Fumaderm advice wanted

[Cathy1815]

Hi

I have just started on Fumaderm for the last 3 days and I am feeling really sick. Does anyone know how long this will last for?
I have had guttate psoriasis for nearly 40 years since I was 10.

[jiml]

Hi

I have just started on Fumaderm for the last 3 days and I am feeling really sick. Does anyone know how long this will last for?
I have had guttate psoriasis for nearly 40 years since I was 10.

I'm out at the moment but will be able to answer later this evening if you don't get any other replies before. I will say do try to stick with it ..... Chat later
Jim

[Caroline]

Cathy,

Welcome to the forum !
What dose are you on?
What kind of sickness do yo feel?
Pain in your stomach?
Nausea in your intestines?
hot flushes?

Tell us then we can tell you if it is normal.

Cheers,
Caroline

[Kato]

Hi Cathy and welcome!

Yes, let us know exact symptoms...there are a lot of people here with rest experience, advice and knowledge who have helped me heaps already (I'm still kinda new).

I'm also a fellow Fumaderm-er (8 months in) and happy to answer any questions based on my own experiences so far.

Kath

[jiml]

Hi again Cathy I've just returned home, and have a bit more time to write .. Welcome to the forum I'm glad you have found us and chosen to post here, you have no doubt had a look through the site and seen that it is a happy site to belong to, we are all always happy to offer and receive support for the various treatments we are on, and the site is lively and current, I see that Caroline and Kath have both posted and both have also had experience of DMF as Fumaderm or Psorinovo and can give you some valuable advice...

Regarding your side effects on Fumaderm they are not unusual but there are things you may be able to do to reduce the severity of the cramps and nausea.
Are you taking your tablets with meals?
Are you taking plenty of fluid to flush them down
I have to admit the side effects for me were not horrendous the cramps were bad but short lived. I never felt nauseous ...... It may be to do with the way you are taking them.
Do let us know some more detail as Kath and Caroline have asked about

This may be of interest it is part of an article from medscape and the full document is available

Quote:

---

Common adverse events associated with FAE therapy for psoriasis are gastrointestinal complaints and flushing.[74] Gastrointestinal adverse events, such as diarrhoea, mild stomach upsets, stomach cramps, fullness and flatulence, occur in more than two-thirds of patients and are most frequently reported between 4 and 12 weeks of treatment.[74,75] Approximately one-third of patients experience flushing, characterized by reddening of the face and a sensation of heat, sometimes associated with headache, lasting minutes to hours. Flushing occurs most often at the onset of treatment and becomes less frequent with further exposure.[74]

Clinical experience has shown that the gastrointestinal adverse effects of FAE therapy may be controlled with aluminium hydroxide, metoclopramide or ranitidine.[82] There is also some evidence that concomitant pentoxifylline therapy may reduce the incidence and severity of gastrointestinal complaints and flushing in patients receiving FAE therapy.[83] FAE dose reduction may also be used to manage symptoms; however, discontinuation should be considered in persistent cases.[75] Gastrointestinal adverse events and flushing together lead to discontinuation of FAE therapy in approximately 7% of patients.[74] Overall, the rate of discontinuation due to adverse events and/or noncompliance with treatment is 30-40%.[34]

Source medscape

[Kato]

Hi Cathy,

Just to give you a bit more info on my experience thus far...i started on 30mg per day and started to experience fairly severe gastric side effects when I got up to 480mg per day (I'm currently on 720mg per day). I found that if I did eat, I would get bad cramps and an upset stomach, but when I didn't eat I got the symptoms of severe acid indigestion and nausea and/or vomiting.

I should point out that I have had moderate-severe IBS for 14 years which no doubt doesn't help with the stomach related side effects.

Having persevered through some hard day's, I have learned that eating a nice substantial meal with each dose really does make a huge difference. I've always been more of a grazer by nature but I have adapted my eating habits to be able to tolerate my dose. E.g. I used to eat a lot of salads, which I can still do but only if there is a carb component to my meal.

The other thing which helped me was that my deem have me the freedom to adjust my dose as I felt necessary. This was awesome for me as I felt like my condition was being treated as a part of living a normal life, rather than something to be traded for another set of symptoms to deal with.

The nausea for me lasted about 3 months on and off. Not wanting to discourage you and you may well find it more short lived. I quickly discovered there were certain things (for me it was coffee and garlic) that my body couldn't even tolerate the smell of. Yet here I am a few months later on the maximum dose, drinking coffee, eating Bolognese and only occasionally having a 'bad day'.

My advice would be to put up with what you can, knowing that it's likely not long term, keep in close contact with you dermatologist if you can, and talk through any worries here. There's a really lovely supportive bunch of people looking out for each other.

And good luck! Keep us posted!

[jiml]

That's very interesting Kath. It sounds as if you may well have the answer. I'm pleased you have learnt to deal with the side effects so well yourself.

[Cathy1815]

That's very interesting Kath. It sounds as if you may well have the answer. I'm pleased you have learnt to deal with the side effects so well yourself.

[Cathy1815]

Thanks for your support everyone.
Well day 4 underway. Dont feel as sick Today but experienced some amazing HOT flushes at 5.30 this morning. drank milk with the tablet last night and had a banana to see if that helped. So although a bit queasy still Today, dont feel half as bad. Hot flushes haven't continued since I got up which is a relief as I work in a school and they all probably think I was on the menopause. Not quite there yet!
Got 3 more days of 30 mg and then bloods and onto 60mg. The nausea didn't stop me from going for a 4 mile run and surprisingly felt ok until I stopped.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring, headaches, sickness, runs. Who knows!
Determined to carry on at the moment.
P.s. How long does it take to work. Will I ever wear shorts?

[jiml]

Thanks for your support everyone.
Well day 4 underway. Dont feel as sick Today but experienced some amazing HOT flushes at 5.30 this morning. drank milk with the tablet last night and had a banana to see if that helped. So although a bit queasy still Today, dont feel half as bad. Hot flushes haven't continued since I got up which is a relief as I work in a school and they all probably think I was on the menopause. Not quite there yet!
Got 3 more days of 30 mg and then bloods and onto 60mg. The nausea didn't stop me from going for a 4 mile run and surprisingly felt ok until I stopped.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring, headaches, sickness, runs. Who knows!
Determined to carry on at the moment.
P.s. How long does it take to work. Will I ever wear shorts?

Yes Cathy you will wear shorts ( said the fairy godfather   ) yes you should be well clear by the summer. A word of caution, it's not something that has ever bothered me on Fumaderm but Bill in Australia uses the stuff raw, and I'm sure he has said that banana upsets his stomach, and if you are having problems I would avoid anything that may cause problems.
I'm so glad you are feeling better, the hot flushes you will get used to and they will get less as time goes on..
Time before it starts to work is difficult to say but you will be on full strength for a little while before you get clearance .
I think the fact that you are getting the good ( flushes) and bad ( cramps and nausea) indicated to me that the Fumaderm are affecting your body and as you increase the dose and your body acclimatises it will begin to work on the skin and the effects reduce ( well that was my experience ) I only get the odd warm flush now after over three years on it
I'm hopeful for you and agree it's a tough drug to stomach for many but if you can ride out the side effects it should hopefully keep you clear for ages