Immunosuppression Puns

Just finished by first round of ABVD

Thanks team! X

Came across this amazing guide that talks in VERY great detail about potential side effects, whether you should get your shot or not on various meds, possible side effects etc. It's from a reputable source and is very complete in my opinion. It answered ALL of my questions.

http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/COVID-19_vaccine/IBD_Clinical_Guidance.pdf

Is it okay to take Vitamin C or multivitamins containing Vitamin C whilst on immunosuppression?

I hear that Vit C boosts the immune system etc etc..

I'm currently taking Azathioprine (Imuran) and Methotrexate for my IBD.

Male, 37, Australia, 180cm.

For example, if I was to begin immunosuppression treatment (myfortic), and continue taking it for a year, then stop taking it, would I have to get my previous COVID, chicken pox, etc, vaccines re-done? Or will my immune system retain the ability to produce antibodies for those diseases, and resume producing them after stopping the medication? Thanks!

Hello smart and kind people!

What is a more significant risk factor for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: immunosuppression or actinic keratosis?

Thank you!

anybody thinking about this, just wondering

Hi

Anyone use protopic please answer my question

Hi all, I'm on Humira and just got my first dose of the vaccine (Pfizer). I've heard that there's a chance that the immunosuppressant medication can lower the efficacy of the vaccine, but nobody really knows for sure.

With that in mind, how cautious are you planning on being after getting fully vaccinated? They say that vaccinated people can hang out together without masks in the same place. Are you comfortable following that guideline, or will you still be masking up no matter who you're with? Just curious to see how others are approaching this (and what others have experienced if you've already been fully vaccinated!). It's worrying to think that the vaccine may end up having no positive effect at all. I do worry that the vaccine won't give the same level of protection that it gives to others, and that I'll just end up getting COVID anyways.

I was diagnosed with cardiac sarcoidosis in November, ICD implanted in December and started immunosuppression in January. My anxiety has increased since starting the prednisone and methotrexate. I am just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same anxieties and how they are dealing with them.

Question for those who are on Ocrevus, how have you worked your life around the Immunosuppression? I ask because this is one of two DMT's I am considering, the other being Aubagio.

As the title says, I will ask the uni myself but I just wanted to know if anyone was in the same shoes.

Don't really want to go into uni and catch covid then pass to mother and live with that for the rest of my life...

Hi Everyone,

I wondered whether any of you has any insight into the availability of Covid-19 vaccines for those on immunosuppressive therapy. From what I have found, all of the phase 3 trials for the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines have excluded those with compromised immune systems.

I take azathioprine and have vedolizumab infusions (every 2 months) and I was optimistically expecting a vaccination in January 2021. Now I am thinking that it was naive of me because of the lack of trial data for immunocompromised individuals. I'm not certain but it appears that the vaccines might not be available to those on immunosuppressive therapies particularly in the early vaccination programme.

Can anyone confirm or dispell my suspicions?

Thanks

Hey team! Had my first infusion for Ocrevus today (yay!) but forgot to ask - am I supposed to stay away from people after the infusion because it's an immunosuppressant?

Am supposed to have dinner with friends on the weekend, but now my nurse is away for a few days so I can't ask her.

Turns out I should have answered "yes" to "do you have any more questions" - oops.

Thanks from Sydney, Australia!

Hello! I'm about to start my practice as a physician on February and my rheumatologist recently (finally) authorized me to take Enbrel, but I am very concerned with the immunosuppression given that we're in a global pandemic and I will be seeing patients and well, I wouldn't want complications of course but honestly not even Tramadol takes the pain away, not really. So I wanted to know if any of you has had any serious complications due to the immunosuppression by this medicine. Thank you for your time.

Will I have less symptoms after my second dose of the covid vaccine due to the fact that my immune system is already super suppressed?

You'd think the Coronavirus (Covid-19) is not so dangerous for people your age and you are right. However, you first have to understand who are the ~0.2% (maybe less) of 10-39 years old who die from it. Those are the weaks, or the immunodeficient people, with bodies that can't fight properly, because they already have respiratory issues, no energy or no immune system to fight back.

But guess what? Ever got sick right after a sesh? It's because MDMA also induces immunosuppression. If you take MDMA, it takes several days for your immune system to get back to baseline (duration varies from person to person, diet, and many, many factors). Several days where the virus will encounter little to no resistance. Not even speaking about the point most people take MDMA in crowded, hot environments where everyone is sweating and close to each others, dramatically increasing the odds.

If you take MDMA and get infected by this virus, you significantly get closer to the 0.2%.

Sources:
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine: a stressor on the immune system
Age, Sex, Existing Conditions of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths
If you are _ years old and you get coronavirus, what's the chance that you die?

^(Of course, immunosuppression is not limited to MDMA but this is r/MDMA so...)

EDIT: Since I'm the NAC guy, I have to tell you something:
>[...] only 25% of virus-infected subjects under NAC treatment developed a symptomatic form, versus 79% in the placebo group. [Source]

It means NAC reduces the odds of having influenza symptoms by ~3 if you get infected. Of course this does not stand for the Coronavirus (Covid-19) itself because this study is old, but it could, and a lot of you already take NAC everyday, so I thought you'd like to know.

https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/140329/sd/1

Not sure if this was posted before, but this is the title of a recently-approved case study article in Elsevier's Public Health Emergency journal. I heard about this article from my doctor last week and then saw it posted on Twitter by another doctor, thought I'd repost here. Linked below.

TL;DR: PPMS patient on Ocrevus with complete B-cell depletion hospitalized with COVID-19 but recovered quickly without issues. Authors speculate that B-cell depletion might in fact be helping with recovery due to suppressing overactive immune response.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7156942/

So I understand when someone has something like a kidney or liver transplanted, it’s a majority of the time an anonymous donor who is not related at all, but so happens to have the same kind of anti bodies, blood type etc. Despite when a medical professional says “perfect match” you’ll still need to take something like azathioprine (Imuran?) for the rest of your life in order for your body to not reject the organ and have it function normally.

Would a transplanted organ from an identical twin alter the need or dose, or type of anti-rejection drugs?

If so, what about full/half siblings or similar family members in terms of closeness?