Incidence not known Show Back, leg, or stomach pains black, tarry stools bleeding gums blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin bloating blood in the urine or stools blue lips and fingernails blurred vision burning, crawling, itching, numbness, prickling, "pins and needles", or tingling feelings chest pain or tightness chills clay-colored stools cloudy urine cold sweats confusion constipation cough or hoarseness coughing that sometimes produces a pink frothy sputum coughing up blood cracks in the skin darkened urine decrease in urine-concentrating ability decreased frequency or amount of urine diarrhea difficult, fast, or noisy breathing difficulty with swallowing dizziness, faintness, or lightheadedness when getting up from a lying or sitting position dry mouth fast or irregular heartbeat fever flushed, dry skin fruit-like breath odor general body swelling general feeling of discomfort or illness greatly decreased frequency of urination or amount of urine headache hives, itching, rash increased hunger increased sweating increased thirst increased urination indigestion joint pain, stiffness, or swelling loss of appetite loss of heat from the body lower back or side pain muscle cramps or pain nausea or vomiting nosebleeds numbness, tingling, pain, or weakness in the hands or feet painful or difficult urination pains in the stomach or side, possibly radiating to the back pale skin persistent non-healing sore pink growth pinpoint red spots on the skin puffiness or swelling of the eyelids or around the eyes, face, lips, or tongue red, irritated eyes red skin lesions, often with a purple center red, swollen skin reddish patch or irritated area redness, soreness, or scaly skin seizures shiny bump sore throat sores, ulcers, or white spots on the lips or in the mouth sores, welting, or blisters swelling of the face, fingers, legs, ankles, feet, or lower legs swollen or painful glands tenderness of salivary glands thickening of bronchial secretions trembling trouble breathing unpleasant breath odor unusual bleeding or bruising unusual tiredness or weakness unusual weight loss vomiting of blood weakness and heaviness of the legs weight gain white, yellow or waxy scar-like area yellow eyes or skin What conditions is methotrexate used for?Methotrexate calms your immune system, to help stop it attacking your body's cells. This helps reduce the inflammation that causes swollen and stiff joints in rheumatoid arthritis, thickened skin in psoriasis or damage to your bowel in Crohn's disease.
What is the drug target for methotrexate?Methotrexate is a folate antagonist. Methotrexate inhibits dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), the enzyme that reduces folic acid to tetrahydrofolic acid.
In which condition is methotrexate not indicated?The prescription of MTX is contraindicated in cases of renal function disturbances, active liver disease, bone marrow disturbances, active infectious diseases, pregnancy and excessive alcohol consumption.
Why would a rheumatologist prescribe methotrexate?Methotrexate is a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory conditions. Nearly 60% of all rheumatoid arthritis patients are currently on or have been on methotrexate. Methotrexate is recommended as the first treatment for RA by the American College of Rheumatology.
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