This page is a collection of strategies used by our members to deal with common side effects of Sutent. You should discuss ALL side effects with your doctor! These coping strategies are NOT a substitute for following your doctor's instructions.
As with all wiki pages, feel free to add or modify any of the current information by editing this page. If you have a new side effect you want to write about, just add a section header. (If the page gets too large feel free to split it into separate pages).
Contents |
[edit] Sore Mouth
Soft Foods can help. Many Sutent takers avoid spicy foods except during washout.
See our Sore mouth page for more hints.
[edit] Sore Feet and Hands (Hand-Foot Skin Reaction)
Super comfortable shoes feel better to tender feet.
One listmate reports his feet improved once he began taking omega-3 fatty acid (fish oil).
See free-access medical paper by Dr. LaCouture and colleagues linked below under Outside Resources.
I have been on Sutent 37.5 continuous for about 7 months with no washout. I had to continuously wear slippers around the house in order to have some comfort. I finally decided to go to a Podiatrist, and it was the best thing I ever did. I highly recommend it to others. I had developed very hard callouses and areas that peeled away leaving very sensitive new skin underneath. The callouses would build up until I felt like I was walking on little pebbles. The doctor would shave away the layers of the callouses and he gave me a prescription for econazole nitrate to help heal the peeled away areas. He recommended that I continue to strip down my callouses to relieve the pressure on them, and continue moisturising my feet. A nice foot soak will help in getting rid of the callouses and dried deadskin. My feet are now a 1000 times better. I don't need slippers and I walk like a normal human being again.
[edit] Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Your doctor will prescribe medications for you if you develop hypertension. Please see a question & answer piece on treating Sutent-related hypertension written by Robert Maki, MD PhD and Michele Bradshaw, PharmD on the GSI website: Sunitinib and Hypertension.
[edit] Thyroid dysfunction
Your doctor will prescribe thyroid medication for you if your thyroid function becomes impaired.
[edit] Outside Resources
- Sutent.com managing side effects page
- Research Article on managing side effects of Sutent
- Skin-Related Side Effects of Imatinib and Sunitinib
- Evolving Strategies for the Management of Hand-Foot Skin Reaction Associated with the Multitargeted Kinase Inhibitors Sorafenib and Sunitinib by Mario E. Lacouture, Shenhong Wu, Caroline Robert, Michael B. Atkins, Heidi H. Kong, Joan Guitart, Claus Garbe, Axel Hauschild, Igor Puzanov, Doru T. Alexandrescu, Roger T. Anderson, Laura Wood, and Janice P. Dutcher, in the journal Oncologist published 8 September 2008, 10.1634/theoncologist.2008-0131