Hi Pat, Just thought I'd share a little in case it helps. My son has always suffered a little nausea with this drug and his appetite goes up and down. One week he became ill and began vomiting., after which he was continually nauseus for 10 days. He visited his local GP who thought he had appendicitis and admitted him to hospital for surgery. However when the surgeon at the hospital reviewed him , he determined there was no appendicitis and that he most likely had a stomach infection. He was a put a drip for 24 hours and his stomach given a good rest. They introduced foods to him gradually and his stomach didn't react so he was released home and was back on glivec and food without any more problems.
I think that what happened is that his stomach had reached zero toleration of glivec and that this was exasperated with the fact that he kept trying to take the drug on an empty stomach, or with very little food. Again this led to him being anxious about taking the adequate dosage and also anxious about eating. I think the rest in hospital gave his stomach time to settle down and remove him from the cycle he was in. Maybe you could try something like this and see if it works - maybe you already have but I thought I'd mention this just in case. This occurred approximately 3 months ago and Leon is still going well. He always notices, however, that if he takes the drug late at night with no food (this ocassionally happens when he's had a busy day and his routine has been upset) that he wakes up nauseous. Hope this helps. Gail. On May 31, 8:01 am, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello to my CML Family, I'm disappointed that there is so little > activity in the group but I am just as much to blame as any of the > rest of it. We need to not stray from the group because we are doing > good. There are new members who need us just as we once needed each > other. > I want to address to the group, that after 4 years of basically > holding my own on my PCR numbers, which I've never reached zero, my > numbers are climbing back up. It is not that the Gleevec is not > working, it is that I have lost my appetite completely, and I am > barely able to eat much of anything and when I don't eat a good > amount, I am not able to keep the Gleevec down. If you've never > vomited up Gleevec, then you don't know what it is like but I can tell > you, it is an awful experience. You cannot get the taste out of your > mouth and it burns. So now on days when I cannot force any food down, > I just don't take it or take maybe 200mg. > I have explained to my CML specialist at Vandy that is my only problem > with the Gleevec is lack of appetite and literally begged for > something to enhance my appetite which he has not done. He wants to > change my meds to Sprycel which I am going to be unable to do as it > causes fluid retention around the lungs/and or heart and I have > emphysema. He then mentioned another med, that I have to have have my > heart checked prior to taking it, which may be an issue as I have > hardening of the arteries. I was scheduled to see a heart specialist > at Vandy today for a EKG which is not going to detect my problem. So I > am going to get with my primary doctor and see if I can get him to get > me in locally with a heart specialist. > Anyway, my primary doctor gave me a med called peractin that is > supposed to increase my appetite. I looked this up and the side > effects are a mile long...longer than the Gleevec actually. I was so > excited and now I am terrified to even try it. I am to take it at > bedtime and the first side effect is allergic reaction which is > fatal. > Is anyone familiar with this medication? Or does anyone know of > anything else that can be taken to increase appetite??? I was holding > my own for the past 2 yrs. at 140lbs. I now weigh 124lbs. I am > terrified that my numbers are rising...and starting to panic. Any info > would be greatly appreciated. > Love, Peace, Hope & Prayers, Pat (the TN turtle) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ [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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
