I’m fortunate to have clicked with the first rheumatologist I saw. I’m also fortunate in that he’s quite holistic and realizes that my husband and I are in this fight together.
Maybe six months in (I think–may have been a year), my doc said a rare glass of wine was okay with him. I don’t drink wine so I asked if a rare glass of Amaretto or Scotch was okay with him. He said a rare glass of wine. Sigh…
I drink enough water to offset my refusal to give up Diet Coke so for the most part, I’m okay with not drinking “spirits.” Last year, I broke the fast (sort of). We were out with friends and I had a sip of a bourbontini and a bit of bread pudding with bourbon sauce (Kentuckians will do anything with bourbon). I will say, however, that about 10 days ago, a client who has been driving me to distraction made me very much regret that when my husband and I were at dinner that night, I couldn’t have an Amaretto on the rocks.
Subq injections are fairly simple. I found I made myself more neurotic in drawing the med into the syringe than injecting it–other than the time I injected sub-q and it left a lump. That night, my usually very patient husband gritted his teeth and ordered me into the shower. Once I got out, the lump was gone (of course). He didn’t say I told you so either. After she quit laughing, a nurse friend later told me I probably hadn’t quite hit the sub-q part that night.
Interesting. I was a Diet Coke stalwart. Adored it. Drank at least 2 cans a day. About 6 months ago I just thought this stuff isn’t good for me. No idea where that came from but it suddenly didn’t seem sensible drinking it anymore. And I haven’t since. I think it was to do with the chemicalised sweetners thing. I’m thankfully not that interested in proper sugar but somehow I thought why then take artificial sweetners instead?
I haven’t missed it even more oddly. But I know I’ll miss my wine. Lower end of the alcohol scale though, can’t stand over alcoholised wines either so it’s 12% or below. 11% is good. 10.5% is even better. So sorry Australia, most of New Zealand, much of South Africa and California, I just can’t drink your wines. But I can drink Italian ones most of all and many French and thankfully British ones too! And sometimes those from Chile. Italian are best though. White or Rose only though too. Red wine gives me a sinus headache before I’ve finished the first glass!
In the UK they’ve told me I can still drink wine on mxt. But given its liver issues, I’ll wait a while to see how I do.
Funny thing about Diet coke… My Rheumy (who allows me to drink BTW) cut me off Diet Coke and limits my coffee to 1 or 2 a day (not sure if its cups or pots so I opted for pots and keep my mouth shut) It seems that what causes the "liver problems (which are fewer than 1 in 1000) is the production of adenosine. MTX causes it alcohol causes it but CAFFEINE causes it more than either on of the two. In an even stranger quirk, adenosine also blocks other chemicals that promote inflammation.
AND as long as I am poring out trivia, Let me explain Red wine headaches. THEY ARE TOTALLY avoidable. just don’t consume sugar and drink an equal amount of water as wine. AND If it comes from a box or has a critter on the label DON’T drink it. it’s suspect for headache potential. Poorly made wines tend to have more adulteration such as residual sugar, sulfur, fining agents or higher alcohol to make them taste better. (generally they are diluted with water and sugar added befor primary fermentation. There is less Tannin in Red wine than that vile substance called tea. Seenie can explain it better than I. I just make the stuff.
To give you an example There is a wine called Opus 1 a Bordeaux-style blend which sells for depending on the vintage as much as $350.00 a bottle. You can get the same flavor profile (its the same grapes and blend from the very same vineyard) in a Robert Mondavi Maestro Red Blend for 30.00 (or less/bottle) The only difference is instead of fermenting pure must, they add water and sugar. It would take an amazing palate to tell the difference. One would give you a doozy of a headache and one would not…
Re what tntlamb says about managing Mtx, scheduling, ensuring good fluid intake, folic acid etc. and also about avoiding red wine headaches … It seems to me that this is the story of living with PsA. Everything’s possible, pretty much, but we have to re-think how we do it.
Laughing tntlamb. Love the trivia. I too ‘dislike’ tea and will only drink it when I have to be ‘polite’. Given I get a buzz out of coffee so that if I drink any of it after around midday, I’m still wandering around the house at 2am - saying ‘what shall I do now?’ I limit my coffee to mornings only and would rarely manage more than three cups (not pots!). So it looks like I’m set up for mxt then doesn’t it? I even love drinking water - amazing isn’t it? Wish I had taken your advice last May though and persisted in taking it then too, instead of indulging in my temper tantrum instead, necessary and all as it was then too.
Thanks Mr Lamb though for making me smile today. Hope you’re having a decent enough day too.
I have no pain to speak of when I give my injection, but everybody has a different pain threshold and different things that cause pain. My PsA pain wasn’t severely “painful” as most of us would describe pain, but it was so constant and nagging and it made me feel ill all of the time–that’s what got to me! A doctor once told me when they ask us to rate our pain on the 1 to 10 scale, we should think of the “pain” as how intolerable it is, how irritating or how scary. I tend to compare pain to getting my body charred in a fire, which to me would be a 10, or the intense pain of labor, which I rate a 9. When I think of the pain in my feet, I rate it at its worst as a 7 or 8–and a 7 or 8 lasting for hours on end isn’t fun.
About sticking a needle into me, it’s like Cynthia said, it’s more the fact that we are sick with a disease that is controlled by a med that has to be injected…it’s great the med is available to us, but it’s, in a way, bothersome that we can’t just be well and normal and not have to take the injection or any meds for that matter in order to feel good. We must have empathy for people like ourselves or with any disease that requires meds, treatments or other procedures or life alterations in order to exist–I do think a lot of us with PsA are very lucky that we have less than severe disease that can be controlled to a good degree with biologics and, outside of that once a week injection and a few pain meds during the week our lives are almost normal. I’m very aware that I’m fortunate to ONLY have PsA–if I have to be sick, I know this is far from the worst sickness or disability. (I still complain a lot, though haha!)
Aged just 17, yes really, I drank far too much Southern Comfort. Far, far too much. To this day I step backwards when I smell any whisky, whiskey, or brandy or anything similar. As for actually drinking any of it, I just can’t do it. I could prehaps manage a Baileys over ice at Christmas time though.
Laughing Sybil, I was the girl who probably should have been hospitalised, the one in a heap in the corner, that people had started to dance around:slight_smile:. But here’s an example of my phobia of throwing up. During that horrendous episode I didn’t throw up once. I might have felt a whole better far sooner if I had!
I was in bed for 2 weeks. Since then I’ve only drunk spirits very, very occasionally with ceremonial reverence. I’ve downed many gallons of alcohol since then but spirits scare the pants off me. I don’t think my PsA bod can take them at all.
I can’t remember the recovery period length. It was a New Year’s Eve party but I certainly know the first few days of the New Year that year passed me by completely. Somehow I also seemed to hide how utterly dreadful I was feeling from my parents too. God knows how! The advantage of being the youngest child I guess.
So I regard spirits ever after with a sense of fear! I drink the odd G&T in the summer and that’s about it!
