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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder if/why SIL takes this medication....(could be long)

141 replies

BabylonElf · 28/12/2012 21:43

MIL told me and DH today that SIL has been taking methotrexate chemotherapy tablets for her psoriasis for about 7 years and this is why her immune system is fucked.

SIL is well known for being a total drama queen at the best of times, and if she has contact with one of DCs who has a little sniffle, then SIL will almost definitely contract full blown pneumonia and need to go to hospital, and be signed off work for at least 4 weeks. She works in a shop, and MIL is adamant that she is far too ill to be at work at all.

Every illness going, SIL develops, only with more/worse symptoms than anyone else.

For quite some time now, DH and I have been a bit Hmm about how ill she actually is, and find it all a bit unbelievable tbh.

I googled the methotrexate and Wikipedia told me that one of the most common side effects of it is very dry skin and a sore rash - which sounds a bit like psoriasis to me Confused

It also may be relevant to point out here that until recently she worked in a school where she would have come into contact with lots of sick children.

I'm asking here as I know how much traffic goes through here, it's not really an AIBU, more looking for clarification I think......

There's a big back history with SIL, so I can't ask her directly.......

So what do you think??

OP posts:
Filibear · 28/12/2012 21:46

This reply has been deleted

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Alisvolatpropiis · 28/12/2012 21:47

Psoriasis isn't just a "sore rash" - it can be an incredibly painful debilitating condition. It's a disability.

Dr's try all sorts to alleviate it because they don't know how to cure it.

By all means talk to your SIL about it

You can't catch it btw so it doesn't matter if she worked around ill children.

kinkyfuckery · 28/12/2012 21:50

I know my ex FIL takes some sort of cancer medication and also has radiation treatment for severe psoriasis.
Methotrexate also can cause lowered immunity, so I'd imagine the hospital admissions could be true.

ColourfulSmilies · 28/12/2012 21:50

psoriasis is an autoimmune disease and drugs like methotrexate are used for disorders affecting the immune system

ColourfulSmilies · 28/12/2012 21:53

For example my mum takes methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis

Pascha · 28/12/2012 21:53

Methotrexate is a controlled drug and is administered under direct care of hospital consultants with regular hospital monitoring. She would only ever have been prescribed it for a real and serious condition.

RandomMess · 28/12/2012 21:53

Dh takes it for psoriatic arthritis, he went from a fit football playing 34 year old to a hobbling in agony person in a matter of weeks due to PA, he has skin psorasis as well. The methotrexate stops the arthritis being as bad as it otherwise would be and his consultant told him he would probably end up crippled if he didn't take it.

Deux · 28/12/2012 21:53

I guess you haven't googled 'methotrexate for psoriasis' then.

Suggest you do.

JamesBexleySpeed · 28/12/2012 21:54

from wiki:
It is used as a treatment for some autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis

might be time to MYOB

CaptChaos · 28/12/2012 21:55

Methotrexate is used for the treatment of severe psoriasis. It suppresses the immune system, which is why it is prescribed for this, psoriasis being an auto-immune disease. By suppressing your SiL's immune system, taking Methotrexate could well cause her to catch everything going and to get it worse than usual, as she will find it harder to fight infections.

Info taken from the BNF, which tends to be a little more reliable than Wikipedia!

TeacupTempest · 28/12/2012 21:56

YAbu

tempnameswap · 28/12/2012 21:57

There may be back story OP but you don't sound that nice! Methotrexate is a serious drug that slows down cell division and in psoriasis the skin cells turn over too quickly. It has nasty side effects and she certainly wouldn't be taking it for 7 years for fun....

CajaDeLaMemoria · 28/12/2012 21:57

Wow. I'd read your OP back and some point and really think about what you've said. It sounds very mean and bitter.

If you've googled the medication, you'll have seen the type of thing it is prescribed for. You'll also have seen the side-effects, and that it needs to be prescribed. You cannot buy it without a prescription.

So a medical professional has decided that she needs the medicine, and a medical professional decides when she needs to be admitted to hospital. And so what if she catches illness a lot, and is often worst than anyone else?

I'm the same. Absolutely no immune system. I get ill, and I get ill badly. Then my medications stop me from healing. I've been hospitalised with pneumonia, whooping cough, a double kidney infection and an autoimmune problem within the last six months. I also catch chicken pox every time it goes around. I probably do moan about it. It drives me bonkers.

Perhaps she is a drama queen as a way of coping? Why is it unbelievable? Because it doesn't happen to you? Be glad. Be very, very glad.

It sounds incredibly bitter for you to be pulling apart her medications in this way. Just beyond mean.

Nobody wants to be ill. It's not a competition.

I would be so, so hurt if someone questioned me because they feel I'm a drama queen and couldn't believe I could actually be so ill. Especially with as much evidence as your SIL has.

AlreadyScone · 28/12/2012 21:57

Blimey how awful for her to live with psoriasis so bad that she has to take such heavy-duty drugs.

Alisvolatpropiis · 28/12/2012 22:00

Oh and YABVU.

It's a serious medical condition considered a disability. She wouldn't be able to get the drugs if she didn't need them. It's not like you can buy them from the local pharmacy.

Having lived with a parent who has severe psoriasis I have seen how bloody horrible it can be. Physically painful and utterly devastating to self esteem. Depression is not uncommon in those who suffer with it very badly.

I grew up hearing fucking ignorant people making comments about my parent. I was all of 6 when I started answering their rude commens as loudly as I possibly could.

Do a bit of research and try to be compassionate. Or mind your own business and leave her alone.

larks35 · 28/12/2012 22:00

No idea about the drug you mention but as a former psoriasis sufferer I have to refute your suggestion that it is very dry skin and a sore rash. For me it was often hot, itchy, weeping spots on my torso, arms, legs and scalp. The doctors were no help really, I was misdiagnosed several times, scabies was one opinion, so I had a full-body iodine treatment which made it much worse.

The best treatment for me was sun, sea and lack of stress. I also discovered that contact with most metals would cause a flare up - watch straps, belt buckles, jewellery. Funnily enough I worked in retail when I had my worst bout, it isn't an easy job at all.

I seem to have grown out of it now and despite feeling stressed to the max at times psoriasis hasn't reared it's itchy head for at least 10 years - thank God!

It might be worth talking to your SIL about her treatment if you can do it sensitively. 7 years on a medication that doesn't seem to be working is not good. Conditions like psoriasis are often different depending on the person and what works for some won't work for others. Lifestyle changes and non-medicated treatments are often more effective.

ViperInTheManger · 28/12/2012 22:01

Patients on methotrexate also have to have regular blood tests to check that they are not developing nasty, possible life-threatening side-effects. It is not a medication that is used lightly.

lurkedtoolong · 28/12/2012 22:03

Wow. You really are judgmental and unsympathetic. I wonder why your SIL doesn't want to discuss her health issues with you.

mercibucket · 28/12/2012 22:04

poor sil. it's really sad that you and your dh have been thinking of her as a drams queen all these years when in fact she was and is taking v strong medication that suppresses her immune system. i hope you are more sympathetic in future.

Alisvolatpropiis · 28/12/2012 22:06

larks I hope you don't mind me asking but how did you get rid of your psoriasis? My parent suffers badly still,though is going through an unusually good phase and has been for a while,but in the end the treatments always stop working.

Alisvolatpropiis · 28/12/2012 22:07

Oh balls! Just read your entire post! I got over excited when I saw "former sufferer".

All of that has worked for my parent in the short term but not in the long term. Glad to hear it has cleared up for you though and hope it never returns.

CaptChaos · 28/12/2012 22:08

Plus YAB beyond U!

The blood tests Viper mentioned are to make sure your SiL's liver and kidneys are continuing to function normally.

Psoriasis has nothing to do with very dry skin and a sore rash. It is as others have said a debilitating auto-immune disease, which causes thickening of the skin due to increased cell division. To dismiss it so lightly is to massively underestimate how it can affect every part of a sufferer's life.

EllieQ · 28/12/2012 22:08

YABU to question the medication your SIL takes and imply she doesn't really need it! I assume you are not a doctor or nurse?

I have psoriatic arthritis (which is an auto-immune disease and is linked to psoriasis), and methrotrexate is one of the drugs that is used to treat it. Your research on Wikipedia should have informed you that it is used in chemotherapy to treat cancer, and in low doses can be used to treat auto-immune diseases like psoriasis.

I have not taken methrotrexate myself, so can't comment on the side-effects, but it is not a medication that would be prescribed lightly - when my doctor discussed it with me as a possible treatment, he was very clear about this (it cannot be taken if you're ttc or pregnant, for example).

I feel really offended on your SIL's behalf, and if I was her, I wouldn't be happy about MIL discussing the medication I was taking either!

Softlysoftly · 28/12/2012 22:08

From the responses above having actual knowledge of this I'd say it's time to stop being Hmm and start feeling a bit Blush don't you?

Birdsgottafly · 28/12/2012 22:08

I have an autoimmune condition, i am treated only by the hospital and when i first develop an illness (which to most people could be ignored) i have to get seen at the hospital as most GP's could not perscribe what i need at the point that i need it.

I am at risk of becoming seriously ill from a common illness, it is our immune systems that protect us, without a fully functioning one, care is needed.

I am often tired out by my immune system struggling to keep me well.

I came out of health care and went into social work because otherwise my body would be permanently under attack.

Why some people cannot accept that others are suffering from what could turn into a dangerous illness, just because they look well, i will never understand.

You are being bitchy.