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Dry skin around the eyes, and bruises that dont go away, advice please.

Hello from Norway.

Ive been on Glivec 400mg for almost 3 months now, and lately ive been having some issues i thought maybe you could help me with.

The first thing im wondering about is my skin around my eyes, is VERY dry, ive been putting on fat moisturizer cream 4-5 times pr day to keep it at bay, but it still comes back. Sometimes it feels like its burning abit when i apply the cream, and sometimes it burns when i dont have the cream on, and when i apply the cream it helps. Ive been using a face cream called Decubal, which a pharmacist recommended, i also use an Avéne face cream at night.

The second thing im having trouble with, are some bruises that dont seem to go away, they get abit better, then come back again. I got them when carrying a TV, and i got one on my face cause one of my kids accidentally shoved his knee in my face while jumping on the trampoline :)
Ive tried some lotions on them as well, but they are still there. Doesnt the skin regenerate as good whilst on Glivec?

Last two weeks ive been struggling with an infection (sore throat, mouth sores, fever, pink eyes, the cold) and was put on antibiotics called Doxylin, im hoping this infection can have something to do with the dryness in my face?

My counts 3 weeks ago were good, except for platelets which were abit on the low side, and my spleen could not be felt anymore :) Ive had no other bad side effects from the drug so far(knock on wood), so im hoping to get this skin issue resolved soon as its quite annoying going around with a bruise on my face that never goes away.

Hi TeddyB,

I think that the dry skin might well be a side effect. I recently met a long term imatinib user and noticed the skin around his eyes was very dry and cracked. Hopefully this will go away, but if not you might consider another TKI?

Regarding bruising. you mention that your platelet count is low- how low? You need to be very careful while your platelets are on the low side as they are in charge of blood clotting- hence your bruising. If they are presently upwards of 50 then you just need to be careful and not play to rough with your children- and certainly do not indulge in contact sports.

Normal platelet range is approx: 250- 450

Try a homeopathic remedy called ARNICA to help heal the bruising. It is very good. As long as the skin in not broken you could try Arnica cream- but do not use if the skin is broken as it causes a rash.

Otherwise- if you do not drink coffee you could try Arnica tablets or tincture.

Hope this is helpful,
Sandy

Thanks for replying Sandy.

Last platelet count was 141, that was 6 days ago, 2 weeks before that i think they were 120.

I think i will have to try ARNICA cream.
I found two types available in Norway, one from Sasco, and one from Weleda.

The bruises have skin flakes on them from trying to regenerate, with no luck.