If you’re being treated with methotrexate for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or psoriasis, you’re likely aware that this medication is an immunosuppressant, which can weaken your immune system. While methotrexate is highly effective for managing autoimmune diseases, it also increases the risk of infections. So, learning how to boost your immune system while taking methotrexate is crucial. There are several strategies that can help create a balance between the medication’s immune-suppressing effects and staying healthy and fit, ensuring you stay protected while benefiting from your treatment.
What is the Immune System?
The immune system is the body’s defense mechanism. It protects you against harmful germs such as bacteria and viruses, which might cause your sickness. In the absence of it, there would be no system stopping infections and diseases from roaming inside your body.
How Does the Immune System Work?
An immune system works by destroying any harmful factors that enter the body. It uses special cells called white blood cells to detect germs. These cells serve the functions of being soldier-like; they would fight for the body against anything alien.
When germs enter your system, the immunity present in the body lets loose. And with antibodies as proteins that kill these germs, your immune system sends it out. When you ever learn how to defeat a particular germ, your body remembers exactly how to defeat it. That is why you do not contract certain illnesses like chickenpox a second time in your life.
Top Trending Tips for Boosting Your Immune System
1. Healthy through a Nutrient-Dense Diet
“Eat to make it work,” says the popular phrase by an American dietitian. The body is enabled to fight infection, hence remain healthy, through what food. This may be achieved through taking a diet that improves immunity as follows.
- Fresh fruits and vegetables: Add fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors. Fruits include citrus fruits, berries, leafy green vegetables, and bell peppers. Most of them are rich in vitamins C and antioxidants, which will increase immune function.
- Lean proteins: Chicken, fish, beans, and lentils all contain the essential amino acids needed to manufacture immune cells.
- Healthy Fats: You would include such sources of healthy fats as olive oil, avocados, and nuts. Healthy fats reduce the inflammation within the body, making it work towards overall well-being.
- Grains: These oats, quinoa, brown rice, and others are distinguished by high fiber and nutrients affecting the gut and immune system.
Don’t forget to drink a lot of water in a day. Hydration aids very correctly in the working of detox processes in your body. It assists in the total working mechanism of the immune system.
2. Exercise Regularly
Exercising is the other way of boosting immunity while one is taking methotrexate. Exercise has been shown to improve blood circulation and dilute inflammation and can wake up positive inside one’s body to fight infections. However, over-exercises when tired by methotrexate are over-straining; light to moderate exercises are safe and useful.
Some useful exercises include:
- Walking: A brisk walk for half an hour daily can keep the system moving without much stress to the body.
- Yoga: Gentle yoga or stretching exercises cut down your level of stress, keep you relaxed, and improve the functions of the immunity system.
- Swimming: If you have joint pains and stiffness because of the condition, swimming is a no-strain exercise that can also be relaxing as well as helpful.
Book at least one day’s notice for consultation should you develop flare-ups or flare-ups as sometimes these will flare up because of your illness.
3. Sleep and Rest
You need to sleep a lot when you are taking methotrexate because it will increase your body’s immunity. Rest is required by the body to regain energy to fight infections, and heal from the daily activities of life. Chronic sleep loss impairs infection responses and makes you susceptible to many diseases.
Sleep smarter with this how-to do it:
- Establish a routine: You begin waking up at the same time daily with retirement at an early age. This sets your biological clock.
- Sleep in a peaceful environment: Your sleeping room ought to be quiet, dark, and warm. Try reading or meditation before you fall into sleep mode.
- Limit the screen time before sleep: The screens of your mobile phone or computer contain a blue light interference on the release of your body’s hormone responsible for controlling its sleep, melatonin.
Sleeping for at least 7 to 9 hours in quality is very necessary to keep your body powered to maintain its needed levels of immunity.
4. Stress level
Combat the chronic stress level on a significant scale because it destroys your immune system and exposes you to various infections when one is on medication, for instance, methotrexate. Cortisol is the hormone produced by your body’s systems when you are stressed; this hormone will increasingly suppress the function of your immune with significant exposure.
Now include a few of these in your lives, so the stress does not catch up with you.
- Mindfulness meditation: Spend a few minutes in the day to do some mindfulness meditation. Just be conscious of your breathing. Focus on the present time; that will reduce your anxiety levels and keep the stress away.
- Deep Breathing Exercise: The most you are going to do is calm down your nervous system by doing simple breathing exercises. Next, every time you start to feel crumpled, try taking slow deep breaths for a couple of minutes or so.
- Journaling: You can simply journal your thoughts and feelings. Just write it all out to help you get through all the stress and let negative emotions pass.
- Hobby time: Read, garden, or paint. All these things can relax a person and keep stress at bay.
5. Supplements that Improve the Immune System (under Medical Supervision)
There are a few supplements that are useful when on methotrexate treatment which can boost your immune system, of course, under medical supervision. Some interactions may make the potential side effects worse from those drugs and also decrease the efficacy of methotrexate.
Among the most frequently used additives to improve the immunity of a human being are:
- Vitamin C: Use vitamin C so that your immunity is intact because it will help your body fight the infection. You can get it through citrus, or you may get supplements from your doctor.
- Vitamin D: The immunocompromised state has been linked to several studies with vitamin D deficiency. Unless you spend substantial hours in the sun, then seek your doctor’s prescription for supplements.
- Zinc: This trace mineral will help us to boost our immune system. Perhaps, it can even shorten the period of cold, flu, or other infection. Important note: Too high a dose of zinc has been reported to suppress the immune response. Consult to obtain them only as prescribed.
- Probiotics: Probiotics help to maintain health in that they contribute to helping function of the gut more accurately, the inside heart of our immune system. You can acquire probiotics by taking yogurt or kefir or supplement with them.
Always consult your doctor before starting any supplements, as this ensures they don’t conflict with the effects of methotrexate. Additionally, discussing your options allows for a more tailored approach to your health.
6. Vaccination Schedule
One’s immune system is very susceptible while on methotrexate, so one should keep vaccinations up to date. Vaccines will provide a defense mechanism against infections that might be much worse had one’s immune system been weakened.
Ask your doctor what you can safely take as you continue with methotrexate. There are vaccines that one should not take, like the live vaccines. Some vaccines are okay. Flu or pneumonia vaccines are examples of the vaccines that one can take 7. Maintain hygiene
7. Communication with Your Doctor
As far as how to boost immune system while taking methotrexate is concerned, the first thing to do is have a very good communication relationship with your doctor. They will be keenly observing the working of your immune system and altering the drug if it wearies out. Moreover, your doctor will better be able to give you advice that suits your needs for health while on methotrexate-so you can become better and feel stronger.
If you experience any form of condition, say infections that keep coming back, fever, or weakness that seems to linger for a long time, seek medical attention. The doctor will adjust your methotrexate dosage and provide further treatment to improve your immunity.
Conclusion
This may be a good treatment for some autoimmune diseases, but methotrexate suppresses your immune system and you are prone to infections. Here are a few trending tips on maintaining a healthy immune system while on methotrexate so that you get the best out of your health during the period of methotrexate treatment:
Proper diet, physical activity, sleep, stress management, and hygiene should be ensured.Then, a supplement or a vaccine would likely be part of the best practice additions for health assurance. However, only you and your doctor can discuss any changes to these practice measures. Moreover, by taking all of this into consideration, a patient can indeed maintain their immunity even while undergoing methotrexate treatment.