Firstly thank you and MTX advice please?

laurz86

First of all I just want to say a big thank you to Dream Daisy, Toni, Tilly and Anne for the advice and warm welcome you gave me on my post 'Newbie feeling a little lost" on the "say hello" forum you've already made me feel a lot more positive!

I was just looking for some advise on DMARD's...I'm currently on Methotrexate, I haven't been on it long, just a couple of months, my side effects are up and down which is very frustrating as I never know how I'm going to feel from one weekend to the next and also this is going to sound very selfish but the whole cutting out alcohol thing is really getting me down! I appreciate how that must sound, like I have some kind of a drink problem lol but for anyone who read my previous post I do lead a hectic social life!! I accept that I can't burn the candle at both ends anymore but I'm only 24 and I want the option there if I do want to have a drink with the girls...we're quite a rowdy bunch but I'm becoming the quiet sober one in the corner when Im so used to been the leader of the group who brings everyone together...can anyone else relate to this or am I just been selfish?? Can anyone advise of any alternatives to MTX??

Laura x x

hileena111

Hi Laura
Sorry dont know anything about those meds but just wanted to come on and give you a warm welcome to the forum#

Love
Hileena

dreamdaisy

Meth affects different people in different ways. As it is processed via the liver the docs advise no drinking, which is sensible, but not necessarily accurate, and indeed some are now suggesting that you can have a regular, but small, tipple. I would certainly cut down for the first few months, until you have a good picture of how your liver is coping. You will gain this through the regular blood tests you should be having, with your figures being noted in your meth booklet. In the early stages of meth I was having my bloods done fortnightly, as that is the standard practice around my area. My rheumatology team is happy as long as my liver figures are between 0-40, any higher and they start wagging their fingers and I grin. They have only been above 40 once, I hover between 15-25 as a rule. I am on 17.5 injected meth per week, plus some other stuff too.

The majority of these toxic drugs which are used to 'treat' arthritis are processed by the liver. Those which are not are processed by the kidneys and the same restrictions apply - or at least that is what I was told when I was on cyclosporin. One has a choice: accept the meds and hope they help relieve the pain and discomfort of arthritis, and restrict one's intake of useless, fattening calories or don't have the meds, stiffen, seize up and suffer, and swig away. I think the first option is the more sensible, but then I have done the whole sulking for England over not drinking (a number of times now) - and, ironically enough, what actually did some damage to my liver (during a 'dry' five months) was enbrel, an anti TNF treatment.

It is not easy, especially for one so young. I empathise, but go gently on the alcohol front: you have years of this ahead of you, you do need your liver to function for those years, treat it with respect. DD

marooned

my daughter is 23 she is on mtx she also struggled to begin with when she was told her hair could fall out and also about the drinking, she has had a bit of hair loss but nothing severe as for the drinking she goes out on a weekend and has a drink and also the occasional glass of rose in the week her tests have all came back ok, she did alter her blood test days for a wed when she has been out on a fri/sat she now has her bloods done once a month, i think you no your own body and if you dont go mad and binge drink ect.

williamlargs

Hi

I am double your age but believe me know exactly where your coming from. I started on meths on July 13th and haven't had a hangover since

I come from a long line of hard working, hard drinking party animals and like you took it bad when my rheumy told me I would have to limit my alcohol intake.

Being more than honest and preparing myself for some 'comments' I probably aveaged approx 30-35 units of alcohol a week until I started on the meths. I have now reduced that to around 16 units a week 'including' the occasional binge. Not sure what reading from my blood tests I should be quoting here but they have all been fine so far.

I am not for one minute suggesting you should just ignore the warnings and go for it but just go gently for a while and moniter yourself with how you feel and your regular blood tests which you should not miss.

Please, please, please remember though that we are all different and all react differently to meds. I see you have side effects. I am lucky, I don't. What this means regards alcohol I don't know.

What I would say is that the improvement I have had with my RA since starting meths hugely out weighs the reduction in alcohol intake. In fact I generally feel the better for it.

So it ain't all doom and gloom. Keep the chin up and just caw cannie as we say here in Jock land

Regards

cthornley

Hi
I know where your concerns are coming from I was diagnosed at 19 and I was still in the throes of university life.
I am on MTX and I haven't cut out alcohol completely, 12 years down the line and i’m still here as is my liver.
As DD said they usually recommend that alcohol is cut out as it your liver will be busy processing the MTX and the added strain of the drink may be difficult for it to process.
However this is a guideline, everybody reacts differently to these drugs and processes them differently. Once you are settled on the drug and know a bit more about how your body is coping with handling it, you could probably have the glass or two with no bother.

To be honest anything that would replace MTX is likely to place a similar strain on your liver and strictly speaking you should avoid alcohol with them too...that even goes for paraceatamol :shock: but as long as you are sensible and don't overdo it every night and keep an eye on your blood results then you need to take a view on how happy you are to take a risk.

A word of warning though you probably will have less of a tolerance than you had before
I hope that you get settled and start to feel a bit more ‘normal’ whatever that may be
Chrissie

dorcas

Hi Laura and welcome to the forum from me too.

I've been on Mtx for several years now and was warned by my rheummy not to drink alcohol because of the increased risk of liver toxicity. :roll: :shock:
I already have problems with my liver .. another auto-immune condition.. so I suppose he was being all the more cautious and his advice all the more seriously given and taken!

I do occasionally have a glass of wine though...

Ask/ take the advice from your rheummy ... he knows you and your medical history and is best placed to give you advice.

Iris xx