Hi, My husband has been on Gleevec 400mg for 4 years and his side-effects are also there, for him, he has whitening of skin, fragile skin, diarrhea, complete loss of taste. The latter is hard for him as he cannot enjoy his meals. Getting off Gleevec has never occurred to him because he tells me, "I don't like the alternative." Meaning putting up with side-effects is better than have a disease relapse and go into blast crisis for which there is currently no drug treatment. I guess when he looks at that scenario, he bears with his side-effects.
Being a caregiver, it is very hard to see him going through the Gleevec side-effects and very hard to see other patients also going through these side-effects. All I can suggest is that you talk to your doctor and ask if he can suggest management of your side-effects with some remedies. Dr. Druker's nurse, Carolyn Blasdel gave a very good webcast on Gleevec side-effects and remedies, I think I posted a link in the archives. And remember, we are all here, vent away as much as you like, we do understand. All I can say is it can be hard to be on long-term drug therapy with the niggling side-effects but currently, I don't see a choice in this matter. I salute Ian for leading the way from 1989 :-) He is an inspiration to my husband, Roy. Best Wishes, Anjana caregiver to Roy --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
