Diagnosed June 5, 2018, started Sprycel on June 21, 2018. Only side effect so far is shortness of breath the last two nights. Have blood tests tomorrow, hoping for the best. John J
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New CML Diagnosed
Keep us informed John. You will learn a lot from your fellow CML'ers on this site that you may or may not learn from your doctors. The shortness of breath on Sprycel is not unusual for that particular TKI. Pleural effusions can happen on Sprycel particularly on higher doses. But first things first - your blood tests should return to normal within weeks and your BCR-ABL PCR test should show marked improvement within months. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask any questions here.
Welcome to the site John. My husband is also on Sprycel. The first few nights he didn’t sleep well and felt a bit panicky but I think that was a combination of his body adjusting and anxiety caused by reading about all the possible side effects before he went to bed! Headaches are very common initially so I would really recommend keeping yourself really hydrated and drinking a lot of water. Nausea was also an issue initially so he tries to eat v healthily.
He takes his pill in the eve so sleeps through worst side effects.
My husband felt so much better when his red blood counts started to return to normal around month 3 and now he pretty much leads a normal life.
Good luck with your blood tests. Hopefully it will be very reassuring to see the white blood count cell start to fall.
Best wishes
Louise