Mycophenolic acid lowers your body's immune system. The immune system helps your body fight infections. The immune system can also fight or "reject" a transplanted organ such as a liver or kidney. This is because the immune system treats the new organ as an invader.

Mycophenolic acid is used to prevent your body from rejecting a kidney transplant. This medication is usually given with cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral) and a steroid medication.

Mycophenolic acid may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Do not use mycophenolic acid if you are pregnant. It could harm the unborn baby. You will be required to use two forms of birth control to prevent pregnancy before and during your treatment with mycophenolic acid.

Mycophenolic acid is sometimes given to pregnant women who are unable to take other needed transplant medications. Your doctor will decide whether you should receive this medication.

Treatment with mycophenolic acid may increase your risk of developing certain life-threatening conditions, including serious infections, cancer, or transplant failure. Talk with your doctor about the risks and benefits of using this medication.

Call your doctor right away if you have signs of infection such as: fever, swollen glands, flu symptoms, change in your mental state, problems with speech or walking, decreased vision, mouth sores, easy bruising or bleeding, pain or burning when you urinate, blood in your urine, a new skin lesion, or a mole that has changed in size or color.

You should not use this medication if you are allergic to mycophenolic acid or mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept).

Taking mycophenolic acid can make it easier for you to develop serious bacterial, fungal, or viral infections, including tuberculosis, a severe brain infection, or a virus that can cause failure of a transplanted kidney.

Mycophenolic acid may cause your body to produce too much of a certain type of white blood cells. This can lead to serious and sometimes fatal conditions, including cancer.

Mycophenolic acid may also cause a serious viral infection of the brain that can lead to disability or death. Call your doctor right away if you have any change in your mental state, problems with speech or walking, or decreased vision. These symptoms may start gradually and get worse quickly.

Talk with your doctor about the risks and benefits of using this medication.

To make sure you can safely take mycophenolic acid, tell your doctor if you have any of these other conditions:

• a stomach ulcer or other disorders of your stomach or intestines;

• a viral, bacterial, or fungal infection; or

• a rare hereditary deficiency of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl-transferase (HGPRT) such as Lesch-Nyhan and Kelley-Seegmiller syndrome.

FDA pregnancy category D. This medication can cause harm to an unborn baby, especially if used during the first trimester of pregnancy. Do not use mycophenolic acid without telling your doctor if you are pregnant or if you plan to become pregnant during treatment.

Although mycophenolic acid may harm an unborn baby, not treating the mother after a transplant could pose a greater risk to the mother's health. Mycophenolic acid is sometimes given to pregnant women who are unable to take other needed transplant medications. Your doctor will decide whether you should receive this medication.

If you are a woman of child-bearing potential, you will be required to start using two forms of birth control 4 weeks before the start of your treatment with mycophenolic acid. You will also need to have a negative pregnancy test within 1 week before your treatment begins.

Unless you have been in menopause for at least 12 months in a row, you are considered to be of child-bearing potential. Adolescent girls who have entered puberty are also considered to be of child-bearing potential, even if not yet sexually active.

Use two non-hormone forms of birth control (such as a condom, diaphragm, spermicide) to prevent pregnancy before and during your treatment with mycophenolic acid, and for at least 6 weeks after your treatment ends. Tell your doctor right away if you become pregnant.

Mycophenolic acid can make birth control pills less effective. Ask your doctor about the most effective non-hormonal forms of birth control and which two are best for you.

It is not known whether mycophenolic acid passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. Do not breast-feed a baby while taking mycophenolic acid and for at least 6 weeks after your treatment ends.