Mycophenolate Mofetil – The Anti-Rejection Drug of Champions

First of all, I’d just like to mention something that I found funny. I have a site counter on my blog as you may have already noticed. This site counter also tells me if people google something and are brought to my page. I was looking at it just a few minutes ago and I noticed that somebody googled “I hate lupus” and my blog came up. I thought that was hilarious!

Now, back to business.

Mycophenolate Mofetil. I bet there are some people out there who take a bunch of pills simply because their doctors told them to. I bet most doctors even tell you what the drug is for…but sometimes when a doctor is giving you a whole bunch of information, and you’re trying to process that as well as the fact that you have to take medication to begin with….it can all be overwhelming.

Mycophenolate Mofetil is essentially a anti-rejection medication. It is given to patients after they’ve received an organ transplant.

When it comes to Lupus patients, Mycophenolate Mofetil (MMF) is a fantastically wonderful drug. While this drug’s first and main indication was to be a steriod-sparing immunosuppresant for those who have received transplants, it’s becoming more and more prescribed to Lupus patients as well. Since Lupus is an autoimmune disease, and mycophenolate is an anti-rejection medication, it seems to work well with many Lupus nephritis patients in suppressing the immune system from damaging the kidneys.

For someone like me, MMF came around at just the right time. The previous Lupus medication that I had just received was definitely being stopped (cyclophosphamide) due to all of the terrible side effects I had experienced….ya know, the seizures, the “i-almost-chewed-my-tongue-right-off” seizures. MMF was the perfect alternative for me. When my doctor at sick children’s hospital first suggested it, she also had to write a letter to ontario health, because MMF was only being subsidized for people who actually had an organ transplant, and I hadn’t. Luckily it was approved and I didn’t have to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars to receive it! Not to mention the fact that MMF does an excellent job without the horrid other side effects that one can look forward to while on cyclophosphamide (i.e. bleeding of the bladder, infertility, bone marrow issues, and so forth).

Now, with any other wonder drug, you’re always gonna have to take the good with the bad. The side effects of MMF include nausea, diarrhea, infections, vomiting, infections, anemia, etc. At one point I was on 1000mg of MMF twice a day and it lowered my white count. My doctor reduced it to 500mg twice a day and my white count went back up to where it should have been. So that’s something to look at as well because MMF can sometimes do that too.

So that’s MMF! Any questions? 😉