Everything You Know About Cyclosporine

Men, you know all about your immune system! It's your body's best defense against perceived threats. The big ones are obvious, so obvious: viruses and bacteria! Sadly, many, many things can mean your immune system gets unregulated. You've got to get something like this treated, since you can face huge, huge health problems otherwise. Two big, big examples are organ damage and chronic inflammation. That said, men, there's some good news! Cyclosporine's a good immunosuppressant and can help with an unregulated immune system.

Obviously, cyclosporine pills are very, very common after an organ transplant. They're also an option before transplants too! Men, you can get prescription eye drops of this med to treat some eye conditions. It's a big, big option for an arthritis treatment or treatment for psoriasis. There is a cyclosporine oral solution too! Men, you know you have to know how cyclosporine tablets work first, though.

How It Works

Men, cyclosporine's a med that suppresses your immune system! How? By lowering calcineurin! This enzyme is a huge, huge part of your immune system. So huge! It's because it plays a major role in creating T-cells. Yes, men, these are a type of white blood cell! T-cells are fighters. They damage cells in your body that are foreign. Why? Because they see the foreign cells as threats! Sadly, T-cells can see cells from a transplanted organ as a threat. That's why they can attack them! Men, these cells also play a role in inflammation. It happens because they activate other white blood cells that trigger inflammation.

You'll see autoimmune disorders and other problems with chronic inflammation thanks to an overactive immune system, men. It also happens if your immune system isn't working in another way too! That said, this med lowers calcineurin. You remember, of course, that this enzyme regulates your T-cells! Men, this is what can prevent many, many of these health issues.

Uses And Benefits

Cyclosporine's a great, great treatment for many conditions. So great! Men, you know many of these conditions involve immune dysfunction. The most common, obviously, is graft or transplant rejection. So obvious! You know what this means. It means your immune system is rejecting the transplanted organ. Why? It's because your immune system thinks the cells in the new organ are foreign threats. Thankfully, men, you have this med to stop this from happening. It helps reduce your immune system's response to something like this!

Men, this one's also a huge treatment for graft-versus-host disease. Huge! This disease is one where white blood cells from what's been transplanted (like transplanted bone marrow or stem cells) attack cells in your body! Cyclosporine's also great, so great, for many other inflammatory conditions. Men, you know it helps when an immune disorder triggers inflammation in your joints, skin, eyes, and other body parts. Examples? You know them: psoriasis, dry eye syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis!

Side Effects

You've got to think about the side effects of cyclosporine. Men, you know it's got a lot of them! You can get mild to severe ones, depending on how this med is prescribed. The oral and injectable forms have lots of common side effects. Yes. Men, you can expect excessive hair growth, tremors, high blood pressure, and even gum overgrowth! Two others are low magnesium and blood clots in the kidneys. You'll often see nephrotoxicity too. Men, this one's when you've got excess toxins in your kidneys! You'll deal with it if you're taking high doses of this med or take it for a long, long time. Men, there are some less common side effects too, like lung issues and liver or kidney damage. That said, though they're less common, they're more serious when they do happen!

Lots of the side effects come from another one, men: vasoconstriction. This one's the narrowing of blood vessels! And of course, when you're taking the eye drops of this med, you'll see some eye side effects. Expect things like itching, dryness, redness, or burning. Sadly though, you're at a higher, much higher, risk of infection when you're on this med, men. It doesn't matter what form you're taking!

Precautions To Remember

Men, you've got lots of precautions to think about with cyclosporine. So many of them! Seniors, kidney disease patients, and high blood pressure all carry a higher risk of kidney damage with this med. Men, that means if any of these apply to you, you've got to discuss the risks of this drug with your doc first! Creatine supplements carry this risk too. It's because taking this with cyclosporine can mean more creatinine in your blood. This is a huge, huge risk for overwhelming your kidneys! Men, you can't have alcohol on this drug either. Yes, it's because doing so means you've got a much, much higher risk of kidney or liver damage. Much higher!

You'll see more than just liver damage as a risk on this med when you've got liver disease, men. Yes. When you're liver isn't working as well, your body metabolizes this drug a lot slower. This means the drug builds in your liver and the rest of your body. It can build to dangerous levels, men! Obviously, you have to avoid this med if you've got an active infection too.

Medication Interactions

Cyclosporine inhibits CYP3A4, men. This enzyme is what helps get drugs and toxins out of your body! That's why so many, so many, interactions with this drug exist. In many, many cases, you'll see higher levels of cyclosporine or the other med. These high levels can be very dangerous sometimes! Your kidneys can be compromised here, men, and excrete harmful substances a lot slower. A lot slower! That's why toxins, or drugs, can build in your kidneys. Men, cyclosporine has many, many interactions. It has them with some antibiotics, steroids, antivirals, and blood pressure meds!

You'll be at a high, high risk of neurotoxicity if you have high doses of methylprednisolone with this drug. That carries convulsive seizures as a risk. Men, this med also reduces your magnesium. That's why you have to be careful with other magnesium-reducing drugs, since they trigger interactions. In the end, you've got to talk to your doc before you take cyclosporine. It lets you avoid interactions!