I have CLL and my white blood counts have been rising steadily. No symptoms yet. I am in a wait & see phase currently
Hi Rick! Iwill be starting on Venclexta in about 3-4 weeks during my first cycle of therapy. It’s in conjunction with Gazyva intravenously. I have been told that I will need to have my blood levels closely monitored and will spend three days if the week at the cancer centre during the day for this for a period if five weeks while they ramp up the dose from 2O-400 mg daily. This med causes the cancer cells to die (apoptosis). A side effect of too many cells destroyed at the same time can cause tumour lysis syndrome which can affect your kidneys and heart function adversely. There is a protocol to follow when using this medication. It makes me somewhat nervous but this drug is what is recommended for my type of cll mutations to achieve the best response. My suggestion is to read up on it and discuss with your oncologist to put your mind at ease. Wish you the best. And i’ll post my progress so you can see how I am doing with it.
Hi Rick, I think I take the Australian version of Venclexta and it's called Inqovi and after it settles in your body then the side-effects are minimal.
I still have fatigue, no appetite and not much interest in doing much, but this could just be the leukemia doing this.
That is great! The side effects are what worries me the most!
Im on venclexta 14 days with 5 days decitibine chemo. No side effects.
I’ll keep you posted as I go along.