Is methotrexate an immune suppressant

Answer 1

Yes Methotrexate is an imune supresant and people using this drug should do their best not to be near anyone woth colds or flu, as they are more likely to pick it up and wil have more dificulty getting rid of it.Have a look at the related link below(Methotrexate: 10 Things You Should Know)

Methotrexate is a DMARD (disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug) used to treat certain types of Arthritis and rheumatic conditions.

This would be best discussed with his doctor I am an adult on the same stuff and from what I understand there is an increased risk if infection. At one stage I ended up not being able to get rid of a lung infection while on Methotrexate and antibiotics until i dropped the methotrexate for the course of antibiotics plus one more week.

If you are on methotrexate make a point of mentioning it to your Doctor if you are going to have any live inoculations against illnesses because the methotrexate will reduce the effectiveness of the injections or possibly make them useless altogether.

I started using MTX some yeas ago at 10 mg once a week with 5 mg offolic acid a day because the mtx stops your body from producing it. and it helps protect the kidneys against a lack of the stuff. However I caught a cold or flu. Now normally I would shake it of after a couple of days and make some smart remark to those dropping like fly's all around me like " I didn't like that flu so I decided to stop having it" Methotrexate changed that, As a result of the MTX and possibly the prednisone I take I don't seem to have the same resistance against cold and flu as I used to have. I was back and forth to the doctor for weeks trying to get to a position where I could breathe again without wheezing, I even ended up on Asthma treatments, To no avail. So after a couple of month of this I got hit by another bout of flu, only this time I decided to take the MTX into account. I went to the doctor and got antibiotics for the lung infection and got of the MTX for the time that I was on the antibiotic's. The result was that for the first time I was getting ahead of the breathing problem. Luckily my Ra did not flare up during this little experiment and I just got back onto the stuff after missing it for two weeks. I had to have an operation a little while ago and was told by my surgeon to get of the MTX for the week Preceding and the week after the procedure. and once again it did not seem to do any harm. So as I see it if you are in need of your immune system to fight infection sometimes it may be a good idea to get of MTX and get the system working properly. Mind you I am not a trained professional in these maters so bringing this up with your doctor might also be a good idea.

Answer 2

Yes it is, it is a very popular method of controlling inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis.It needs to be taken under strict supervisions it can cause kidney problems due to toxic build up it must also be taken along with follic acid as it depletes folic acid in the blood which can also cause kidney problemss