A rheumatologist has prescribed methotrexate 20mg/week. I agreed to try it, but the more I think about the negative side effects (hair loss, mouth sores...) the more reluctant I am to go down this path. I was found to be responsive to steroids, so my ENT thought maybe another autoimmune med other than prednisone would be a good option. I see the ENT doctor next week and I'm afraid he's going to push me in this direction. I currently take 10mg prednisone/day, but would like to discontinue that as well. Has anyone heard of this approach or had experience with methotrexate to treat meniere's?
People who are responsive to steroids can have a autoimmune underlying cause. This is highly likely if bilateral. Non of the biologics are approved for ears so insurance is a problem. Sometimes there is a work around with taking it for another condition ....like ulcerative colitis....and it helps with MM. There are several methotrexate class drugs. If it works you are on to something maybe. If you are unilateral always know after you have tried everything your doc attempts and tried stuff you read here (caution there) then always know you can dumb down or kill off the ear and you will be pretty ok. Risk always being bilateral. Hang in there. Get a second opinion. Read all you can find. Dr Hains material talks about autoimmune so be sure to read that....not only inner ear specific but also my systemic autotimmune that impacts the ear too. Its a fragile little spot so if you have an overly active immune system it can be a target. Folks on this site will read this and tell you to do XYZ as the holy grail. If it does not harm why not? But there is no substitute for the best MM doc you can find....Mattox in Atlanta....Hain in Chicago....Dereberry (sp?) in CA...Shea in TN. Good luck. Peace.
Thanks sjw111, I've read Dr. Hain's info. and it seems there are many different approaches. My current ENT thinks I have bilateral meniere's as my hearing in my better ear has tinnitus and hearing loss at times, and was worse than my initial bad ear recently and responded well to large dosages of prednisone. He now suspects AIED, and I went to an rheumatologist last week and he prescribed the methotrexate. I am reluctant to try it, since it has some really nasty potential side effects, but everyone is pushing me to do it. I visit the ENT again tomorrow and will see what he thinks. I don't want to commit to something so dangerous for long term, which could be as bad or worse than the vertigo, hearing loss. He has said he'd be open to an antiviral trial, but wanted to try a systemic autoimmune drug first. Its difficult enough not to stress about MM, now I have the endless decisions and second guesses to stress about. Thanks for your reply.