You should contact your provider if you miss a dose. For transplant recipients, a missed dose can put you at risk for organ rejection or GVHD complications. Skipping one day of medicine can cause an autoimmune disease flare-up (return or worsening of symptoms). You should take the prescribed medicine daily, preferably at the same time each day. It’s important to follow your healthcare provider’s directives. Immunosuppressants have powerful effects. Stem cell transplant recipients may be able to stop taking the drugs after the risk of GVHD passes. People with autoimmune diseases and organ transplants often take these medicines for life. Your healthcare provider may increase or decrease the dosage depending on symptoms and side effects. You’ll get more frequent blood tests to monitor drug effectiveness and side effects. What follow-up care do I need when taking immunosuppressants? Monoclonal antibodies such as basiliximab (Simulect®).Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors such as sirolimus (Rapamune®).Janus kinase inhibitors such as tofacitinib (Xeljanz®).Inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMDH) inhibitors such as mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept®).Calcineurin inhibitors such as tacrolimus (Envarsus XR® or Protopic) and cyclosporine (Gengraf®, Neoral® or Sandimmune®).Biologics such as adalimumab (Humira®) and infliximab (Remicade®).You may receive immunosuppressants as a pill or liquid, IV or injection (shot). Your provider will select a medicine (or a combination of immunosuppressants) based on your specific condition and symptoms. But there are many types of immunosuppressants. What are the types of immunosuppressants?Ĭorticosteroids, such as prednisone, are among the most common immunosuppressants that healthcare providers prescribe. You may need to take immunosuppressants for years until the new immune system settles down. You receive different intravenous (IV) or oral immunosuppressants for several weeks to months during and after a stem cell transplant. Immunosuppressants lower the chances of GVHD. This leads to graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The immune system may attack healthy tissues and organs. Sometimes, this new immune system views your body as foreign. After a transplant, donor cells begin to build a new immune system in your body (the host). People who have an autologous transplant don’t need immunosuppressant medications.Īllogeneic stem cell transplants replace diseased cells in your body with healthy ones from a donor (called a graft). Some stem cell transplants use your own cells (autologous transplant). Bone marrow problems like aplastic anemia.Blood disorders like sickle cell disease and thalassemia.Blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.Stem cell transplants can treat many conditions, including: What’s the role of immunosuppressants in stem cell (bone marrow) transplants? Healthcare providers commonly prescribe prednisone for organ transplantation. The medication dosage may decrease over time as your immune system adjusts to the new organ. To prevent organ rejection, you’ll need to take immunosuppressants (maintenance drugs) every day for life. You will receive strong doses of immunosuppressants (induction agents) at the time of the organ transplantation. Immunosuppressants control this response, protecting the new organ.
It perceives the new organ as a threat and will try to destroy it. Your immune system knows the new organ isn’t part of your original body. What’s the role of immunosuppressants in organ transplants?įor people who get organ transplants, immunosuppressants help prevent organ rejection.
You may need immunosuppressants if you have one of these autoimmune diseases: They can even put an autoimmune disease into remission (you have no signs of the disease). Immunosuppressants hold back the immune system, helping to prevent cell damage and inflammation. Depending on which part of the body is under attack, this response can lead to different types of autoimmune diseases. The immune system essentially turns against the body and attacks it. When you have an autoimmune disease, the immune system mistakes healthy tissue and cells for foreign invaders (like germs). What’s the role of immunosuppressants in autoimmune diseases? Your healthcare provider may recommend immunosuppressants if you have: Immunosuppressants can slow or stop this response. But sometimes, the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells and tissues. The body’s immune system helps fight off infections that cause illness. Immunosuppressants are drugs that keep your immune system in check.
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