Methotrexate as an alternative to Cyclophosphamide
See this article: An analysis of forty-two Wegener's granulomatosis ...[Arthritis Rheum. 1995] - PubMed Result
Seems that their level of patients that achieved remission is skewed in my view. That's quite a high percentage. It doesn't say HOW they were affected, just that they weren't experiencing life-threatening symptoms.
Is meth & pred ok as only treatment?
I was just diagnosed in April and have "limited WG", no kidney involvment. They have not been able to biopsy anything positive but do have elevated ANCA's and proteinase 3 levels. Have had significant dyspnea and "lung tightness" with 40% decrease in pulmonary function test. So... with all that sort of inconclusiveness my rheumy has put me on prednisone 15 mg/day and methotrexate once a week. She said I would be on methotrx for 3-5 years. We tried to decrease the prednisone by 2.5 mg but after 3-4 days started having hard time breathing again and nose started "drip, drip, drip" again. Is it ok to treat without cytoxin? Is the prednisone just masking the mild WG I have now? Has anyone gone into remission on methotrexate instead of cytoxin?
I reviewed the articles you posted (thank you) but am wondering if there is anyone on this forum with a positive methotrexate only experiance?
Also want to say thank you for this forum, it has kept me sane... and occassionally laughing.