I have just been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and now taking Methotrexate, is there anyone else who has both as the hospital is telling me it very unusul for someone to have MS and RA and I am the first patient they have seen with both. I was diagnosed with PPMS over twelve years ago.
Hi saw your post all on it`s own, so wanted to reply.
In our house it is me who has MS and hubby who has RA…so sorry, but can`t answer your question.
He tried the drug you are on, but it didn`t help him.
he says to tell you that it does help many, many others.
Good luck.
luv Pollx
Hi, very hard on you to have both. I thought there was somebody who posted about a year ago about having both (maybe it was you?)… but was on old site so unfortunately the post is now lost.
However… as you probably know… they are both auto-immune conditions so are sort of linked I suppose.
I know that RA is very painful, but also that there is a drug, maybe the one you are taking, that can stop or slow down the progression. Hope my info is correct…
Might be worth posting on EL.
Take care,
Pat x
Hi Drayton Girl,
I’m surprised you were told it’s unusual, because I have read that people with MS have a slightly higher than average risk of RA, and vice versa. It’s also common for them to cluster in the same family, so even if no individual has both, it’s quite common to find them side-by-side in brothers and sisters, for example.
I don’t have both, but was investigated for RA before MS, and really did think it was that! My symptoms were not obviously neurological at first, and mostly consisted of aches and pains. Which looked a lot more like Rheumatology than Neurology. So I was duly sent off to them.
My rheumy was convinced something was wrong, but blood tests didn’t show any rheumatoid factor or lupus markers, or anything else in the rheumatology spectrum.
When I returned for a follow-up, my rheumy had left, and his successor diagnosed “wear and tear”, and discharged me, with a recommendation to take ibuprofen.
It was another four or five years before I had a more classically “MS-like” episode, that led to diagnosis. So I’d had a long time of people telling me I was fine. 
I’m not sure, but I think methotrexate may also help MS. Not much consolation, I’m sure, but it would be nice if your RA treatment tackled both, wouldn’t it?
I’m not PPMS, but RRMS, by the way, so a bit of a tourist in these parts.
Tina
Hi all,
Strangely I have ppms and my big sister has fibromyalgia which is a version of rheumatoid and my mother and aunt both have rheumatoid .
My sister is 42 and she also takes methotrexate although she says it doesn’t help a lot. I’ve been reading and have come across an article in fibromyalgia sites suggesting that LDN could be very helpful to alleviate pain and symptoms.
For me the jury is still out on LDN. It won’t halt progress so I’m trying to wait until I feel I really can’t live anymore without drugs but like Tina says if it can help both diseases then maybe it’s worth trying. My doctor wants me to take mitoxandrone and not methotrexate. Is there a big difference between the two?
Ciao
Lucy
yoy know no one in my big family has MS , however my late father had RA.
Hi All, I know these posts were a while ago, but I have had RA for 30 years and have been recently diagnosed with MS. I am due to try ocelizumab after a 3 month washout of methotrexate as the drugs are not to be taken together. Is anyone else in a similar situation?
Hi Hoss
Welcome to the forum. I am the oppposite to you I was diagnosed with Ms back in the 1980’s and 3 years ago with RA.
Take care
Pam x