Penicillen + Ra. Meds. | Arthritis Information

Hi! I have an affected tooth and I am on Penicillen for 10 days. My Ra. Dr. said I should stop my Ra. meds. for a week or so. I was wondering if I should or not? I do not want the Ra pain coming back. What should I do??

Paul, I would suggest you do what your doc says. Your RA drugs can keep the infection in your tooth from healing well and keep the penicillin from doing it's job. It's unlikely that you will start flairing after a week off them, but you didn't say what you are on for your RA.

Listen to your doctor. The antibiotics will not work as well because most RA drugs lower your immune system. You may have the infection longer or it may get worse if you stay on the meds while taking the antibiotics. Mine always makes me stop my meds whenever I am on an antibiotic. I am on Humira/Arava/Mtx/Folic acid.
Paul5238926.8378472222Penecillin increases the toxicity of MTX in your system. That might be a
reason. My dr. only prescribes sulpher antibiotics when I'm sick.

beckyI am scheduled for surgery in August and my orthopedic doc said I would heal better if I was off my MTX for awhile but he didn't want me to go into a flare and so he deferred to my Rheumy to decide how to handle it. So even the docs think the Rheumy's are the last deal on med changes! So if your Rheumy says stop them, I think I would comply. One week probably won't make a big difference in your RA but it might make a big difference in your infection.

Having said that, I have been told I will be off meds for 3 weeks (one week preop and two weeks afterwards) and like you, I hate messing with the status quo, but I also want my surgical site to heal so will do what I am told. I doubt 3 weeks will make a difference long-term but it is a bit scary I must admit.

Take care and I hope you feel better soon.
Jeanne

Paul~we're in the exact same boat Buddy. My tooth was KILLING me last weekend so I didn't take my scheduled meds because it was obvious there was a problem; no doubt an infection. I had a root canel on Tuesday and I too am on amoxicillen.

I'm supposed to be on them for 10 days. I was actually thinking I was going to re-start my meds tonight since the tooth feels better; but now I'm second guessing that. I'm not sure what to do now.

I'm already a week behind.

Hi! Everybody, I do not want to stop my Ra meds. for longer than a week. The meds I am on a doing a good job. Sunday is my Humira day and Fri. night is my Mtx day. I take 20.mg. of Arava daily. I have not taking any Ra meds. since Thursday the 27. This is the first time I ever had to stop taking my meds. I m taking 800mg. of ibuprofen for any pain right now. I have Vicodin if I need it to..

You probably are not going to notice a difference with a week off. It takes awhile before these medicines leave your system. But they can really cause infections to get serious quickly. Do listen to your Rheumy on this one. I got bronchitis once on Enbrel and stopped everything right away and a fungal infection. Both took forever to clear up even with going off the Enbrel.

They have taken me of MTX a couple of times because of poor liver tests. But no more than a couple of weeks. That's tolerable.

Because dental work pours all that ugly bacteria in your system, it is very important to be careful. You risk not only an infection at the site, but something else in your body. People who have joint replacements and faulty valves have to take antibiotics before any dental work for just this reason.

I'm going with that advice Deanna. I hate being off my meds too....but I've gone alot longer before. I'd rather skip a couple weeks than be set back a month or more.

That's what happened to me last summer. The thrid week was hard....but by week four it was even worse.

I'm going into my second week now.....and yeah; I can feel myself starting to stiffen up. For me; even a week off my MTX and I know it. I'm not sure how much I miss the Humira; but the MTX makes a difference that quickly for me.

Not terrible pain....but bad stiffness fairly quick.