Methotrexate & Vaccine

[Garnacha]

Hi Everyone

I hope you're all keeping and feeling ok.

I've seen a few posts regarding stopping treatment before having the vaccine and had my vaccine yesterday, I was a bit worried as no-one has said to me to stop taking the methotrexate I'm on (20mg). I've had a telephone consultation with a GP this morning about a skin problem I have which seems to be psoriasis which I suppose shouldn't be a surprise as I have psoriatic arthritis and been prescribed steroid cream, anyway, I took the opportunity to check with him (for my own personal circumstances) on whether I should have not taken my MTX last Friday or whether I should leave this Friday's dose off, he wasn't really sure! but checked the governments website which said that I should carry on taking it.

Just thought I'd let everyone know in case anyone else was worried about what to do, obviously it all depends I suppose on individuals circumstances and you should check with your own GP or rheumatologist.

I hope I'm not muddying the water especially if this has already been mentioned but I've seen a lot of posts regarding this and it did worry me x

[allanah]

Yes I think you did exactly right. Our treatments are all individual so talking to your doc was great. I know there are standard replies from rheumatogical society but I suppose sometimes it's not a case of one size fits all. Think most of us are " muddling or muddling lol our way through this" 😂

It's good of you to share x

Glad he was helpful xx

[nomoreheels]

I think you did right, taking the opportunity & checking with your GP. You're way ahead of me, I'm also on MTX, plus steroids, I’ve not heard anything yet.

[Bootoo]

I had my jab yesterday and I usually inject my mtx on a Monday, I didn't take it but I am speaking to my rheumy nurse at 2. I'll probably get shouted at for not taking it 😬 but I wasn't sure of what to do. It'll only be a day late if she says to carry on as normal, so no harm done 👍

[Garnacha in reply to Bootoo]

I only had the letter for the vaccine on Friday which is the day I take MTX, I hadn't seen anything about not taking the medication before the vaccine then so took it, it was only over the weekend I saw the different posts where some said not to take it and others said they'd been told to carry on, I was a bit worried but hey ho couldn't do anything about it and I wasn't going to miss having the jab the nurse did say though that because of the MTX the vaccine may not be as effective as for "normal" people, but, at least I should have some protection which is only a good thing. Hope your nurse can ease your worry, I'm sure it'll be fine. x

[Bootoo in reply to Garnacha]

Well I've never been normal 🙃🤪 my whole family is a little crazy but hey ho we're happy 😂

[Garnacha in reply to Bootoo]

😂😂😂 think me and mine are the same 😂😂😂

[Bootoo in reply to Garnacha]

In my family we don't hide the crazy we give it a beer and wait for the show to start 🙃🤣

[helixhelix]

The most important things is that it is entirely safe to take your drugs alongside the vaccine. All the authorities have confirmed that with the only footnote being the timing of Rituximab infusions.

After that it is quite individual. We have different levels of disease activity, different overall health issues and so on,

So good to check, although I think some surgeries are less helpful than yours! My GP knows nothing much about the RA drugs and treatments.

I trust my rheumy and so I trust her when she told me it would be be better for me to miss a week as it might help me mount a better immune response. She knows I am stable, and this is unlikely to cause me to flare. So that is what I did. Others will be different.