Alcohol

Hi ,


I take methotrexate and folic acid too. I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better on it! My rheumatologist did ask about my alcohol consumption before prescribing the methotrexate. I don't really drink (I have one or two at Christmas) so that was the end of the conversation. I believe the concern is that both methotrexate and alcohol can affect the liver.


How long have you been taking the methotrexate for? Perhaps once you've been on it a while, and you and your rheumatologist have seen how/if it affects your liver, you could ask whether the odd glass of wine would be okay?

We do have some information on the other medications that are available: https://psoriatic-arthritis.com/medications I hope this is helpful! Warmly, -Catherine, Community Moderator

Hi
I was put on MTC and folic acid in the beginning. I was also told no more than 4 units of alcohol per week.
That was hard to swallow, pardon the pun 😊, as I did enjoy a beer after a hard day at work.
I stopped completely for a fortnight before starting the MTX and didn’t drink for 2 or 3 weeks after starting it.
I was having weekly blood tests then so decided it was time to try a bottle of low strength lager.
I have to admit, it was the best tasting bottle of beer I’d ever had, after not having a drink for weeks. My blood tests continued and there was never any change to liver function so I continued to have 1 or 2 bottles of beer per week. Tiny sips to make it last longer 😁
I believe you do have to be very careful with MTX and alcohol.
Also, in the UK, you have to fail 2 DMARD drugs before being considered for biological treatment. So MTX is usually always the first one tried.


If MTX works for you I’m sure you’ll be glad to feel better again and you won’t miss having a drink. 👍


Good luck
Greg.

I have just started using MTX as well, but luckily I don't drink alcohol. In Australia people find this unusual (although giving up alcohol has become a bit of a trend lately), so it's nice to have a positive for not drinking. I can also turn down drinks due to medication now, instead of having people wanting to interrogate me as to why I don't drink (family history of alcoholism, plus I have a bit of social anxiety and didn't want to rely on alcohol for confidence instead of building it naturally). Only my left wrist joint is affected and I have mild psoriasis. My psoriasis, that I never bothered getting treatment for due to mildness, has cleared completely up and the wrist seems to be improving after 5 weeks, but not sure if rheumatologist will agree. I have another appointment in July to assess if it is effective or not. On the plus side I have never had bad pain, but the negative is I'm not sure if the medication is doing anything or not especially as I am also taking low dose prednisolone as the MTX takes a while to do anything anyway.

I don’t drink alcohol- but recently my liver functions went awry from meds. Because of the possibility of liver issues or failure - I would recommend NO alcohol.
This PsA is here for the long haul & you don’t want to be shortening the odds of a quality of life!