Cimzia Interactions: Alcohol, Medications, and Others

Before you start using Cimzia, tell your doctor and pharmacist about any prescription, over-the-counter, or other drugs you take. Sharing this information with them may help prevent possible interactions. (To learn whether Cimzia interacts with supplements, herbs, and vitamins, see the “Are there other interactions with Cimzia?” section below.)

If you have questions about drug interactions that may affect you, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.

The table below lists drugs that may interact with Cimzia. Keep in mind that this table doesn’t include all drugs that may interact with Cimzia. For more information about some of these interactions, see the “Drug interactions explained” section below.

* Cimzia is a biologic drug, meaning it’s made from parts of living organisms.
† To learn more about Cimzia’s side effects, see this article.

Certain health conditions or other factors could raise your risk of harm if you take Cimzia. In such cases, your doctor may not prescribe Cimzia for you. These are known as contraindications. Cimzia’s contraindication is described below.

If you’ve had an allergic reaction. If you’ve had an allergic reaction to Cimzia or any of its ingredients, your doctor likely won’t prescribe Cimzia. This is because using the drug could cause another allergic reaction. You can ask your doctor about other treatments that may be better options for you.

Before you start using Cimzia, talk with your doctor if the factor above applies to you. Your doctor can determine whether Cimzia is safe for you to take.

Cimzia is not known to interact with alcohol. But Cimzia and alcohol can cause some similar side effects, such as headache and fatigue (low energy). So you may be more likely to experience these side effects if you drink alcohol during your Cimzia treatment.

If you have questions about consuming alcohol during Cimzia treatment, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.

Learn more about certain drug interactions that can occur with Cimzia.

Interaction with other biologic drugs

Cimzia is a biologic drug, which means it’s made from parts of living organisms. Cimzia can interact with other biologics.

Biologic drugs are used for a variety of conditions, including those Cimzia is prescribed to treat.

Examples of biologic drugs include:

• anakinra (Kineret)
• abatacept (Orencia)
• canakinumab (Ilaris)
• natalizumab (Tysabri)
• rituximab (Rituxan)

What could happen

Using Cimzia with other biologic drugs can raise your risk of serious infections. This is because both Cimzia and other biologics can lower the activity of your immune system. This prevents your immune system from fighting infection as well as it should.

Using Cimzia with other biologics raises your risk of serious infection even more. In fact, Cimzia has a boxed warning about the risk of serious infection. To learn more, see the “Boxed warnings” section at the beginning of this article.

What you can do

Before using Cimzia, tell your doctor if you take any other biologic drugs. They’ll likely prescribe a treatment other than Cimzia for your condition.

If you have questions about Cimzia and other biologics, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.

Interaction with immunosuppressant drugs

Cimzia can interact with immunosuppressant drugs, which are prescribed to treat a variety of conditions. These include some of the same conditions Cimzia is used to treat, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Examples of immunosuppressant drugs include:

• azathioprine (Azasan, Imuran)
• cyclosporine (Gengraf, Neoral, Sandimmune)
• methotrexate (Otrexup, Rasuvo, others)

What could happen

Using Cimzia with immunosuppressant drugs can increase your risk of serious infections and cancer.

Both drugs can lower the activity of your immune system. This can prevent your immune system from fighting infection or cancer as well as it should. Using Cimzia with immunosuppressants may raise these risks even further. Keep in mind that Cimzia has boxed warnings about the risks of serious infection and cancer. To learn more, see the “Boxed warnings” section at the beginning of this article.

What you can do

Before using Cimzia, tell your doctor if you take an immunosuppressant. They can determine whether it’s safe to take these medications together.

If you use Cimzia with an immunosuppressant, your doctor will discuss your risks of infection and cancer.

If you have questions about Cimzia and immunosuppressants, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.

Interaction with corticosteroids

Cimzia can interact with corticosteroids, which are prescribed for many conditions. These include some of the same conditions Cimzia is used to treat, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Examples of corticosteroids:

• dexamethasone (Hemady)
• methylprednisolone (Depo-Medrol, Medrol, Solu-Medrol)
• prednisone (Rayos)

What could happen

Using Cimzia with corticosteroids can increase your risk of serious infections. Both Cimzia and corticosteroids may lower the activity of your immune system. As a result, your immune system isn’t able to fight infection as well as it should.

Using Cimzia with corticosteroids further raises your risk of serious infection. In fact, Cimzia has a boxed warning about the risk of serious infection. To learn more, see the “Boxed warnings” section at the beginning of this article.

What you can do

Before starting Cimzia treatment, tell your doctor if you take a corticosteroid. They’ll determine whether it’s safe to take these drugs together.

If you take Cimzia with a corticosteroid, your doctor will discuss your risk of infection. They’ll advise you on what to do if you develop a serious infection while taking these drugs.

If you have questions about Cimzia and corticosteroids, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.

Cimzia may have other interactions. They could occur with supplements, foods, vaccines, or even lab tests. See below for details. Note that the information below does not include all other possible interactions with Cimzia.

Does Cimzia interact with supplements?

Before you start using Cimzia, talk with your doctor and pharmacist about any supplements, herbs, and vitamins you take. Sharing this information with them may help you avoid possible interactions.

If you have questions about interactions that may affect you, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.

Cimzia and herbs

There are currently no reports of Cimzia interacting with herbs. But this doesn’t mean that interactions with herbs won’t be recognized in the future.

For this reason, it’s still important to check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking any of these products while using Cimzia.

Cimzia and vitamins

There are currently no reports of Cimzia interacting with vitamins. But this doesn’t mean that vitamin interactions won’t be recognized in the future.

For this reason, it’s still important to check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking any of these products while using Cimzia.

Does Cimzia interact with food?

There are currently no reports of Cimzia interacting with food. If you have questions about eating certain foods during your treatment with Cimzia, talk with your doctor.

Does Cimzia interact with vaccines?

You should not receive live vaccines* during your Cimzia treatment. Doing so may increase your risk of getting the infection the vaccine is meant to protect against. Examples of live vaccines include chickenpox, measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), and rotavirus.

If you need to receive a vaccine while using Cimzia, talk with your doctor first to make sure it’s safe.

* Live vaccines contain weakened versions of the bacteria or virus that they’re meant to protect against.

Does Cimzia interact with lab tests?

Cimzia may interact with a blood test for partial thromboplastin time (PTT). This test is used to check your body’s ability to form blood clots.

Having this test done while using Cimzia may lead to a PTT result that appears higher than it really is. This could make it seem as though your body has a problem forming blood clots when it doesn’t.

If you need to have a blood test done during your treatment with Cimzia, talk with the healthcare professional ordering the test. Be sure they know you’re taking Cimzia. They can tell you whether the test you’re getting may be affected by the drug.

Does Cimzia interact with cannabis or CBD?

There are currently no reports of Cimzia interacting with cannabis (commonly called marijuana) or cannabis products such as cannabidiol (CBD). But as with any drug or supplement, talk with your doctor before using cannabis with Cimzia.

Note: Cannabis is illegal at a federal level but is legal in many states to varying degrees.

Certain medical conditions or other health factors may raise the risk of interactions with Cimzia. Before using Cimzia, talk with your doctor about your health history. They’ll determine whether Cimzia is right for you.

Health conditions or other factors that might interact with Cimzia include:

Nerve problems. Using Cimzia may lead to conditions that affect your nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). This could worsen nerve problems in people who already have a condition affecting their nervous system.

If you have a nerve problem, talk with your doctor before starting Cimzia treatment. They can determine whether Cimzia is right for you.

Hepatitis B. Before receiving Cimzia, tell your doctor if you have or have had hepatitis B. Cimzia may reactivate the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in people who already have this virus in their bodies. (With reactivation, HBV becomes active again and causes symptoms.)

If you have hepatitis B, your doctor can determine whether Cimzia is right for you.

Heart failure. Before using Cimzia, tell your doctor if you have heart failure. The drug may worsen heart failure in people who already have this condition. Your doctor can tell you whether it’s safe for you to use Cimzia.

Pregnancy. It’s not known whether Cimzia is safe to use during pregnancy. If you’re pregnant or planning a pregnancy, talk with your doctor before using Cimzia.

If you do use Cimzia while pregnant, consider enrolling in the drug’s pregnancy registry. This registry collects details about pregnancy issues reported with Cimzia. To learn more, call 877-311-8972 or talk with your doctor.

Breastfeeding. It’s not known whether it’s safe to use Cimzia while breastfeeding. The drug passes into breast milk, but it isn’t known whether the drug may cause side effects in a child who is breastfed. If you’re breastfeeding or planning to breastfeed, talk with your doctor about your options.

Allergic reaction. If you’ve had an allergic reaction to Cimzia or any of its ingredients, your doctor will likely not prescribe Cimzia. This is because using the drug could cause another allergic reaction. You can ask your doctor about other treatments that may be better choices for you.

Taking certain steps can help you avoid interactions with Cimzia. Before starting treatment, talk with your doctor and pharmacist. Things to discuss with them include:

• Other medications you take, as well as any vitamins, supplements, and herbs. Your doctor or pharmacist can help you fill out a medication list.
• What to do if you start taking a new drug during your Cimzia treatment.

It’s also important to understand Cimzia’s label and other paperwork that may come with the drug. Colored stickers that describe interactions may be on the label. And the paperwork (sometimes called the patient package insert or medication guide) may have other details about interactions. (If you didn’t get paperwork with Cimzia, ask your pharmacist to print a copy for you.)

If you have trouble reading or understanding this information, your doctor or pharmacist can help.

Using Cimzia exactly as prescribed can also help prevent interactions.

If you still have questions about Cimzia and its possible interactions, talk with your doctor.

Questions you may want to ask your doctor include:

• Will I need any lab tests that interact with Cimzia?
• Do any of the other medications I take increase my risk of side effects from Cimzia?
• What should I do if I think I’m having a drug interaction with Cimzia?

To learn more about Cimzia, see these articles:

• All About Cimzia
• Dosage Details for Cimzia
• Side Effects of Cimzia: What You Need to Know
• Cimzia and Cost: What You Need to Know

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Disclaimer: Healthline has made every effort to make certain that all information is factually correct, comprehensive, and up to date. However, this article should not be used as a substitute for the knowledge and expertise of a licensed healthcare professional. You should always consult your doctor or another healthcare professional before taking any medication. The drug information contained herein is subject to change and is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. The absence of warnings or other information for a given drug does not indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective, or appropriate for all patients or all specific uses.