Comments on: Switching from 5FU to Xeloda Can Cause Significant Side Effects

By: Kate Murphy

Kate Murphy — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:21:19 +0000

As a consumer you can report a serious adverse event like your mother’s to the FDA.

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/ucm053074.htm

Our thoughts are with your mother and with you.

If you’d like to take action to reduce the impact of the drug shortage, ask your US Senators and members of Congress to support the Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act (S 296 and HR 2245). Fight Colorectal Cancer has a simple way you can do that directly through our website.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:38:49 +0000

Hi,
My mother has been valiantly fighting stage IV colon cancer for 2 1/2 years, was tolerating chemo as well as you can and was maintaining/doing well. She was receiving 5FU and because of the shortages was switched to Xeloda. Within a week of the first round of Xeloda, her kidneys and liver failed and she spent 6 days in the hospital. She has since been released and has been enduring 3 times weekly dialysis in order to get the kidneys “going” again. Her kidneys have responded to the dialysis and it should be ending soon. Unfortunately, she had turned jaundice again and her counts are all over the place. She was readmitted to the hospital last night. Her doctor, my mother and our family are convinced it is due to the Xeloda. Obviously, I am very angry. I’ve called my representatives in Washington to express my concerns. I am willing to tell my mom’s story to anyone that will listen and help in any way I can to get the proper legislation in place to end this unnecessary shortage.

By: Leaan

Leaan — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:23:11 +0000

I had 2 5-FU treatments, the first treatment caused a heart attack, the second caused severe chest pains but had nitro so it wouldn’t turn into another heart attack (though while in the hospital on a monitor my heart stopped) they figured out it was vessel spasms & was taken off 5-FU & they gave me a month to recuperate before putting me on Xeloda. I have since been on Xeloda which had to be reduced along with the oxaliplatin for 4
treatments & had to stop for 3-6 doses
in the middle of each treatment due to the same chest, extreme fatigue, neck pain caused by exercising while on Xeloda and taking nitro during this period allows me to continue treatment but am wondering at what cost to my heart and body in the future. I am going in for my 7th treatment tomorrow because with aggressive stage 3 colorectal cancer I don’t see much future without aggressive treatment either. But I worry the reduced chemotherapy drugs might not be as affective & am going through all these severe reaction, nerapathy, hand & foot redness & pain, heart & vessel problems, & all the other things to have this quite possibly be my last days with such bad quality of life is it all
worth it? I hope so – to those that came close or lost their lives I truly hope the drug companies are listening & quit treating these severe symptoms as extremely rare as they are just not reported or attributed to the drugs as they should be

By: Kate Murphy

Kate Murphy — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:54:19 +0000

Nora, You are almost at the end of your treatments. As you begin to feel better, choosing a prudent diet and exercising will not only help you feel better and perhaps lose the extra weight gained, but has been shown to reduce the risk that cancer will return. Ask your doctor if a physical therapist could help you with the right exercise for your needs. Information on diet and recurrence. Information about exercise from Dr. Lenz.

By: Nora Lopez

Nora Lopez — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:29:36 +0000

I am on 5-FU and finished the 11 out of 12 infusion. Mostly I dont have side effects but noticed that my weight is on the increased, 10 pounds in the last month. Please help, my knees hurt and dont feel ok. Thanks…

By: Kate Murphy

Kate Murphy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:47:10 +0000

There have been rare incidents of cardiac problems reported with Xeloda (capecitabine) similar to those related to another drug of the same type, fluorouracil or 5-FU. The FDA-approved label for Xeloda lists cardiotoxicity among the "Precautions". Xeloda label. However, we at C3 are not physicians and cannot know if a particular drug might have caused a serious side effect for a particular patient. Your own doctor is the best person to ask about the situation. Definitely discuss whether or not you should continue Xeloda in light of your heart problem. We sincerely hope that you are recovering from your heart attack.

By: rebecca watts

rebecca watts — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:50:48 +0000

Have been on 3300 mgs. per day of xeloda since May. Had a heart attack 1-11-10. Could xeloda have caused this?

By: Kate Murphy

Kate Murphy — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:50:32 +0000

Since you will be having a break in treatment between the 5-FU and Xeloda, you might not have the problems that the patients in the study had.

BUT, we are not doctors here at C3. You need to discuss the question with your own doctor.

Also, given the serious diarrhea and low blood counts, you might ask about being tested for Dihydropyrimidine Dehydrogenase Deficiency (DPD). This is a rare genetic change that can affect how 5-FU and Xeloda are metabolized leading to serious side effects in about 1-3 people in 100.

Good luck with your treatment. Stick close to your doctor and report diarrhea, fever, or any other symptoms right away.

Xeloda often has more “hand-foot” syndrome (red,sore, and sometimes peeling skin). Keeping hands and feet well moisturized helps. Talk this over with your doctor, as well.

By: Laleen Doerrer

Laleen Doerrer — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:43:35 +0000

I had three treatments on FOLFOX and experienced very serious side effects- extreme neurapathy. fatigue, diarrhea, low blood counts, etc. I thought the Oxaliplatin was the the culprit for the neurapathy and fatigue. So my oncologist is plannning to put me on Xeloda (reduced dosage) once my blood count stabilizes. After reading all of this, I’m scared. Should I just continue on the 5FU infusions instead of switching to pills? Obviously, I’ll send this study to my oncologist and discuss with her. But this information is really frightening.

By: Kate Murphy

Kate Murphy — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:21:27 +0000

Jim, We are not doctors here at C3 and can't give you a medical answer about your reaction to Xeloda. You can report this reaction yourself to the FDA to help them collect evidence of bad reactions to drugs by going to the consumer page of Medwatch. We hope that you are recovering from your heart attack and also from colon cancer. Good luck to you in the future.