Methothrexate Side Effects — Compared Across 5 Medical Sources

This tool aggregates publicly available information for reference only. It is not medical advice. Always consult a healthcare professional before making decisions about medication.

99 side effects

Side effect	Frequency	MedlinePlus	Drugs.com	Mayo Clinic	NHS	SingleCare
Nausea	common	nausea	nausea	nausea	feeling or being sick	nausea
Vomiting	—	vomiting	vomiting	vomiting	feeling or being sick	vomiting
Stomatitis	—	—	sores in the mouth or lips	sores in the mouth or lips	—	stomatitis
Loss of appetite	—	loss of appetite	loss of appetite	loss of appetite	loss of appetite	loss of appetite
Liver dysfunction	common	liver problems	liver problems	liver problems	liver problems	liver dysfunction
Hair loss	—	—	hair loss	hair loss	hair loss	hair loss
Abdominal discomfort	—	stomach pain	stomach and bowel problems	stomach pain	stomach pain or indigestion	abdominal discomfort
Diarrhea	—	diarrhea	diarrhea	diarrhea	diarrhoea	diarrhea
Tiredness	—	excessive tiredness	unusual tiredness or weakness	unusual tiredness or weakness	feeling tired or drowsy	tiredness
Fever	common	fever	fever or chills	fever or chills	—	fever
Sore throat	—	sore throat	sore throat	sore throat	sore throat	sore throat
Rash	common	rash	rash	rash	—	rash
Itching	common	itching	itching	itching	—	itching
Dizziness	—	dizziness	dizziness	dizziness	dizziness	dizziness
Dry cough	—	dry cough	cough or hoarseness	cough or hoarseness	—	dry cough
Low blood cell counts	—	—	—	—	—	low blood cell counts
Photosensitivity	—	skin sensitivity to sunlight	—	—	sensitivity to sunlight	photosensitivity
Blood disorders	—	unusual bleeding	blood disorders	blood disorders	blood disorder	blood disorders
Liver damage	—	—	—	—	—	liver damage
Pneumonitis	—	—	—	—	—	pneumonitis
Kidney damage	—	—	—	—	—	kidney damage
Intestinal bleeding	—	—	—	—	—	intestinal bleeding
Severe mouth ulcers	—	—	—	—	—	severe mouth ulcers
Severe diarrhea	—	—	—	—	—	severe diarrhea
Opportunistic infections	—	—	—	—	—	opportunistic infections
Tumor lysis syndrome	—	—	tumor lysis syndrome	tumor lysis syndrome	—	tumor lysis syndrome
Uncontrolled growth of white blood cells	—	—	—	—	—	uncontrolled growth of white blood cells
Leukoencephalopathy	—	—	—	—	—	leukoencephalopathy
Severe allergic skin reactions	—	—	—	—	—	severe allergic skin reactions
Headache	common	—	headache	headache	headaches	headache
Sunburn	common	—	—	—	—	recall sunburn
Organ damage	—	—	—	—	—	organ damage
Intestinal damage	—	—	—	—	—	intestinal damage
Blood problems	—	—	—	—	—	blood problems
Severe allergic reactions	—	—	—	—	—	severe allergic reactions
Fibrosis	—	—	—	—	—	fibrosis
Mouth irritation	—	—	—	—	—	mouth irritation
Mouth sores	—	mouth sores	sores in the mouth or lips	sores in the mouth or lips	—	mouth sores
Allergic reactions	rare	allergic reactions	allergic reactions	allergic reactions	allergic reaction	allergic reactions
Infection	rare	infection	infection	infection	infection	infection
Bleeding	—	bleeding	bleeding	bleeding	—	bleeding
Stomach pain	—	stomach pain	stomach and bowel problems	stomach pain	stomach pain or indigestion	stomach pain
Difficulty breathing	—	difficulty breathing	trouble breathing	trouble breathing	—	—
Shortness of breath	—	shortness of breath	—	—	—	—
Wheezing	—	wheezing	—	—	—	—
Fast heartbeat	—	fast heartbeat	increased heartbeat	increased heartbeat	—	—
Swelling of face, tongue, or throat	—	swelling of face, tongue, or throat	swelling of the eyelids, face, lips, hands, feet, or lower legs	swelling of the eyelids, face, lips, hands, feet, or lower legs	—	—
Feeling faint	—	feeling faint	—	—	—	—
Hives	—	hives	—	—	—	—
Black, tarry stools	—	black, tarry, or bloody stools	black, tarry stools	black, tarry stools	—	—
Bloody vomit	—	vomit that is bloody or looks like coffee grounds	bloody vomit	bloody vomit	—	—
Yellowing of skin or eyes	—	yellowing of skin or eyes	yellow eyes or skin	yellow eyes or skin	—	—
Flu-like symptoms	—	flu-like symptoms	—	—	—	—
Back pain	—	—	back pain	back pain	—	—
Bloody nose	—	—	bloody nose	bloody nose	—	—
Blurred vision	—	—	blurred vision	blurred vision	—	—
Body and muscle pain	—	—	body and muscle pain	body and muscle pain	—	—
Burning while urinating	—	—	burning while urinating	burning while urinating	—	—
Confusion	—	—	confusion	confusion	—	—
Continuing ringing, buzzing, or other unexplained noise in the ears	—	—	continuing ringing, buzzing, or other unexplained noise in the ears	continuing ringing, buzzing, or other unexplained noise in the ears	—	—
Cough or hoarseness	—	—	cough or hoarseness	cough or hoarseness	—	—
Cracked, dry, scaly skin	—	—	cracked, dry, scaly skin	cracked, dry, scaly skin	—	—
Dark urine	—	—	dark urine	dark urine	—	—
Ear congestion	—	—	ear congestion	ear congestion	—	—
Loss of hearing	—	—	loss of hearing	loss of hearing	—	—
Loss of voice	—	—	loss of voice	loss of voice	—	—
Lower back or side pain	—	—	lower back or side pain	lower back or side pain	—	—
Painful or difficult urination	—	—	painful or difficult urination	painful or difficult urination	—	—
Pale skin	—	pale skin	pale skin	pale skin	—	—
Runny nose	—	—	runny nose	runny nose	—	—
Seizures	—	—	seizures	seizures	—	—
Sneezing	—	—	sneezing	sneezing	—	—
Stuffy or runny nose	—	—	stuffy or runny nose	stuffy or runny nose	—	—
Unusual tiredness or weakness	—	unusual tiredness or weakness	unusual tiredness or weakness	unusual tiredness or weakness	—	—
Weight loss	—	weight loss	weight loss	weight loss	weight loss	—
White or brownish vaginal discharge	—	—	white or brownish vaginal discharge	white or brownish vaginal discharge	—	—
Anxiety	—	—	anxiety	anxiety	—	—
Blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin	—	—	blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin	blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin	—	—
Bloating	—	—	—	bloating	—	—
Changes in skin color	—	—	—	changes in skin color	—	—
Constipation	—	—	—	constipation	—	—
Decreased interest in sexual intercourse	—	—	—	decreased interest in sexual intercourse	—	—
Difficulty in moving	—	—	—	difficulty in moving	—	—
Dizziness, faintness, or lightheadedness when getting up suddenly from a lying or sitting position	—	—	—	dizziness, faintness, or lightheadedness when getting up suddenly from a lying or sitting position	—	—
Dry mouth	—	—	—	dry mouth	—	—
Dryness or soreness of the throat	—	—	—	dryness or soreness of the throat	—	—
Eye pain	—	—	—	eye pain	—	—
Fruit-like breath odor	—	—	—	fruit-like breath odor	—	—
Infertility	—	infertility	—	—	—	—
Kidney problems	—	—	kidney problems	kidney problems	kidney problems	—
Lung or breathing problems	—	—	lung or breathing problems	—	inflammation of lungs	—
Nerve problems	—	—	nerve problems	—	—	—
Pinpoint red spots on the skin	—	—	pinpoint red spots on the skin	pinpoint red spots on the skin	—	—
Serious skin reactions	—	—	serious skin reactions	—	—	—
Skin sensitivity to sunlight	—	skin sensitivity to sunlight	—	—	sensitivity to sunlight	—
Swelling of legs, feet or ankles	—	swelling of legs, feet or ankles	—	—	—	—
Unusual bruising	—	unusual bruising	—	—	—	—
Weight gain	—	weight gain	—	—	—	—
Worsening of psoriasis sores	—	worsening of psoriasis sores	—	—	—	—

7 additional sourcesdidn't return structured side-effect data: IBD Clinic, Arthritis Foundation, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), GoodRx, CreakyJoints, myRAteam, Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center.

Demographic risk groups

Group	Risk	Sources
pregnant women	birth defects or death of the unborn baby	MedlinePlus, Drugs.com
patients with liver disease	severe or life-threatening liver damage	MedlinePlus
patients with lung disease	severe or life-threatening lung damage	MedlinePlus
patients with stomach ulcers or ulcerative colitis	damage to the lining of your mouth, stomach, or intestines	MedlinePlus
patients with kidney disease	serious kidney problems, including kidney failure	MedlinePlus
children	polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis	MedlinePlus, NHS
breastfeeding women	should not breastfeed	MedlinePlus
men	permanent infertility	MedlinePlus
women	permanent infertility	MedlinePlus
fathers	birth defects	Drugs.com
men and women	infertility	Drugs.com
Pregnant	Contraception may not protect	NHS
people with brown or black skin	difficulty identifying liver problems	NHS
people with black or brown skin	difficulty identifying allergic reaction	NHS
people receiving radiation treatments to the head	Leukoencephalopathy	SingleCare
pregnant or breastfeeding women	birth defects	SingleCare
people with kidney disease	kidney damage	SingleCare
people with alcoholism, alcohol-related liver disease, and chronic liver disease	liver problems	SingleCare
people with immune system problems	suppressed immune system	SingleCare
people older than 65	serious side effects	SingleCare
debilitated patients	serious side effects	SingleCare
people with peptic ulcer disease or ulcerative colitis	bleeding or perforation	SingleCare
people receiving cranial radiation therapy	leukoencephalopathy	SingleCare