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Newbie, Imatinib and pain relief

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Hello all,

I was diagnosed CML a couple of weeks ago and started Imatinib 400 on Friday, so I've had just 2 tablets.

All night I have had a fairly intense pain in my upper left leg that is preventing me sleeping. I've read lots about interaction with paracetamol and Imatinib so really want to talk to my specialist before taking.

My main concern is...can it really be having such an effect so quickly?

This is the leg/side where they did the bone marrow biopsy a couple of weeks earlier which took quite a while to stop aching, but it was almost pain free when I started the treatment.

If anyone can put my 5am Sunday morning mind at rest I'd be grateful. Oh, 54 yr old male. Thanks!

Rob

Hi Rob, if this pain feels like it is in the bone, then it likely is an imatinib side effect.

A ht bath or a hot water bottle might help. When I started imatinib 13 years ago (aged 50) I had fairly bad bone pain - lasted about 6 weeks. I used paracetomol sparingly at that time - breaking that down happens in your liver like imatinib so it should not be sustained use. Also make sure you are well hydrated during the day - that helps some people.

Your body is becoming accustomed to some fairly vigorous meds which are changing what goes on in your bone marrow, so it takes a little getting used to. It will get better before too long.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Having read lots of posts here, I had a bath. Can barely get in and out due to left leg pain.

I think I will take some pain relief. Spent all afternoon on BNF and other websites. There's obviously no consensus on what pain relief is "safe' so I called the oncology nurse. They say 2 paracetamol are ok but it looks like there's some who prefer ibuprofen. And codeine seems better tolerated so I'll look into getting some.

I expect I'll be back here with more posts as things progress!

Rob