I have been taking Cellcept for 5 mos. for lung disease and at the same time have been taking Zegerid, a proton pump inhibitor, for GERD. I literally have been taking them together every morning. My pulm. Dr. was submitting a new script for my Cellcept and a major interaction has now popped up b/t the 2 drugs. Basically, Cellcept is converted into an acid and the job of Zegerid is to breakdown acids. My local pharmacy, nor the manufacturer of Cellcept, are aware of this interaction. There is no literature on the Cellcept prescribing info. about PPI's and Cellcept. The only thing they address is the use of antacids that are slightly different from PPI's.
I know many of you post transplant friends are taking GERD drugs and Cellcept. Are you aware of this problem??? How are you handling it? My Dr. said it if I must take the Zegerid, then I will likely need a higher dose of the Cellcept in order to counteract the effects of the Zegerid. I am waiting to hear back from my Gastro. dr. about the Zegerid.
This is a really important piece of information for all of us. Please check it out and let's all chat about it!
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