For a number of patients with cancer, attributing the oral chemotherapy drugs to a growing typical treatment to those received in the hospital or clinic through intravenous applied has become common. However, one benefit of just swallowing the pills is it gives more control and allows patients to choose their own order of time and location.
But with oral treatment of chemotherapy medications, the drugs can be that very potent,to the extent that they can interact destructively with other medications, supplements, and even some particular foods. The risk of combined interactions with other treatments should be emphasized to patients while on oral chemo to avoid ending up with a reduced treatment effect or increased side effects or toxicity.
Here are some of the most common potential drug interactions to be aware of if you'll be undergoing oral chemotherapy:
Blood Thinners
Take oral chemotherapy drugs, the probability of internal and external hemorrhage would be increased; they can interfere with anticoagulant medications such as warfarin, heparin and usual suspects of apixaban, abolishing the benefit of chemotherapy and others. These drug-drug potassium combinations tremendously increase the chance of high-risk or dangerous bleeding events.
The Best cancer hospital in India opines that the chemo drug dosage prescribed may be modified by your doctor and the lab results may be closely monitored according to whether you need to take blood thinners during chemo treatment. In order to do that, doctors may tell a patient to stop a blood thinner temporarily after treatment is finished.
Acid Reducers
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), H2 blockers, and antacids medications are also known to affect the absorption process in the digestive system, thereby interfering with oral chemo-drugs in this system. From these the ones which are common are over-the-counter drugs like omeprazole (Prilosec), ranitidine (Zantac), famotidine (Pepcid), among others.
The situation may arise that the impaired absorption of agents may reduce their concentration and effectiveness, thus your oncologist may recommend that you separate the dosages of each agent by a few hours or not use acid reducers at all during your treatment,which might depend on the specific medications involved.
Herbal Supplements
One of the things that should be noted is that many types of herbal and botanical supplements should just be eliminated from the list due to the risk of negative interactions with the pills. St John's wort can defeat the objective of these drugs by making them be cleaved too quickly by the body.
The occurrence of the associated negative effects resulting from some of the synthetic herbal products is one other of the regarding issues like those of ginkgo biloba, ginseng, valerian root, and green tea extractions mentioned above.
One on one consultations with the pharmacist on oral chemotherapy would need to be suspended since the supplements and herbs often interfere with normal bodily functions and may have side effects which are not_regulated unless one is cleared by their oncologist.
Antibiotics and Antifungals
The interactions of different antimicrobials, as well as the antifungals that shield oral anticancer drugs from exposure to the environment, insensate the medical treatment of cancer, either by raising the concentration to toxic dosages or by decreasing the drug levels that can be therapeutic.
Besides antibiotics that hinder their efficiency or need its dose to be changed, we can cite ciprofloxacin, clarithromycin, erythromycin, rifampin and doxycycline. Bushy fish antifungal class holds itraconazole, ketoconazole, fluconazole, etc. These are the widely prescribed drugs.
Anti-Seizure Drugs
The liver enzyme pathway cytochrome P450 metabolizes anti-seizure and anticonvulsant medicines (like phenytoin, carbamazepine, and phenobarbital) may reduce the availability of oral chemotherapy drugs (chemotherapy). These medications could require their dosages to be temporarily repressed or the dosages to be minimized during treatment.
Cholesterol Medications
Statin drugs that lower the blood cholesterol level like Atorvastatin, Lovastatin, and Simvastatin should likely be stopped before hospital facilities during each oral chemotherapy cycle. These ways they work may potentiate the possibilities of chemotherapeutic drugs and to raise the levels of toxicity.
Other Chemotherapy Agents
It needs to be specified if intravenous medications will also be used, thereby both appropriate monitoring and medication dosage adjustment being allowed.
Undoubtedly, upholding an open communication with your oncologist and pharmacy team is the most vital method to avoid the adverse side effects through the process of oral chemotherapy. The Best ayurvedic cancer treatment in India suggests that you are recommended to inform your doctor about every medication, any supplement, or over-the-counter product that you take - not only the meds that make you ill, but also benign things such as antacids and vitamin pills.
Oral Chemo patients are told to cease using other non-essential drugs and supplements at such a time period in order to steer clear of any interaction risks. It is obviously the smart thing to do to consult with your physician even if you're thinking about proceeding with anything you used to do or getting new products around the same time as oral chemo termination because of possible interference with the coming cycles.
The correct prescription management and drug interactions monitoring can significantly improve the quality of life cancer patients have during their oral chemotherapy. On the other side, it can help the patients to maximize the benefits from their treatment plan, reduce additional side effects and toxicities. Maintenance of the best compatibility with your medical team helps your safety when traveling this way of your treatment