Methotrexate & alcohol
Izabella22
member
Just wondering if anyone else who had the shot was told to not drink? My doc said 2 weeks. Which means if I have a shot this friday it'll be another 2 weeks... and that is just too long to not have a drink for any reason other than pregnancy. I want wine so badly. Just a nice glass or two of riesling, or a nice fat merlot. I don't want to destroy my liver, but my doctor did have to look up ectopic cervical pgcy online, so I'm feeling less than confident about her opinions on anything at the moment.
I'm also a little miffed at her anyways because of her whole... dont' be anxious, but if you need to go to the ER you HAVE to call us because "we all know about your situation and the ER docs don't know how to handle your case" - for one... thanks for the confidence booster and quelling all my fears, and glad to know the whole ob office has had a nice chat about me. And yet, you can't even give me a decent answer about how long this might take... or let me have a friggen drink! Ugh... I'm so irritable.
Re: Methotrexate & alcohol
please excuse the snarkiness, but....really? you can't go without alcohol for 2 weeks? really?
my guess is that it would have to do with the bleeding that you're possibly going through and the fact that alcohol thins your blood and would therefore make the bleeding even worse.
the length of time is different for everyone. hence why your dr can't tell you how long it will take. and i personally would take comfort in having a dr that would want to know if i felt the need to go to the ER so that the dr could inform the ER. i would hate to show up in the ER and be treated incorrectly because i couldn't adequately relay my situation to the doctors.
Actually I can, and have gone without, but since I'm not pg anymore and they don't give me any firm reasons (ie. it interacts w/ the medication) just say no - I was just curious if anyone else got a different spiel. And yeah, it'd be nice to have a glass of wine since I'm pretty much restricted from doing any activities that I enjoy until this is over.
I understand it will be different, this loss is far different from my 1st m/c. But knowing my doctor really has no experience with cervical ectopic pregnancy isn't really comforting, and for someone with anxiety being told that basically I can't leave the area just in case something happens, is pretty frustrating and nerve-wracking (as they insult me for having anxiety in the first place).
but...all of it makes sense. at least it does to me. with an ectopic pregnancy you run the risk of your tube rupturing. i would think that sticking close to the area, just incase, would be beneficial *should* anything happen and you need emergency surgery. further, you are still going through rounds of bloodwork. you have at least 2 more rounds to go probably, while they make sure that your levels drop. they aren't really close to 0 yet, so there's still potential for something to happen. i'm not saying that anything will happen, it's just the potential.
again, alcohol thins your blood. you're bleeding. hence, alcohol will make it worse. your doctor advised you not to drink. i don't think you need to have a "firm" answer as to why you can't have alcohol. i think it's common sense. it's more concerning that you are so hung up over the fact that you can't have a drink for 2 weeks.
a few years ago i went and got a tattoo. afterwards i went to dinner. without thinking, i had a beer with dinner. no big deal. the next morning i remember thinking how much more the new tattoo was bleeding than the others. it was a few days later when i realized that it had been dumb of me to have a beer so soon after getting ink done, because it thinned out my blood and made the already bleeding wound bleed even more.
TTC since 5/2010
DX with Diminished Ovarian Reserve - AMH of 1.1 - 7/2011; AMH of .42 8/2012BFP 9/1/10-M/C confirmed 9/8/10-Methotrexate 10/6/10
IUI #1 (w/clomid)-9/5/11-BFN ; IUI #2 (w/clomid)-10/5/11 - BFP - 11/1/12-No sac seen; 11/2/11 and 11/9/11-Methotrexate
IVF #1- ER 2/2; ET 2/5;-Two 8 cell embryos transfered = BFFN
Surprise BFP - 5/7/12
U/S on 6/8/12 - H/B at 128 BPM; U/S on 6/14/12 @ 9wks-No H/B-D&C on 6/17/12
IVF 2.0- ER 10/17; ET 10/20-One 12 cell, one 10 cell and one 8 cell embryo transfered
BFP! 11/16/12 U/S- Two nuggets with perfect heartbeats! EDD 7/10/13
5/31/2013- My miracles arrived at 34w2d! Welcome to the world Harper and Nolan!
My Blog- http://waitingonaangel.wordpress.com/
MandaS08 and Ellermarie: Thanks for your responses, I guessed it might be that the mtx is hard on the liver since they mention liver function monitoring in the paperwork. It was weird b/c she did tell me to avoid folic acid and not take any muti's but I just didn't know if the no alcohol was a scripted response or if anyone had heard a medical reason, other than "don't". We might go out with friends Thursday night so I'll be right on the cusp of the 2 week mark. The ob I'm seeing for this loss isn't my usual and she's much more cautious, and slightly less experienced. I miss my old ob.
carcrashheart - Do you have any experience with mtx, or are you just being a PITA? If you bothered to read my hcg levels, you might have noticed I have a cervical ectopic, so my tube isn't going to rupture, nor is my cervix. I am fully aware that my levels will take some time to drop, as this isn't my first time around with loss. And if she were worried about bleeding, she would have warned me about aspirin, which she did not. If it really concerns you about my wanting a drink, why do you keep reading this post? I am looking for what others have heard from their doctors about mtx and drinking, so thanks for your concern, but not really what i was looking for.
I was told not to drink for one week. Reason being the shot is extremely toxic to your liver and your liver functioning is checked at your 4 and 7 day blood (not just your hcg). At my weekly follow-up I asked about drinking (because we were going on vacation to Cancun) and my doctor cleared me.
And yes you have to stay close that first week. My doctor only cleared me to go away on vacation because my levels dropped so quickly. But she clearly said that if I had any of the really bad symptoms on the list to get my a$$ to an ER pronto and call her (yes even from Mexico).
Your doctor has your health and life in mind, even if her recommendations are not fitting into the way you want to live at the moment.
6/14/10 BFP; 6/30/10 Dx ectopic
11/16/10 BFP #2; DD born 7/26/11
i also had an ectopic pregnancy and the mtx shot. so....yay i win! i get to have an opinion! i'm one for following doctors orders, even if i'm leery of the doctor. i figure that they went through more schooling than i, so they probably have a better idea than i do or dr. google. i'm just not understanding whining about wanting a drink and pouting because you can't have one for a few more days. it's unknown to me. i haven't pouted because i couldn't drink since college. and as the other girls told you-it's hard on your liver. sounds like a good enough reason to me. but then again, i prefer to have an intact liver if at all possible. also, some people need to have mtx shots given more than once if their levels are not decreasing as they should. i wouldn't say that your levels have put you in the clear from having to have another mtx shot just yet. the levels are decreasing, but they're still somewhat high. and i read it because i'm trying to grasp the concept of not being able to go 2 weeks without a glass of wine. so far, i am unable to grasp.