Methotrexate and alcohol?

williamlargs

Hello

New user so go easy please.

Brief history. Diagnosed with RA seven years ago and put on sulphasalazine which did the trick. Taken off sulp after approx 3 years and no real problems till recently.

Went back to my rheumatologist who has put me on MX. When I asked about alcohol he said OK in moderation as long as you attend for your monthly bloods.

Have also read about some unpleasant side effects with this drug.

I would suggest my RA was mild to moderate.

Any advise on the above would be much appreciated

Regards

dreamdaisy

Hello new one, welcome to the forums! Methotrexate is a toxic drug, cleared from the system by the liver. This is why the consumption of alcohol is not recommended as that puts the liver under further strain. How the liver is coping is measured weekly, fortnightly or monthly via blood tests - the interval depends upon a number of factors, I currently am on fortnightly bloods. My hospital's view is that if your liver results are between 0 - 35 then that's OK. If you rise above 40 then they advise you to take some action.

I have been mucking around with these meds for years now, so as a result I have an unhealthy disdain for all the dire warnings. I am a grown-up (sometimes!) and I lovingly consume half a bottle of white wine every night. It makes the pain killers work better and cheers me up. My liver figures are consistently between 12 and 18, which is fine. Get to know your tolerances, and take it from there. Individuals vary so widely in how the meds work for them, and in what they can safely drink. Take it easy for the next few months perhaps, so you can build a picture of how you cope with the meth, and then decide the path you want to follow. I wish you well. Dreamdaisy

williamlargs

dreamdaisy wrote:

Hello new one, welcome to the forums! Methotrexate is a toxic drug, cleared from the system by the liver. This is why the consumption of alcohol is not recommended as that puts the liver under further strain. How the liver is coping is measured weekly, fortnightly or monthly via blood tests - the interval depends upon a number of factors, I currently am on fortnightly bloods. My hospital's view is that if your liver results are between 0 - 35 then that's OK. If you rise above 40 then they advise you to take some action.

I have been mucking around with these meds for years now, so as a result I have an unhealthy disdain for all the dire warnings. I am a grown-up (sometimes!) and I lovingly consume half a bottle of white wine every night. It makes the pain killers work better and cheers me up. My liver figures are consistently between 12 and 18, which is fine. Get to know your tolerances, and take it from there. Individuals vary so widely in how the meds work for them, and in what they can safely drink. Take it easy for the next few months perhaps, so you can build a picture of how you cope with the meth, and then decide the path you want to follow. I wish you well. Dreamdaisy

Thanks for that. I like to think I have a pretty good tolerance to alcohol but will take your advise.

Like your grown up comment.I am a 50 year old who has never grown up according to her indoors.

tkachev

I am on MTX and Humira and keep a bottle of baileys in the kitchen for a swig here and there.Sometimes I need it. It can impact on your liver so only do it when needs must.

Elizabeth

debsmartin

Hello and welcome, I have been on methotrexate for nearly 2 years and for me it has been a life saver, I'm lucky that I only feel abit yukky on the day I take my tablets. As regards drinking I still go out on a saturday night for a few beers and have a couple of glasses of wine on a friday night. My bloods have been fine so my doctors says that as long as I'm sensible there shouldn't be a problem. As the previous post said I'm sure it would show up pretty quickly in your blood results and then maybe I would have a re think about what I drink.

debs

lindalegs

Hi William and welcome to the forum.

Years ago with Mtx people were told not to have alcohol the day before your Mtx and 2 days after. For this reason I take my Mtx on a Tuesday so that I can drink socially at the weekends. My Rheumy told me no need to change my drinking habits unless my bloods indicated that it would be a good idea and they would tell me when that happened. Two years on ...so far so good.

Hope this helps.

Luv Legs

williamlargs

lindalegs wrote:

Hi William and welcome to the forum.

Years ago with Mtx people were told not to have alcohol the day before your Mtx and 2 days after. For this reason I take my Mtx on a Tuesday so that I can drink socially at the weekends. My Rheumy told me no need to change my drinking habits unless my bloods indicated that it would be a good idea and they would tell me when that happened. Two years on ...so far so good.

Hope this helps.

Luv Legs

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I like this suggestion best and will follow it by beginning the meds on Tuesday.

Glad I found the site and hope I will be in a position to help someone at some stage.

dreamdaisy

Stick with us william, that way you'll learn the ropes! We have our serious side, (this forum and working matters and young persons) and our more frivolous side, chit-chat. We do need more male input, so please post! Our current boys do a sterling job of work but I'm sure they would like a new recruit! You sound like fun, anyway.

Seriously, begin with a dose of healthy respect for your liver. Meth is poison and you don't know yet how you will react. It's OK for us old hands here, but you are in uncharted waters. Good luck - and I hope it works for you with alleviating the RA. DD

ichabod6

I've been on methotrexate for many years now.

I negotiated with my gp to take the 25mg dose on
Tuesday morn so that I could have a pint or two at
weekends and this has been successful - no hangups
or hangovers.
When I told my rheumatology nurse practitioner, a kind
and sensible lady who seems to me to know as much as
any consultant, that I was off on an all inclusive holiday
where all drinks are "free" she said dont swallow the
methotrexate that week. So I didnt - no hangups but
one or two gentle hangovers.
Is this helpful?

scorpio

well my liver function tests were over 300 - it took 6 months of no alcohol for me to get down to under 100 before they would even consider me for MTX - they finally did but after 6 months my liver panel rates kept shooting over 100 -yes i drank, but not very much

tolerance means nothing, it is how you liver reacts to the drug and to alcohol.....plus if you have been taking a drug like diclofenec for a while this can have an impact on your liver too

i have a fatty liver, drink too much and take drugs that affect my liver - so i have no chance....LOL

good luck

Wonkylegs

HI & welcome to the forum

I have been taking MTX for a number of years (lost count but may be 8 :? ) mostly in injected form because I was ill with the tablets.

I have found that until recently the MTX has worked well for me. However, it is not the only drug I take, and many of the tablets I take have possible liver side effects.

For that reason, I made a decision a long time ago that, as I had never really drunk a lot anyway, I would not drink at all whilst on MTX.

For me it was a way of deciding that I would give my body the very best chance of dealing with the meds without causing any further problems, but I do understand other points of view on this.

I have found, as a bonus, that I can still enjoy the odd bottle or three of alcohol free wine without the hangover or the guilt

good luck with whatever you decide!

wonky

scorpio

yeah, that is a decision i am slowly thinking about making.......if they put me in humira it may be the only course of action available to me really

williamlargs

dreamdaisy wrote:

Stick with us william, that way you'll learn the ropes! We have our serious side, (this forum and working matters and young persons) and our more frivolous side, chit-chat. We do need more male input, so please post! Our current boys do a sterling job of work but I'm sure they would like a new recruit! You sound like fun, anyway.

Seriously, begin with a dose of healthy respect for your liver. Meth is poison and you don't know yet how you will react. It's OK for us old hands here, but you are in uncharted waters. Good luck - and I hope it works for you with alleviating the RA. DD

Thanks for all the advice DD. I am only usually on line during the day Monday to Friday but will endevour to hopefully contribute where I can.

By the way on good days with little pain is it norm to feel guilty for want of a better word? Hope I'm making sense or is it just a pathetic macho man type thing?

dreamdaisy

If you have a good day with little pain then ENJOY! I tend towards plain speaking so here comes a dose of it - arthritis of any form is a degenerative condition, taking an ostrich approach to it will do you few favours. If you have days when the pain is manageable, or almost negligible, then make the most of them because they may well become more and more infrequent.

I honestly cannot remember my last pain-free day, but it certainly is well over two years now. The meds I am on have made a diference in terms of blood test results but they have not had any effect on pain levels whatsoever. I tend towards the masochist now: I deny pain relief for myself until an hour before work, and then again before bed. That way I notice the benefit. I keep the tramadol for very bad nights because that does knock me out, I manage the days with co-codamol, which is effective for me. I have been playing the arthritis game for 13 years now and I am beginning to understand the rules! I am not worried about becoming addicted to the pain relief, I am more concerned about becoming accustomed to it, thus lessening its effectiveness.

I'm off on holiday tomorrow, so I won't be about much over the next two weeks. Stick with us William, we'll see you right! No query is too small or too stupid: it's an uncertain world in which you now find yourself. Keep well. DD

williamlargs

dreamdaisy wrote:

If you have a good day with little pain then ENJOY! I tend towards plain speaking so here comes a dose of it - arthritis of any form is a degenerative condition, taking an ostrich approach to it will do you few favours. If you have days when the pain is manageable, or almost negligible, then make the most of them because they may well become more and more infrequent.

I honestly cannot remember my last pain-free day, but it certainly is well over two years now. The meds I am on have made a diference in terms of blood test results but they have not had any effect on pain levels whatsoever. I tend towards the masochist now: I deny pain relief for myself until an hour before work, and then again before bed. That way I notice the benefit. I keep the tramadol for very bad nights because that does knock me out, I manage the days with co-codamol, which is effective for me. I have been playing the arthritis game for 13 years now and I am beginning to understand the rules! I am not worried about becoming addicted to the pain relief, I am more concerned about becoming accustomed to it, thus lessening its effectiveness.

I'm off on holiday tomorrow, so I won't be about much over the next two weeks. Stick with us William, we'll see you right! No query is too small or too stupid: it's an uncertain world in which you now find yourself. Keep well. DD

Once again ta. My drug of choice for pain is a cocktail of Diclofenac and Paracetamol. Like you I try to do without for spells so it doesn't lose it's effectiveness.

Have a great holiday.

livinglegend

Hi William

We look forward to more postings from you. Us men are heavily outnumbered on here, especially on the Chit-chat forum.

I tried to take MTX and continue with my favourite tipples but it all rebelled against me. So I have had no alcohol for many years. Even a small amount, such as a drop of wine at Christmas has put me in bed for several days.

Many say that they have no problems. The only way to find out is to try a drop in moderation and see what happens.

To reply to a posting without repeating all the previous info, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on 'Reply to Topic'. Or delete a part or all the quote in your 'Post a message' box before preview/submitting your reply. This makes reading topics much easier.

Joseph 8)

bevfoster15

lindalegs wrote:

Hi William and welcome to the forum.

Years ago with Mtx people were told not to have alcohol the day before your Mtx and 2 days after. For this reason I take my Mtx on a Tuesday so that I can drink socially at the weekends. My Rheumy told me no need to change my drinking habits unless my bloods indicated that it would be a good idea and they would tell me when that happened. Two years on ...so far so good.

Hope this helps.

Luv Legs

I am about to start the Mtx this week and opted for Tonight after my tea because of the Doctors saying about noting mixing MTX with drink and I like you decided Tue is a good day, the drink from the weekend with have left my system (bearing in mind I don't get total razzled) and it gives the drugs time to kick in before Friday night.

williamlargs

bevfoster15 wrote:

lindalegs wrote:

Hi William and welcome to the forum.

Years ago with Mtx people were told not to have alcohol the day before your Mtx and 2 days after. For this reason I take my Mtx on a Tuesday so that I can drink socially at the weekends. My Rheumy told me no need to change my drinking habits unless my bloods indicated that it would be a good idea and they would tell me when that happened. Two years on ...so far so good.

Hope this helps.

Luv Legs

I am about to start the Mtx this week and opted for Tonight after my tea because of the Doctors saying about noting mixing MTX with drink and I like you decided Tue is a good day, the drink from the weekend with have left my system (bearing in mind I don't get total razzled) and it gives the drugs time to kick in before Friday night.

I am about to start this week as well and had chosen tonight for same reasons.

Thing is my first grand child decided to arrive in this world on Saturday past and my son has just phoned to say that he plans to wet her head this Saturday.

I know there will always be another mountain to climb and don't plan to get totally razzled but would it be prudent to delay start for a week? :?:

tillytop

Don't know what to suggest on the "waiting or not" issue, but just wanted to jump in and say "congratulations" on the new arrival!

Love Tilly x

lindalegs

I would say it depends on how much pain you're in and how anxious you feel about starting Mtx.

As it's an unknown to how you'll react when you do have alcohol, i.e. you may not find any difference or it could make you feel sick, you have to decided whether to gamble on your own reaction if you do decide to take it tonight.

I'm afraid it's for you to decide William.

Luv Legs

PS Congratulations

scorpio

try diclofenec, paracetamol and codeine phosphate - the 3 together work amazingly.......3 times a day

oh and ask your doctor about lanzapranazol........this will stop you from getting a bad stomach from the tablet regime (or help i should say)

williamlargs

lindalegs wrote:

I would say it depends on how much pain you're in and how anxious you feel about starting Mtx.

As it's an unknown to how you'll react when you do have alcohol, i.e. you may not find any difference or it could make you feel sick, you have to decided whether to gamble on your own reaction if you do decide to take it tonight.

I'm afraid it's for you to decide William.

Luv Legs

PS Congratulations

Took the easy way out and will leave the MTX till next Tuesday. Its not often that a grandchild comes along. Diclofenac and paracetamol it will be till then.

Thanks for the congrats from you and everyone else LL x