21 replies to this topic

[rcase13]

I have been on Tasigna for about a year now. I know not to eat anything during the 2 hours before taking the pill and the one hour after taking the pill. But what about drinking? Am I allowed to drink a soda or hot tea during that 3 hour window? I suspect it would be OK as my ONC mentioned taking the pill with a high acid soda like Coke or orange juice might help absorption.

 

Often we will go and have hot tea while my son is in soccer practice. So far I have been the odd man out because that is right when I am supposed to not be eating anything. But I got to thinking that maybe drinking tea or a soda might be OK. I don't drink alcohol at all so this is just in regards to sodas, teas etc.

[Anti-Matters]

It's been almost a year for me. I stick to only water "in the window", as I like to think of it. My understanding is that anything in the stomach could effect the absorption, which is what you don't want.

[Trey]

The reason for the 2 hour window is concern that a patient will retain too much drug for too long and effectively increase their dosage of Tasigna.  That concern of higher dosage is due to the heart QT elongation issue.  Novartis was required to do this empty stomach dosing schedule to gain drug approval.  High fat meals will increase the amount of time a drug stays in the body before removal by the liver.  Absorption of the drug is not an issue, but rather drug retention.  Sprycel would have the same requirement if it had not been a bit lucky during clinical trials.

 

So if a person wants to drink relatively inert stuff like coffee, tea, etc within the 2 hour window that is no issue whatsoever.  A few crackers should be fine.  Really the only issue is the high fat meal, so avoid a triple cheeseburger with large fries, milkshake, and double side of onion rings, when possible. 

 

I believe the no food thing is a 1% issue which unnecessarily limits the other 99%.  But the dosing instructions are what they are.  I just know that if it were me, I would not worry about eating a small amount in the 2 hour window as long as my QT was well within limits.  But that is just me.  YMMV. 

Edited by Trey, 26 October 2015 - 08:33 PM.

[rcase13]

I am going to risk hot tea. Tired of being odd man out. It's bad enough I look like an alligator. The dry skin and psoriasis has really aged me. It's weird looking in the mirror. I don't recognize myself. So I figure I can at least enjoy some hot tea with friends.

[Frogiegirl]

My nurse allows me to drink anything I want even mountain dew. sometimes I need the caffeine for the headaches.  My mom even thought that was odd and asked the doc herself and he said it was fine.......

[JPD]

Scary fact:  My Onc said there are some people that, due to the cost of the drug, find it better to take one dose per day instead of two, but they take it with high fat meals. 

 

I thought it actually increased the amount of the drug in your system, not just the time it stays in your system... but whatevs.

 

I drink absolutely anything whilst in that window.  I often take my pills with a nice bottle of beer.  Or even a gin and tonic.  My morning pills are always taken with coffee.

[rcase13]

Thanks for that JPD. I think the Gin and Tonic is a better choice as it has the tonic water in it and they say you should drink 8oz of water with the pill so that would be at least a double Gin and Tonic right?

[janne]

I do remember Trey's response to this question on a previous thread. Just as a note to those contemplating changing to Tasigna over Gleevec or any other drug for that matter, it is an important consideration when stumbling over the "two- hour window" issue. These are the reasons posted above and it should not be a huge concern. I do not restrict various fluids during this 2 hour window. Sometimes I do, but it is not a rigid compliance issue for me.

[Anti-Matters]

Very interesting. Maybe this should be posted in another thread, but for those of you who take Tasigna twice a day, what's your schedule?

[Floa7]

I have been on Tasigna since this past January. I have taken my pills upon arrival and waiting an hour before I got to drink my morning pepsi. I usually drink water for an hour. That pepsi tasted some good this morning.

I usually drank water in the evenings also, got me some hot spiced apple cider tonight. Waiting for that 9 o'clock pill and some water. I keep waking up at 11:30 every night. I finally realized why. My bladder was on a timer from all that water.

[tiredblood]

Very interesting. Maybe this should be posted in another thread, but for those of you who take Tasigna twice a day, what's your schedule?

I took Tasigna when I got up in the morning first thing, as soon as my feet hit the floor.  It takes about an hour for me to get ready and leave for work.  Then, my drive home from work is about an hour, so I took it before leaving work.  It was on the weekends when I'd get off track.

 

Sometimes, I'd drink something beside water with it, or accidently eat before the hour was up, but for the most part, I was compliant with the window thing.

[Frogiegirl]

3a.m and 3p.m works best for me;)

[soundoff]

I have been taking Tasigna for about 5 or 6 years. Finally PCRU and I don't mess around with the 2 hour limits or the hour after. Absolutely nothing in the 2 hour window or 1 hour after. I don't feel great if I do. Water is fine...FYI I drink like a fish. That's just my personal experience. I take my Tasigna when I wake up around 6AM or 7 AM and then again around 5PM or 6PM

[Judithb]

I'm a brand new user, having trouble establishing a dosing schedule.  Also experiencing bad indigestion.  I'd like to hear from more people about timing and how it workds for them. 

[JPD]

I take mine ~12 hours apart.  No regular schedule.  Depends when I wake up and when I eat in the evening.  Sometimes its 10 hours apart, sometimes 14.  C'est la vie.

[Anti-Matters]

I take it when I wake up around 8am, then in the evening around 8:30-9, depending on when I have dinner. If things get screwed up, I'll take the evening dose at 7 and have a late dinner. If I know with enough notice the dinner schedule won't work, I eat a bigger, late lunch, skip dinner and have something small in the evening.

I find the later dose more of a pain than the early one.

[JPD]

My Onc told me that the idea was to not get too much into your system - and that taking it 10 or 14 hours apart wasn't that big of a deal.  The 12 hours is a safety measure put in place by the drug companies so they could get approval. 

 

Plus, if I have a QT induced grabber, I wont have to worry about my next PCR test.  So I have that going for me

[kavis]

I'm doing 5:30/5:30 right now...I tried 10am/10pm but hated to take a big chunk out of my evening.  This works well, though I've thought about trying the 3am/3pm, I just worry I wouldn't always wake up at 3am!

 

I don't mess with any food in the window...figure I can plan meals easily enough, why not avoid it?

[Frogiegirl]

Kavis I love the 3am 3pm dosing. ...works great! My bf gets up every morning at 3a.m to give me my pills. ....he's the best. If not I'd probably just sleep through it. Guess he wants me to stick around for awhile. ...I'll know when he stops getting up to give me my pills somethings up tehehe;)

[tiredblood]

I'm a brand new user, having trouble establishing a dosing schedule.  Also experiencing bad indigestion.  I'd like to hear from more people about timing and how it workds for them. 

I took the TKI, waited one hour, then ate, waited another hour and took a Pepcid.  IIRC, you're supposed to take the Pepcid 30 min. before eating. However, there just weren't enough hours in the day to do it the right way.  I did a lot of counting to one and two (hours).