What are immunosuppressants?
Immunosuppressants are drugs that keep your immune system working as it should. Normally, your immune system is an infection-fighting machine that targets intruders like viruses, bacteria and cancerous cells. But sometimes, your immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues by mistake. Immunosuppressants can slow or stop this response. But immunosuppressants also weaken your immune system, increasing your risk of viral, bacterial and fungal infections.
When do healthcare providers use immunosuppressants?
Healthcare providers prescribe immunosuppressants to treat autoimmune diseases. People who have organ transplants or stem cell transplants (bone marrow transplants) receive immunosuppressants so their immune systems don’t attack the transplanted organ or stem cells.
Autoimmune diseases
If you have an autoimmune disease, it means your immune system stops protecting your body from invaders and starts attacking healthy tissue and cells. Immunosuppressants hold back your immune system, helping prevent further cell damage and inflammation. These drugs minimize symptoms. They can even put some autoimmune diseases into remission (where you have no signs of the disease).
You may need immunosuppressants if you have one of these autoimmune diseases:
Stem cell (bone marrow) transplants
Sometimes, people with blood cancers, blood disorders or bone marrow issues have allogeneic stem cell transplants. These transplants use donated stem cells to replace unhealthy stem cells so your body can start building a new immune system. Healthcare providers treat many conditions with stem cell transplants, including:
This new immune system may view your body as foreign and start attacking your healthy tissues and organs. This is called graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). Immunosuppressants can lower the chances of GvHD, and are used to help prevent and treat GVHD. You may receive different intravenous (IV) or oral immunosuppressants for several days, weeks or months during and after a stem cell transplant. You may need to take immunosuppressants for years until your new immune system settles down.
Organ transplants
If you need an organ transplant, immunosuppressants reduce the risk that your body will reject the transplanted organ. Organ rejection happens because your immune system knows the transplanted organ is new to your body and will treat it like an intruder that should be destroyed. Immunosuppressants protect newly transplanted organs by keeping your immune system’s response managed.
FAQs
Immunosuppressants offer lifesaving benefits for many people. But suppressing your immune system can lead to side effects and increase your risk of health complications like infections. In some cases, those infections could be life-threatening.
Can you live a normal life on immunosuppressants? ›
The most important thing for you to understand is that although you are taking immunosuppressants, your immune system is still working. You should be able to live your life as usual. Taking immunosuppressants reduces the effectiveness of your immune system, but your body can still fight infections.
What do immunosuppressants do to the body? ›
Immunosuppressant is a class of medicines that inhibit or decrease the intensity of the immune response in the body. Most of these medications, are used to allow the body less likely to resist a transplanted organ i.e., kidney, heart and liver.
What happens if you don't take immunosuppressants? ›
Even missing a single dose may make it more likely for you to have a rejection. The only time you should skip a dose is if your doctor or other health care team member tells you to do so.
What is the strongest immunosuppressant? ›
Cyclophosphamide (Baxter's Cytoxan) is probably the most potent immunosuppressive compound. In small doses, it is very efficient in the therapy of systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune hemolytic anemias, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and other immune diseases.
Do immunosuppressants affect life expectancy? ›
Results: 1184 patients were included in the study, and 10% of them were using immunosuppressants. Any immunosuppressant use was associated with increased risk of death, and the risk appeared to increase if the dose of the medicine was higher.
What to avoid while on immunosuppressants? ›
Avoid raw or rare meat and fish and uncooked or undercooked eggs. Cook meat until it's well-done. Thoroughly cook eggs (no runny yolks) and avoid foods containing raw eggs such as raw cookie dough or homemade mayonnaise. Avoid unpasteurized beverages, such as fruit juice, milk and raw milk yogurt.
How can I boost my immune system while on immunosuppressants? ›
When on an immunosuppressive treatment plan, your diet can be a useful way to support your body and strengthen it when fighting off potential infections. A diet that consists of fiber-rich foods plus vitamins and minerals can go a long way toward helping you battle infection and illness while on immunosuppressants.
Should you boost your immune system if you have an autoimmune disease? ›
Dr. Werth, who is a member of TMA's Medical Advisory Board, has noticed increased symptoms in her DM patients while using immune boosting supplements, and has done studies that support the supplements as a cause. She urges those with autoimmune skin diseases like DM and lupus to avoid immune boosting supplements.
What is the most common autoimmune disease? ›
While there are more than 100 different kinds of autoimmune disorders, the most common ones include:
- Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis)
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
- Lupus.
- Type 1 diabetes.
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Scleroderma.
- Psoriasis.
- Psoriatic arthritis.
Alternatively, stopping these drug therapies may result in negative outcomes such as disease relapse, drug desensitization, bowel damage and need for surgery.
What is a natural alternative to immunosuppressive drugs? ›
Natural immunosuppressant compounds, derived from plant sources like curcumin, luteolin, piperine, resveratrol are known to inhibit the production and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.
Can you be on immunosuppressants for life? ›
Medications After a Transplant. After an organ transplant, you will need to take immunosuppressant (anti-rejection) drugs. These drugs help prevent your immune system from attacking ("rejecting") the donor organ. Typically, they must be taken for the lifetime of your transplanted organ.
Why are immunosuppressants called a necessary evil? ›
“These medications are sort of a necessary evil. You can't live without them, because you might reject your organ.
What happens if I get sick while on immunosuppressants? ›
Risk of Infection
However, sometimes serious and even life-threatening infections may happen. Taking an immunosuppressant might make you more likely to get sick from a common illness, like a cold. In some cases, it might make you more likely to get sick from something that usually doesn't cause people to get sick.
How long does it take for immunosuppressants to take effect? ›
Your child will not notice any immediate effects of taking immunosuppressant medicines as they take some weeks to start working. Most children take immunosuppressant medicines for two to three years.
