Need some help

Hi, I have been taking 10mg of Methotrexate weekly, and have been tapering gradually off the prednisone (2.5g) and WHAM my symptoms of Spondyloarthropathy have returned with a vengeance, with a really bruised swollen ankle, which is impossible to walk on, and incredibly painful, and so I have increased the Prednisone to get me out of this crisis, and plan on increasing the Methotrexate from 10mg to 15g starting this Wednesday.

I have tried to find info online regarding swollen bruised ankles, symptoms of Spondyloarthropathy, but to no avail, as I know little about it. It is not just joint pain, it literally stops you from walking!

I wondered has anyone else suffered from this, and more importantly, do you think increasing the Methotrexate by 5mg from 10mg to 15mg is enough and likely to stop this reoccurring because I am back on the prednisone and will have to go through the whole routine of tapering again with the possibility of it not working AGAIN. Fortunately, the 10g of Methotrexate is keeping my Ulcerative Colitis in remission, so it's not all bad news, but I wonder about going through the whole process again only to have the same outcome.

Also, just prior to taking Methotrexate, I was on Azathioprine, only 50g, I never got to increase the dose because it because clear very quickly that I was intolerant to this drug, but again the exact same thing happened to me when I was tapering off the Prednisone. It appears my right ankle is my 'weak' area and I am concerned about having to go through this all again for the THIRD time and it not working.

Can someone reassure me, at the right dose will Methotrexate be able to stop this reoccurring symptom that I have.

I would appreciate any advice anyone may have.

Hi Poppie, I was reading your post and I wondered how gradual your taper from the Pred has been? I was taking quite a high dose of it and especially at the end of my taper I had to taper a very small amount or I would have a pronounced flare up. The last 5mg took me almost 6 months to get off of.

I hope the MTX helps. I take it as well and it helps me somewhat but also has some side effects that are no fun. I lose my breath very easily while taking it. It is bad especially the first few days after a dose and then gradually gets better through the week. I hope that it helps with your ankle flares.

MTX is also one of those drugs that can take months to get the full benefit from. I had to take it for about 4 months before we began seeing a difference.

Hope you feel better and find some relief. -Don