What should I watch for?
Visit your doctor for checks on your progress. This drug may make you feel generally unwell. This is not uncommon, as chemotherapy can affect healthy cells as well as cancer cells. Report any side effects. Continue your course of treatment even though you feel ill unless your doctor tells you to stop.
This medicine can interact with certain foods that contain tyramine. The combination may cause severe headaches, a rise in blood pressure, irregular heart beat, or you may otherwise feel unwell. Foods that contain significant amounts of tyramine include aged cheeses, meats and fish (especially aged, smoked, pickled, or processed such as bologna, pepperoni, salami, summer sausage), beer and ale, alcohol-free beer, wine (especially red), sherry, hard liquor, liqueurs, avocados, bananas, figs, raisins, soy sauce, miso soup, yeast/protein extracts, bean curd, fava or broad bean pods, or any over-ripe fruit. Ask your doctor or health care professional, pharmacist, or nutritionist for a complete listing of tyramine-containing foods. Also, avoid drinks containing caffeine, such as tea, coffee, chocolate, or cola.
Call your doctor or health care professional for advice if you get a fever, chills or sore throat, or other symptoms of a cold or flu. Do not treat yourself. This drug decreases your body's ability to fight infections. Try to avoid being around people who are sick.
This medicine may increase your risk to bruise or bleed. Call your doctor or health care professional if you notice any unusual bleeding.
Be careful brushing and flossing your teeth or using a toothpick because you may get an infection or bleed more easily. If you have any dental work done, tell your dentist you are receiving this medicine.
Avoid taking products that contain aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, or ketoprofen unless instructed by your doctor. These medicines may hide a fever.
You may get drowsy or dizzy. Do not drive, use machinery, or do anything that needs mental alertness until you know how this medicine affects you. Do not stand or sit up quickly, especially if you are an older patient. This reduces the risk of dizzy or fainting spells. Alcohol may interfere with the effect of this medicine. Avoid alcoholic drinks.
It is recommended that you stop smoking tobacco products (like cigarettes or cigars) while taking this medicine. Smoking tobacco products may increase your risk of developing lung cancer in the future.
Do not become pregnant while taking this medicine. Women should inform their doctor if they wish to become pregnant or think they might be pregnant. There is a potential for serious side effects to an unborn child. Talk to your health care professional or pharmacist for more information. Do not breast-feed an infant while taking this medicine.
Men should inform their doctors if they wish to father a child. This medicine may lower sperm counts.
Tell your health care professional that you are taking this medicine if you are scheduled to have any surgery, procedure or medical testing.
Common and Rare Side Effects
Along with their needed effects, medicines like procarbazine can sometimes cause unwanted effects such as blood problems, loss of hair, high blood pressure reactions, and other side effects. These and others are described below. Also, because of the way these medicines act on the body, there is a chance that they might cause other unwanted effects that may not occur until months or years after the medicine is used. These delayed effects may include certain types of cancer, such as leukemia. Discuss these possible effects with your doctor.
Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.
Stop taking this medicine and get emergency help immediately if any of the following effects occur:
Rare
Chest pain (severe)
enlarged pupils of eyes
fast or slow heartbeat
headache (severe)
increased sensitivity of eyes to light
increased sweating (possibly with fever or cold, clammy skin)
stiff or sore neck
Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur:
Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:
More common
Confusion
convulsions (seizures)
hallucinations (seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there)
missing menstrual periods
shortness of breath
thickening of bronchial secretions
tiredness or weakness (continuing)
Less common
sores in mouth and on lips
tingling or numbness of fingers or toes
unsteadiness or awkwardness
yellow eyes or skin
Some side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:
More common
Drowsiness
muscle or joint pain
muscle twitching
nervousness
nightmares
trouble in sleeping
unusual tiredness or weakness
Less common
darkening of skin
difficulty in swallowing
dizziness or lightheadedness when getting up from a lying or sitting position
feeling of warmth and redness in face
headache
loss of appetite
mental depression
This medicine may cause a temporary loss of hair in some people. After treatment with procarbazine has ended, normal hair growth should return.
Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
