months and have never heard of anything like that! I dont have one of those kits either! Just alcowipe and a sharps box (probably cutbacks down here!). As for a reaction at the injection site it depends what mood im in when I do it (just as well I dont do phlebotomy anymore!) If im nice and calm I dont feel a thing, if im a bit stressed, in pain or just fed up I jab it in and can give myself a lovely bruise! You will be fine and good luck with your knee replacement
Love Ceri xx
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 327
|
Hi Jackie
No wonder you were freaked, I would be too. Thank goodness for the reassuring replies. I'm probably going to start injections next February, it's been suggested a couple of times and I think I'm going to give in next time, so it was a relief to read that all those procedures don't need to be carried out. I think we just need to be sensible about things - which we would be anyway, there was no need to frighten you to death like that.
Anthea x
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 3,006 Location: Timperley
|
"no-one has ever told me that I could be toxic to my family!"
Dor my love - you're toxic to everyone! xxxxx
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 3,006 Location: Timperley
|
Hope your knee replacement is as successful as mine have been Jackie. Best thing I ever did (apart from the hip replacement). The pain had gone the day after the op and it was wonderful. OK, so the site of the op hurts a bit - stitches, clips etc but there is no bone on bone pain- just a lump of metal with no nerves and it's wonderful. Take care xxxxx
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/7/2009 Posts: 89
|
Hi Jackie,I was never told all that info about Mtx injections either, did get all the kit even a box to lock in the fridge for security, but as it's to be kept at room temp thats seemed a waste of time.
Good luck with your knee replacement, you'll be looking forward to getting rid of that pain. My hip replacement will be Feb/March time wish I could hibernate till then.
Let me know how you get on, and I hope all goes well for you. Kathleen
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
