Hello Ditherdancer,

I had my flu vaccination a couple if weeks a go and this was the first whilst taking methotrexate, like you I was concerned if I should delay taking my medication but I had a read on here and some to the nurse when I booked the appointment and decided to take it as usual on the Friday night, flu jab was Sat morning and had absolutely no side effects at all. Good luck.

I have had flu jab every year whilst on MTX - about 9 years now. I think the first year I had a slightly sore arm, but that’s it. And that happens to people who are not on MTX.

I’ve just had my flu jab yesterday, forgot last Friday when I was booked in, so as my h was having bloods & bp taken I went in with him & our nurse kindly injected us both. I injected my MTX yesterday too, forgot on Wednesday (there's a running theme here!), no reaction whatsoever, not even the heavy arm I usually have a day or so after. I've had the pneumonia jab but a couple of years ago when I tried leflunomide, again no reaction even though, again, it was done the same day injected MTX. I remember because I was given it when I was having my drug monitoring bloods taken, Wednesday. I didn’t stop any of my meds basically!

You really need to ask your Rheumy or nurse to be sure of course, this is only my experience. As long as you've not got a cold or a temp & you're not allergic to eggs you shouldn’t have any reaction, they do say it's rare to have any others than a slightly sore or aching arm for a few days after.

I did some research and spoke to my GP. I stopped taking Mtx for 2 weeks to help the efficacy also of the flu and pneumonia jab.

Just have the jabs, relax after, and forget about them. I had both while MTX with no probs.

Best wishes.

It is recommended by NICE that you have a couple of weeks off the MTX after the flu jab, purely so the the vaccination can reach maximum effectiveness. I asked my consultant about it and she said OK to miss ONE dose of MTX BEFORE the flu jab. It's a case of "You pays your money and you takes your choice."

I have not seen any research that says the MTX makes you poorly when you have the flu jab, only articles about how your body needs there to be less MTX around so that it can get on with making flu antibodies.

I hope this helps. Ask your consultant or specialist nurse before making changes to the doses of your drugs.

Had my flu vaccine today and since diagnosis 4yrs ago have always taken it with no problems.