[Gala]

Taking Revlimid every other day

by Gala on Sat Mar 18, 2017 8:53 pm

My sister cannot get hold of Revlimid at a dose less than 25 mg (it is just currently not available where she is). Her doctor said she could take 25 mg every other day instead of, say 15 mg daily.

Is alternate-day / every-other-day dosing of Revlimid something that is done often?

Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated. She has very low WBC (2.0), but the doctor wants her to continue Revlimid because of the aggressive nature of her myeloma. 25 mg is too high a dose and could cause a dangerous drop in WBC.

[blueblood]

Re: Taking Revlimid every other day

by blueblood on Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:05 am

Gala,

I have been told and have read repeatedly, "Do not break pills in half". Typically I'm not one to follow all the rules. That is one rule I always follow. FYI

Not exactly answering your question though.

-C

[K_Shash]

Re: Taking Revlimid every other day

by K_Shash on Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:07 am

I have been on an alternate day 15 mg Revlimid for about 10 months.

I was on a 15 mg, 21 days on and 7 days off dose with a weekly 20 mg dex for a few months during the transition from the RVD induction treatment. However, I developed the Revlimid rash after my oncologist stopped the weekly dex.

I tried a 10 mg, 21 days on and 7 days off, dosing but that seemed to be no better for my kappa and K/L ratio. I have been tolerating the 15 mg alternate day Revlimid quite well. Yes, the alternate day dose seems rare but it was recommended by my oncologist as soon as I could not tolerate the daily Revlimid past 15 days and it seems to be working fine for me.

Also, I believe the Revlimid costs the same whether it is a 10 mg or 15 mg or 25 mg pill. Therefore the alternate day dose may also work out to be a lot cheaper.

[Multibilly]

Re: Taking Revlimid every other day

by Multibilly on Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:29 pm

I have read the same warnings that Craig came across. Celgene is very serious about that warning since Revlimid is absolutely something you don't want a non-patient to come in contact with. I'm thinking that these warnings are primarily due to the potential thalidomide-related baby defects and fatalities that it may happen if a pregnant woman were to come in contact with any Revlimid residue. I have no idea if a pharmacist could repackage each of the 25 mg capsules into two 12.5 mg capsules in a safe lab environment, but it may be something worth discussing with the pharmacist.

[coachhoke]

Re: Taking Revlimid every other day

by coachhoke on Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:30 am

Before 2.5 mg capsules of Revlimid were available, my oncologist had me take one 5 mg capsule every other day. It seemed to control my M-spike pretty well. When the 2.5 mg capsule became available, I switched to them, daily. I feel I tolerate the 2.5 better.

[NStewart]

Re: Taking Revlimid every other day

by NStewart on Wed Mar 22, 2017 3:42 pm

When my oncologist wanted to try me on 5 mg of Revlimid a day to decrease my GI side effects, he had me take 10 mg every other day. I did this for almost a year before we increased my dose back up to 10 mg a day because we wanted to lower my dex dose from 20 mg to 12 mg once a week due to side effects.

So, yes, every other day dosing is not unusual. It's too bad that lower dose capsules aren't available in Russia.

Nancy in Phila

[Gala]

Re: Taking Revlimid every other day

by Gala on Wed Mar 29, 2017 11:26 pm

K_Sash, Multibilly, coachhoke and Nancy, thank you very much for your input. It was very helpful. My sister was switched to Velcade now, though, due to her persistently low white blood cell count.