MTX and coffee?

[Tired-fed-up]

Hello. I’ve been taking MTX 20mg for 3 months. After initial sickness, indigestion and sleeplessness the side effects improved and I got used to them. I’ve just switched to MTX injections - did my first 1 in hospital last week and was fine - did it at home this morning and feel sick, more achey, and so tired I feel like going back to bed until tomorrow. I did it in the morning to “get it out of the way” which also coincides with my 2 cups of morning coffee. Could it be the coffee interacting with the MTX??

[Deeb1764]

I when doing the MTX injection would do it at 6pm as I knew I would just want to sleep and sleep and sleep. So maybe it’s just doing what it does and change the time to evening so you can sleep through the worst part? Doubt the coffee I found I went off coffee due to taste on MTX.

[Gnarli]

In my personal experience I found that caffinated coffee tended to cause nausea. Decaff is fine.

[Hidden]

Mtx injections knock me out in hours ( it don’t take much) they are more fast acting as they get to work straight away. It is also the full dose as it gets straight in the system tablets can loose their potency due to destruction by the digestive system . Some people need to lower the dose with injections.

Coffee/caffeine??? Mixed messages on this I’ve been told no caffeine on injections by one nurse and then told it’s beneficial 🤷‍♀️never got a definitive answer.

[helixhelix in reply to Hidden]

I looked into coffee, and searched for robust research and there was very little. It seems that excess coffee (ie more than 10-12 cups of strong real coffee a day) could be an issue. 3 or 4 cups seem to be completely fine.

[bunnycaramel]

I stopped using the injections and went back to tablets which I found were better although I do experience side effects. As Deeb has already said change the time to evening when you feel tired and sleep off the side effects. I drink copious amounts of water every day too. Went off coffee due to change of taste

[Boxerlady]

I don't drink coffee as a rule, mainly because I like it well-sugared and wanted to cut down my sugar intake. On a few occasions when I was out between the lockdowns I had a coffee and a meal/snack and I did have an "uneasy" tummy afterwards. I wasn't sure if it was coincidence or due to what I ate but maybe it was the coffee....☕ 🤔

[nomoreheels]

I've been on MTX injections a lot longer than you & have a coffee (bean to cup machine & good strength) directly after injecting in the morning. I have no ill effects from doing so, I think they'd be pretty immediate if I did. My next coffee is around 11.30am, same machine, same strength, again no response. That's it for the day, after that I have mint tea after lunch then a normal tea at 6pm & a mint tea again after my evening meal. Is it fresh coffee you use or instant? Instant goes through more processes, so it could be a response to that, so you could try a different one or delay your injection until midday or evening, a while after you’ve had your final coffee for the day.

I looked online when the question was asked a while ago & there was no definitive connection that I could find, in fact generally the consensus was intolerances to MTX improved, in some studies as much as 80%.

As you feel as you do, the sleepiness particularly, maybe it would be an idea to inject at night just before bedtime? That could also help you sleep through other side effects too, or not having coffee around the same time as injecting helps you for whatever reason. Or maybe it's just coincidence, the only way to know for sure is trial & error I think unfortunately. 😬

[HanaleiBa]

Could be. Note that my rheumie (very smart, Stanford university, research based) told me coffee can interact with MTX *efficacy* (not symptoms) on some level. She noted not to have more than a cup. I haven’t done the research myself and didn’t see anything when I looked it up. I have found studies where MTX with coffee/caffeine actually relieves symptoms. Go figure. So tough as everyone is a bit different! ard.bmj.com/content/77/Supp...

[Slate56]

Hi have tried it at different times of the day now what works best for me is Friday night after tea shower have injection then relax drink couple of glasses of water early night sleep through the rough bits works a treat hope you find what’s best for you

[Slate56]

Sorry adding to my last message regarding coffee I love coffee my personal view is we all here have to deal with this menace so don’t miss out in what you have always enjoyed

[Flor1rence]

Hi. same as slate56 I have mine in evening after dinner, shower and sleep off the worst part. injections are better than tablets I find. coffee doesn't make any difference to me. 😉😊