https://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2021/08/22/annrheumdis-2021-220597
As per the link above, individuals taking the drug methotrexate experience an up to 62% reduced rate of an immunological response when given a mRNA Covid-19 vaccination like to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. This finding suggests that patients on methotrexate may need alternate vaccination strategies such as additional doses of vaccine, dose modification of methotrexate or even a temporary discontinuation of this drug.
In this podcast, Joel Nowak from Cancer ABCs, who is taking methotrexate, after having is booster shot of the Moderna vaccine was informed by his doctor that he should have not received the injection without having made a modification in his methotrexate. Joel talks about his frustration and anger that he was not informed about this complication when the research was first published, three months prior to his receiving his Covid-19 booster shot.
Joel shared his current plan to discontinue taking methotrexate and hope that the booster will still create some antigen effect. He will follow up in a few weeks and check his antigen level (blood test) and then if he hasn't received an adequate result go on a campaign to obtain an additional Covid vaccination booster while still remaining off methotrexate.
Joel’s story should serve as a warning to anyone taking methotrexate that they need to discuss this issue with their doctors prior to having a mRNA Covid-19 vaccination.
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Joel T Nowak:
According to research published in May 2021, individuals taking the drug, methotrexate, experience up to a 62% reduced rate of immunologic response when given an mRNA COVID-19 vaccination like the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. This finding suggests that patients on methotrexate may need alternate vaccination strategies.
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Joel T Nowak:
Hello, I am Joel Nowak for Cancer ABCs. I want to share with you a recent experience I had with a drug that I've been taking for many years. The drug is called methotrexate. Methotrexate is an immunosuppressant. It slows down the body's immune system and reduces inflammation. Methotrexate is often used for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and certain cancers.
The experience that I just had with methotrexate is pretty upsetting. I have taken the COVID-19 vaccine. I've had two shots and a few days ago, I had a booster. I qualified for the booster because I am immunosuppressed because I take methotrexate.
The afternoon after I had my booster shot, I saw my rheumatologist. I mentioned to him that I had just had the booster for the COVID-19 vaccine and his response to me was "Oh, no, you shouldn't have." That made absolutely no sense to me and I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Well, you shouldn't have had it." I asked him, "Why not?" He said, "Recently, NYU had done some research that showed people who took methotrexate had failed to mount an antigen response after having received the vaccination." I was pretty upset. No one had told me about this problem and I now have received two vaccines as well as a booster.
My rheumatologist arranged for me to have a blood test that measures the antigen level in my blood that would help me fight COVID-19 if I were exposed. Unfortunately, I got my results back and it indicated that I had mounted a very minimal antigen response. Despite having now received two vaccinations as well as a booster, I was basically unvaccinated or vulnerable to having COVID-19.
Needless to say, I'm very upset because I had not been informed that taking methotrexate could depress any immune response I might experience to COVID-19. I really do believe that it was the doctor's responsibility to have informed me when this research was done. For some unknown reason, there was no reach out made by the doctor or the hospital that he was affiliated with to inform me that I needed to stop taking methotrexate prior to receiving the vaccinations or my booster shots.
Where does this leave me now? I've now had two vaccinations, shot one and shot two of the Moderna vaccine, as well as a booster, but I do not have any antigen response that's going to protect me. I then reached back to my doctor and said I'm going to stop taking methotrexate since I had just had the booster, and hopefully, the booster would give me some sort of response.
Currently, I'm waiting for two to three weeks and will redo my antigen test, and hopefully, I will have had some response. I'm not feeling terribly optimistic about the possibility of having the kind of robust response that I really believe I should have. I will then attempt, with a letter from the doctor, to get a fourth injection or another booster. I'm not sure how easy that's going to be to obtain. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Why am I sharing this information with you? Because it's important. If you're taking methotrexate for any reason, you need to stop it prior to getting any sort of COVID-19 vaccination and/or its booster. You should talk to your doctor prior to getting the vaccination or a booster and confirm how long you should remain off the methotrexate prior to receiving the vaccine or the booster.
Unfortunately, I don't believe there's any research that really gives us an idea of how long one should stay off prior to receiving the vaccination and after getting the vaccination. We'll just have to rely on the gut of our doctors.
However, I have to say, it's really a problem when we take a drug that stops us from becoming protected from COVID-19, and it's a bigger problem when our doctors don't tell us about it.
Please make sure if you do take methotrexate that you talk to your doctor about this immediately. Why don't you also ask your doctor how come they didn't inform you about this problem so that you don't end up in the same situation that I'm in, having two vaccinations and a booster, having no antigen response, and now probably having to fight to get another injection.
This has been Joel Nowak for Cancer ABCs.
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