Hi All
Hope you are all well.
Can anyone please advise me as what pain killers i can take please, i am in agony with my legs since starting Glivec, i know i shouldn't complain as my side effects are pretty mild compared to others but i am struggling to walk at the min due to the pain, so any advice would be great. Also am i able to drink energy drinks to give me a bit of energy as im sooooooo tired.
Thanks All
Naomii x
Naomi I think the painkiller question is a little suck it and see. The theory which suggests paracetomol should be avoided is that it puts additional load on the liver, which is dealing with your Glivec already. The non-steroidals such as ibuprofen can irritate your stomach, which is also getting used to Glivec.
I went through about 6 weeks of leg pain after starting - I used some paracetomol (I think in the mornings) but stayed well below the maximum dose, and it helped the pain and didn't seem to do me any harm. I have also used ibuprofen for the odd sporting injury while on glivec, (again below the max dose) and had no major issues (other than a possible further increase in flatulence, a common side effect of glivec and the subject of a very entertaining thread on here last year).
There have been quite a few threads on the subject of painkillers, and different people have found different things work for them.
I've not got any experience on energy drinks, but coffee still works for me.
I hope this is of some help.
Hi,i had the same problem when i first started taking glivec,the pain is horrid but it did pass after 4/6 weeks.
hope your doing ok,kath.x
Dear Naomi,
the vast majority of us have this side effect in the first week/months of taking imatinib (Glivec). It does pass but is a very unpleasant experience while it lasts. I found that stretching excercise and walking helped me cope - but in the first weeks it was very hard. The only thing that really gave any comfort was direct heat- hot water bottles/heat packs and hot baths. But all of these were purely short term. I wish I had known about magnesium oil then (1999) as it really does seem to help with joint and muscle pain. I use the spray on oil on a daily basis and I think the some have found it useful aid in dealing with muscle cramps as a general ongoing side effect of imatinib.
It might be an idea to use the oil- as well as heat packs and painkillers- to try to up your levels of magnesium. I am not sure how quickly it will work but over the long term it is very useful as most of us are very low in magnesium. You can buy the oil in highstreet 'health shops' and larger chemists.
I hope you find some relief soon but this effect does pass.
Sandy
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the advice, im on day 12 of the medication now and my legs are still excruciatingly painful, but using hot packs etc for short term ease, i will defo be looking for the magnesium as well. Also in the past 2 nites i have started to be sick approximately 1/2 hour after taking the tablet, its not much that i am bringing up but still not pleasant. Finding the whole experience quite weird, how we have to make our selves ill initially to make our selves better. But im still positive. I go back to the hosp on Monday and will be asking the painkiller question as to what to take and how much? Also i will be asking if i am still vomiting although slightly will i be bringing the glivec back up.
Anyway thanks all much appreciated as always
Naomii
Hi Naomii
Just thought i'd reply to see how you are getting on with your leg pain. I hope it is easing now.
I am recently diagnosed too (Sept 2010) and had excruciating leg pain when I started on Glivec (see my post on the Forum before Christmas and the one on the 5th March.) I was also having real problems walking and nothing seemed to ease the pain (anti-inflammatories did help a little.)
My consultant did a blood test for inflammatory arthritis and gave me a short break from the Glivec. Since i've been back on it i've had no side effects.
From what I've read it seems like leg pain is a common but nasty side effect.
I hope you are feeling better
Kate
