[Bambam]

Originally Posted by Al's Wife

Well, our visit to the oncologist today was not a good one. We saw the doctor prior to beginning day 3 of cycle 6 of Vidaza. We discussed the differences in the two bone marrow biopsies and the doctor was upset about the discrepancies. So he is contacting the two labs and having them run the tests again. Evidently they save the marrow for a length of time. He said it could be an error or it could be the Vidaza has wiped out the 8 and created the 3, which he compared to jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
It was unsettling, to say the least, which seems to be the way things run with MDS and this awful roller coaster ride.
Then when Al went back to begin his chemo, he had a burning in his chest, blurred vision, slurred speech, and his blood pressure went off the charts. They immediately stopped the Vidaza. They gave him some medicine to get his blood pressure down and stabilize him. But it really scared him. The doctor told them to wait about 15 minutes and then try the Vidaza again, which they did, and everything was fine.
We have no idea why after all this time, he had this reaction today. He was, of course, upset after our visit with the doctor, and added to that, he had not eaten anything since early yesterday. Anyway, we've got two more treatments with Vidaza for this week, and hopefully the doctor will have the lab results back, and we can make a determination of where do we go from here.
Has anyone else had an adverse reaction like this from Vidaza? I've read where some have experienced similar reactions from the antinausea medicine but don't remember reading it about Vidaza.

I have just completed Round 4 of Vidaza, on a 7 day on/21 day off schedule each month. I have had intense itching all over my body with each round, but it seems to be intensifying with time. The anti_nausea med, Ondansetron, and Vidaza combine to cause severe constipation. My dose of the former was halved, but still the same effect persists. I'm told it will take 6 rounds before we know if the Vidaza is working. In the meantime, my ANC rarely rises above .5 and my PLTS hover around 20 (my threshold for TRX due to earlier brain bleed.) my stomach looks like a map showing each province a different colour, I itch intensely and I read lots of magazine articles!!!