Co-vidarabine (Generic Pentostatin Injection)
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WARNING
Pentostatin injections must be administered under the care of a physician with training in administering chemotherapy drugs for cancer.
Pentostatin may have harmful side effects, such as nervous system impairment. Call your doctor right away if you have any of the following symptoms: Seizures, confusion, drowsiness, a brief loss of consciousness, discomfort, burning, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet, weakness in the arms or legs, or the inability to move your arms or legs, are some of the possible side effects.
In a clinical trial, persons with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia who combined fludarabine (Fludara) and pentostatin injection were more likely to experience severe lung damage. This lung damage did, in some circumstances, result in death. As a result, your doctor won’t recommend fludarabine with pentostatin injection (Fludara).
Why is this medication prescribed?
Hairy cell leukaemia is treated using the drug pentostatin (cancer of a certain type of white blood cell). An antibiotic of the type pentostatin is solely employed in the treatment of cancer. It functions by reducing or halting the development of cancer cells within your body.
How should this medicine be used?
In a medical setting, a doctor or nurse will mix powdered pentostatin with fluids before administering it intravenously (into a vein) over a period of five minutes or intravenously over a period of twenty to thirty minutes. Typically, it is administered once every other week. The length of treatment is based on how well pentostatin is working on your body.
If you have certain adverse effects, your doctor can decide to postpone your treatment or alter your dose. It is crucial that you communicate your feelings to your doctor throughout your pentostatin injectable treatment.
Other uses for this medicine
Pentostatin is also occasionally used to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), a form of malignancy of the white blood cells (a type of cancer that begins in a type of white blood cell that normally fights infection and that affects the skin). The dangers of using this drug for your illness should be discussed with your doctor.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more details if you believe this drug should be used for something else.
What special precautions should I follow?
Before receiving pentostatin,
- If you have an allergy to pentostatin, any other drugs, or any of the ingredients in pentostatin injection, let your doctor and pharmacist know right once. Ask your pharmacist for the components or a list.
- Inform your doctor and pharmacist about any additional prescription and over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, dietary supplements, and herbal products you are now taking or intend to use. Mention either allopurinol or the drug indicated in the IMPORTANT WARNING section (Zyloprim). Your doctor may need to keep a close eye out for any negative effects.
- Inform your doctor if you currently have or have recently had an infection as well as renal or liver illness.
- Inform your doctor if you are expecting, intend to get pregnant, or are nursing a baby. While taking pentostatin, you should not get pregnant. Call your doctor if you conceive while taking pentostatin. The foetus could be harmed by pentostatin.
What special dietary instructions should I follow?
Keep eating normally unless your doctor instructs you otherwise.
What side effects can this medication cause?
Side effects are possible with pentostatin. If any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away, let your doctor know right once:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal pain
- Constipation
- Mouth- and throat-related sores
- Enormous volumes of gas in the intestines or bowels, or flatulence
- Hair fall
- Back, joint, or muscular pain
- Headache
- Sweating
- Having trouble falling or staying asleep
- Arid skin
- Itching
- Loss of energy or strength
Some side effects can be serious. If you experience any of these symptoms or those listed in the IMPORTANT WARNING section, call your doctor immediately or get emergency medical treatment:
- Having trouble breathing
- Breathing difficulty
- wheezing
- Cough
- Fever, chills, a sore throat, or other symptoms of infection
- Uncommon bruising or bleeding
- Stool that is dark and tarry
- Bench with a reddish tint
- Vomit that is bloody or that resembles coffee grounds
- Hammering, rapid, or erratic heartbeat
- Chest ache
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Skin or eyes turning yellow
- Reduced appetite
- Upper right stomach region discomfort
- Urine with a dark colour
- Less urinations
- Face, arm, hand, foot, ankle, or lower leg swelling
- Unusual weakness or fatigue
- Rash Vision Alterations
- Hearing changes
Further negative effects of pentostatin are possible. If you experience any strange issues while taking this medicine, contact your doctor right away.
You or your doctor can submit a report to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting programme online or by phone if you have a serious side event (1-800-332-1088).
In case of emergency/overdose
Call the poison control hotline at 1-800-222-1222 in the event of an overdose. Moreover, information can be found online at https://www.poisonhelp.org/help. Call 911 right once if the person has collapsed, experienced a seizure, is having difficulty breathing, or cannot be roused.
What other information should I know?
Keep all of your appointments with your physician and the lab. To monitor your body’s reaction to pentostatin, your doctor will request specific lab tests.
If you have any inquiries about pentostatin, ask your pharmacist.
You should keep a written record of every medication you take, including any over-the-counter (OTC) items, prescription drugs, and dietary supplements like vitamins and minerals. This list should be brought with you whenever you see a doctor or are admitted to the hospital. You should always have this information with you in case of emergencies.
Brand names
- Nipent®