Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
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Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
When I started Tecfidera, the first week I had itching on my arms, legs, and back of my neck and flushing that was all pretty much bearable and subsided after an hour. Right at week 3 the stomach pain started. It wasn't a minimal pain like Tecfidera said it would be, it was excruciating and I was doubled over in pain and nausea for two hours at a time. Perhaps there are others who relate.
A few days ago I went to a Tecfidera sponsored dinner at he Sheraton hotel and the dr doing the QandA is the director of neurology at a local MS center. I was baffled at why this pain. Here is what he said:
The stomach pain can be severe, like someone has just grabbed your stomach and twisted it. This feeling results from Tecfidera irritating the lining of the stomach and causing it to inflame. This is the real effect it has on the stomach. To treat this, take 1000mg of Carafate, 1 hr before taking the Tecfidera pill. The carafate will dissolve and coat the stomach lining and protect it.
I let my neurologist know and I will see if this helps. In the meantime I have restarted Tecfidera from scratch on the low dose because I had to stop after the third bout of pain until I got some answers.
Let me know your experience with this.
Re: Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
Hi Charlene,Charlene21281 wrote:The stomach pain can be severe, like someone has just grabbed your stomach and twisted it. This feeling results from Tecfidera irritating the lining of the stomach and causing it to inflame. This is the real effect it has on the stomach. To treat this, take 1000mg of Carafate, 1 hr before taking the Tecfidera pill. The carafate will dissolve and coat the stomach lining and protect it.
Welcome to ThisIsMS. Carafate may indeed be helpful. However, it contains aluminum and long term use could lead to aluminum toxicity. http://www.drugs.com/sfx/carafate-side-effects.html It's recommended for short term usage, i.e., up to 8 weeks. http://www.drugs.com/cdi/carafate.html Perhaps your doctor could make a suggestion for a similar drug that's compatible with long-term usage.
Have you tried some of the other suggestions people have made here such as taking Tecfidera with a protein rich meal?
NHE
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Re: Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
Thanks
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Re: Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
Since my last post I have restarted tecfidera and I am still on it. Rather than carafate, my neuro prescribed zantac and said try it first to see how I do. I can honestly say that it had been a world of difference for me. Twice a day I take the 240 tecfidera with 150 mg of ranitidine (the generic zantac). Not once did I experience stomach pain or nausea. One day I forgot to take the zantac with it, and sure enough within a few hours I started to experience slight nausea and stomach discomfort. I went and counted my pills and that was how I realized I forgot to take it. I haven't forgotten to take it since and I have been completely symptom free. I can only conclude that the nausea was a result of the stomach irritation because zantac not only took care of the pain but also the nausea.
I don't do any of the other things that others do to manage their symptoms, like diet modification and such but everyone is different. All I can say is that my first experience with tecfidera symptoms almost spelled the end for me, and I believe that thanks to zantac, I am now free of pain and nausea and can now stay on tecfidera. I would like to encourage anyone who had an initially bad experience with tecfidera to stick with it, and to do research and ask questions and try different options to see if their is a symptom management that is right for you.
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Re: Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
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Re: Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
Re: Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
Re: Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
Re: Excruciating stomach pain on Tecfidera
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