1. Community
  2. Bones, joints and muscles
  3. Ankylosing Spondylitis

pneumonia from methotrexate

Posted , 2 users are following.

denise____84544
denise____84544

3 months ago I was diagnozed with severe bilateral multilobar pneumonia and in hospital for 2 weeks - I was lucky to survive.  Rheumatologist feels that it was a toxic reaction to the methotrexate ive been on for 1 year as I had no signs of a cold or flu beforehand or near anyone with the flu.  Doctors could not treat it with prednisone as Im allergic to it.  I had no cough at all during the pneumonia.  The doctors were scratching their heads for quite awhile. Has anyone in our AS community had a similar experience?  Have you been left with scarring in the lungs?  Thankyou.

1 like, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • TreatMeGently
    TreatMeGently denise____84544

    Posted

    Hi Denise

    I find this interesting that the Rheumi thought it was a 'toxic reaction'

    Have you ever heard that Ankylosing Spondylitis is associated with Klebsiella Pneumonia bacteria - from the gut (so I am sure a lung infection would be the same).  There is a lot of evidence that AS is a form of reactive arthritis - and that the bacterial 'infection' doesn't have to be a true infection - it can be sub-clinical but still cause the immune system to trigger an arthritis reaction.

    it is possible that you had a slight infection and that the methotrexate - stopped your immune system from fighting it.

    Research in to a bacterial cause has been progressed for many years, particularly from a professor called Ebringer - google 'ebringer Klebsiella ' - and have a look at the kickas.org website.

    i have been fighting my AS with diet and supplements for 22 years.

    Are you ok now?

    • denise____84544
      denise____84544 TreatMeGently

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply and I found it interesting what youve said.  I will definitely look it up.  I am improving every day.  My gp and my rheumatologist have both said not to go back on the methotrexate as should it happen again I may not be so lucky.I started to feel unwell on the sunday(nearly passed out twice), went to gp on the monday (he put me on very strong antibiotics after xrays showing pneumonia). Got worse and went to ER on the wednesday and within two hours of being there went from dangerous to critical.  No cough or sputum whatsoever.  Drs treated me with strong iv antibiotics - I didnt improve until day 10 after they decided to stop the methotrexate. So yeah it is a bit of a quandrey as to what was really the cause. Im seeing the hospital in a few weeks for xrays to check my lungs are ok. As you can imagine , my husband was climbing the ceiling the whole time.  Thankyou for the information.  Best wishes.
    • hope4cure
      hope4cure denise____84544

      Posted

      Hi.. This subject has a lot of interest. U experienced One of the many side effects from MTX. 

      My personal thoughts with DEMARDS & bios ...it may help somr.. May stop working after dosages has reached its highest level or since these drugs shut down the immune system UR exposed to many illness even some side effects as serious as rare blood diseases.

      my rhumey has asked that I take these drugs... They are not for me.

      CHEERS

      HOPE

      happry to hear u t doing well...

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.