Metoject^® 10mg/ml is ready to use and is provided with an injection needle. Metoject^® 10mg/ml can be injected intravenously (into a vein), intramuscularly (into a muscle, e.g. thigh) or subcutaneously (under the skin, like insulin injections for patients with diabetes). All three ways of injection are parenteral routes of administration, which means that the drug is taken up without passing the digestive tract. Your doctor will choose the appropriate route of administration for you. Please note that Metoject^® 10mg/ml has to be taken only once a week on the same day.

But why should one use an injection instead of tablets? There are several advantages of parenterally administered methotrexate:

1. The beneficial effect of methotrexate can occur earlier with parenteral administration. In general, a response to treatment with Metoject^® 10mg/ml can be expected after 4 - 8 weeks in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and within 2 - 6 weeks in patients with psoriasis vulgaris and psoriatic arthritis.
   
   
2. The drug bioavailability is high and reproducible. By taking methotrexate tablets, the concentration of methotrexate in the blood plasma varies highly between different patients and also in the same person from week to week. In contrast, the dose of parenterally administered methotrexate which reaches the blood circulation is constant and almost 100%.
   
   
3. Drug side effects such as nausea or vomiting experienced with methotrexate tablets may disappear with parenteral administration. Therefore, higher dosages of methotrexate are usually better tolerated with parenteral administration.