Hi Greg,
You know Thalidomide is an old drug invented about 55 years ago and 50 mg costs about $7.5. Revlimid is new and 5 mg costs about $200.
I have read many studies about Thalidomide and found that “less is more”. In one study they tried to give the poor patients 1000mg/day and only 8% responded.
The best result – 59% responders - was reported from this study. The responding patients received 200mg/day at least 8 weeks.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16351636
The results should probably have been better if they had given the patients lower doses of Thalidomide combined with Prednisone (or a similar drug) as they do with patients with Myelofibrosis and Myeloma.
As far as I understand there are no ongoing studies on Thalidomide but many on Revlimid.
Thalidomide can give neuropathy, fatigue and constirpation. If you take 25 mg/day there is hardly any risk of neuropathy - I take 29 mg/day. Revlimid can give low counts initially.
Kind regards
Birgitta-A