Medication break

jennand

I see in the news today that a trial is going on ( it says it will take 2 yrs???) where people who are immunosuppressed - it just mentions Methotrexate- will be stopping their meds for 2 weeks following vaccinations. Apart from the fact that most immunosuppressives are already vaccinated, I did this anyway. For the first jab, I got it wrong. I anticipated the date far in advance & stopped my biological injection. Result? A flare up, so I restarted it & then just omitted it for 2 weeks post vaccination. Same with 2nd one , also my booster ( which actually turned out to be 3rd jab, with possible booster in 6 months?) That’s the result of getting my 3rd primary advice letter AFTER having the booster.

Did anyone else stop meds to boost immunity?

scotleag

I carried on as normal after first two vaccinations but decided (before I read about this study) not to take Methotrexate for two weeks after my third vaccination in order to try and boost immunity as much as possible. My medication schedule was three days after my vaccination so to get back on track that means 17 days since vaccination before I next take methotrexate. Today is day 15 and for the first time I am feeling the effects of no methotrexate. Not a full-on flare but I can't move my head from side to side and am experiencing (a tolerable level of) pain in my neck, shoulders, elbows, hands and knees.

What I don't know is whether this is as a result of stopping medication or would have occurred anyway. Nor will I know when I get back to 'normal' if it's because I've started taking methotrexate again or it would have happened anyway. On top of that I won't know if I've helped my immunity or not unless I go down with the damned thing.

But I still think on balance it was worth a try. If I'd had a bad reaction sooner I would have re-started my medication.

jennand

None of us have any way of knowing the results of stopping medications unless we are part of the trial. I just went on information given by the Rh team about other types of infections ie- whenever I get a viral or bacterial infection, to stop medications for 1-2weeks to to reduce the immunosuppression. If I experience any symptoms I manage it with anti inflammatories & pain relief. So stopping meds following vaccinations, in my mind, is the same thing. Regarding Covid, I would rather have a few days flare up if it means my immune system is better able to cope. ( no guarantees on avoidance though - my friend currently has it despite being triple jabbed. Thankfully, symptom free though)

frogmorton

Hi @jennand

have you seen this video that @MrDJ posted?

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/55521/interesting-covid-vacine-video-from-nras

It discusses this very issue..it's about half way through.

Breathless

I was advised by my respiratory consultant to stop mycophenolate 2 weeks before the 3rd vaccine, and restart 1 week later. I have RA/ILD. Who knows if it has helped encourage immunity to covid? I live in hope!