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Understanding Lupus — Treatment

Understanding Lupus — Treatment

 Moawiz Malik0

Immunosuppressive Drugs

Like corticosteroids, these drugs curb your immune system, bring symptoms under control, and help prevent long-term organ damage. They can also have severe side effects. For example, they can make it hard for your body to fight infections and raise your chances for some kinds of cancer.

Your doctor may prescribe them if corticosteroids have not helped your symptoms.

Immunosuppressive drugs are sometimes used together with corticosteroids. That way you’ll be taking a lower amount of each type of drug, reducing the possible side effects of each drug.

With both types of drugs, you and your doctor need to weigh the risks of side effects against how well they improve your lupus symptoms.

Anticoagulants and Monoclonal Antibodies

Your doctor may also prescribe two other types of drugs:

Anticoagulants. These thin your blood to prevent blood clots, a life-threatening lupus symptom.Monoclonal antibodies. Belimumab (Benlysta), the first drug created just to treat lupus, was approved by the FDA in 2011. Given intravenously (in the vein), it targets specific immune cells. It may help reduce your need for steroid treatment, but it has not been tested thoroughly for the most severe forms of lupus. Rituxan (Rituximab) is another monoclonal antibody that has sometimes been used to treat lupus when other treatments have not been successful.

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