Introducing Methotrexate....

I just got back from an amazing holiday in the Philippines and my skin behaved perfectly. I'm always suprised just how well my skin responds to being in the sea and the sun every single day. It LOVES the salt.
Here are some pics of me whilst on holiday!

Unfortunately, and typically, as soon as I got home my skin has gone crazy again :(

I had my 2 monthly derm appointment yesterday, thought I would update my blog seeing as I usually forget !

The derm now wants me to introduce methotrexate with the hopes of phasing out the cyclo. I'm all for this, I've heard great things about MTX, and the thought of only having to take pills once a week rather than two or three times a day totally appeals to me.

So I currently take 300mg of cyclo a day, the derm wants to keep me on this dose. Except for the days that I take my 10mg of methotrexate; he wants me to take 150mg of cyclo on this day. I also have to take folic acid once a day every day except for the days I take the MTX. It's a complicated system and I had to make notes in my derm appointment to keep up. The language barrier also didn't help! I'll admit I'm super scared about changing because the thought of halfing my dose (even for one day a week) is scary as my skin goes CRAZY when it doesn't get its cyclo. But I'm optimistic!

I will definitely be updating here as I go.
Here's my drug schedule in detail for anyone that's curious and would like to compare their own. I've included all the pills I take (probiotics, vitamins etc). I still need to check the dose of my folic acid so i'll add that in later.

If you have any experience of crossing over from cyclo to MTX I would love to hear from you!

S x

Rock, Taper, Scissors

So the day is finally here..I'm starting to taper off ciclosporine!
It's really scary but really exciting. The derm was a bit reluctant as I still have some signs of stubborn eczema and my bloods are great with no sign of any crazy side effects or anything. But I want to start making the change while I can. I'd much rather start to taper slowly while I'm in a good position to do so than have to stop abruptly for whatever reason. I've been on ciclo for 6 months now and on my maximum dose for 4 of those months which is enough.
I've reduced from 300mg daily to 250mg daily - not a huge jump but just the fact I am starting to taper makes me happy :)
Hopefully I won't see too many crazy flares and I can continue tapering. I want to be totally off ciclo within the year if possible.

In other news my package from the Home Apothecary arrived today (see my second-to-previous post for more info) and I couldn't be more excited! The parcel itself just smelled amazing and I can't wait to have a long salt bath and cover myself in yummy smelling all-natural balm!

I guess today is one of the good days.
S x