Dasatinib for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia User Reviews

• Anonymous
• February 17, 2009

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I am in a study using Sprycel as INITIAL treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). When first diagnosed with CML, my white blood cell (wbc) count was 19,000. I started taking Sprycel 50mg twice a day. On my 3 month follow-up, my wbc was 5,000 and my BCR-ABL was 0.001 (Almost complete remission). Have been there for the past year with very little side effects. Just occasional headache and mild skin outbreaks. I would highly recommend it to anyone with CML."

• sneak...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 23, 2013

Sprycel (dasatinib) "Was diagined in November of 2008 with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. I opted to be involved in the Dasatinib trial. I was in remission in less that 2 months. Everything was great, few side effects, until July of 2012 when I started coughing. I was told to stop taking Dasatinib as it had caused water in my lungs, after a 7 week stop, I was put back onto Dasatinib at 1/2 my initail dose 50mg per day. Again all seemed well. In August of 2013 I could not catch my breath but had no cough. It was so bad we went to Emergency at the hospital. There I found out fluid in my lungs again. I am off Dasatinib and am no longer able to take it as my body rejected it. I won't know what medicine I will be going on until the fluid is all out of my lungs. My oncologist says 12 weeks."

• Full...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 4, 2022

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I was diagnosed with CML in Nov, 2019. Began Sprycel treatment in 2/2020 - numbers improved every visit and as of May, 2022 - I am completely cancer free! I will begin weaning off the drug after 3 'no-cancer' visits so I am hoping nothing changes!"

• Anonymous
• June 27, 2011

Sprycel (dasatinib) "Was on Gleevec for two years and BCR-ABL would not come down below 20%. Months after starting Sprycel BCR-ABL undetectable. I have been on Sprycel for 7 months now and so far great. Blood counts all look good."

• Anonymous
• July 25, 2011

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I have been on Sprycel for 9 month. Previously on Gleevec for 2 years. I find Sprycel in the beginning to be wonderful, no side effects. Now 9 months since I have started, I am experiencing mild to mid level nausea as well as conjunctivitis and dry eye syndrome."

• April...
• October 30, 2016

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I was diagnosed with CML in 2012 and started with tasigna and couldn't handle the horrible side effects the I went to sprycel with horrible side effects to Gleevec and then back to a lower dose of Sprycel! Sense then I've had mild skin irritation and my breast hurt but nothing I have become accustomed to, the worst part is the joint pain. But over all my CML is asleep and undetected in my blood as of today! So I will take the joint pain as long as I have to!"

• Tony...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 9, 2013

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I was on Gleevec for nearly 3 years and had issues with leg pain and no remission. Switched to Sprycel in October 2011 and could see a big improvement. Developed fluid on the lung in December 2012. Dr. took me off Sprycel and fluid situation is getting better. Waiting to see next steps."

• dappl...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 11, 2016

Sprycel (dasatinib) "Achieved complete molecular remission within six months of daily 100 mg. Sprycel. Reduced dose to 50 mg a day at six months due to side effects. The longer I was on it, the worse they became. Shortness of breath caused by pleural effusion, body pain, all over itching, acne like rash on face and scalp and some hair loss at very beginning of treatment. It was a good drug to kill the cancer cells, but reduced my quality of life drastically. Have started Gleevec with few expected side effects, except for major vertigo. Taken off Gleevec for two weeks and told to restart at 200 mg. a day to rechallenge. I won't be able to live alone if vertigo is a daily side effect. Glad to be in remission, but hate side effect sickness."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• February 10, 2015

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I was diagnosed in May 2014 and started taking Sprycel within the week. After 6 months I was at .01% of the BCR-ABL abnormality. Great results, right? But I felt awful. After dealing with minor side effects of acne, sore breasts, weight gain and a low mood, the severe fatigue and chest pain were enough to stop. I'm now on Gleevec and starting to experience extreme thirst and weight gain. Very grateful there are medications that treat CML but frustrated with the inevitable side effects."

• Jeff...
• December 20, 2017

Sprycel (dasatinib) "In January 2009, I was initial diagnosed by my PCP with a general category of having blood cancer and referred to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for further evaluation. The white blood cell was 175k. Then they changed the medication to Sprycel 100mg/day; within four weeks of beginning the treatment with it, my white blood cell count dramatically fell from 175k to 16K. I was fully informed of the two prominent side-effects Pain Pleural Effusion. , the medication did cause a pleural effusion to develop and needed a thorocentsis that extracted 850 milliliters offluid from the pleural cavity with reduction of the meds, from 100mg to 50mg, no pain, no more pleural effusions. Remission has remained steady throughout @ under $99.98 of the time."

• Hawkeye
• July 27, 2021

Sprycel (dasatinib) "Shortness of breath, life is not the same, attitude is positive but I can't be me, tired a lot, yet can't sleep. My levels have hit normal! Thank everyone then found out i will be on some form of meds my whole life, I will never feel 100% but I get to live."

• Mehul...
• February 3, 2018

Sprycel (dasatinib) "2011 I started with glivec. After taking three years of glivec it has not worked. Then I started sprysel 100 mg per day. I got a good result in just 1 month, then after 2 years I started getting a lot of side effects on my body. pain , ache in my head, water, veins pressure going to high and now I take a one more tablet for water pressure."

• susan
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 9, 2020

Sprycel (dasatinib) "My mother took Sprycel for 18 months. It caused severe pleural effusion. She was on oxygen and had to have fluid drained 3 times. She died in 2016 by the time they realized it was the Sprycel side effect is was too late to reverse damage."

• Yello...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 3, 2022

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I was diagnosed in August 2021, and began with Gleevac. It was not effective for me and I was started on Sprycel 100mg. I was on it about a month when I ended up in the ICU for 6 weeks. Critically low blood counts they couldn’t get up. I was very sick. I have been in the hospital for 6 months of 2022. My dr stopped the Sprycel in April. In June I ended up getting a pleural effusion and a pericardial effusion. I started Tasigna three weeks ago and already have had a hospitalization for a week with kidney failure."

• Califia
• March 8, 2016

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I have had nausea, headache and body pain. The body pain has been the most difficult. I had to stop taking medications because of this medication but also seem to have hypersensitivity in smell. So far all looks good but still in early stages."

• Nadawi
• March 9, 2017

"I've been very happy with Sprycel for more than three years now. However, these last few months I've been experiencing various symptoms which I believe are related to this medicine. I have bone pain that no doctor is explaining, I often have some difficulty breathing and I feel tried all the time. Nevertheless, I would not chose to change Sprycel; I have tired four types of medications of which this was the only one I faced no side effect troubles with."

• Anonymous
• November 28, 2011

"I was on Gleevec for 6 months for CML and the side effects were horrendously painful, so my oncologist switched me to Dasatinib (which I have been on now for 10 months). I give it a "9" rating because there is no doubt about its effectiveness in killing the leukemia cells, but I didn't give it a "10" because of the side effects I am experiencing (which is more than others from what I understand). I have frequent headaches, bone pain, nausea, muscle pain and aches, gastrointestinal problems, occasional dry eye syndrome, constipation, severe anal sphincter pain, vertigo, extreme loss of energy and light headedness / dizziness, abdominal pain, gastritis, musculoskeletal pain and perhaps others that I do not yet recognize."

• JDT
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 12, 2022

Sprycel (dasatinib) "Sprycel had a very bad and immediate impact on me. I was prescribed Sprycel after Gleevac initially failed to control my CML. I took the first pill of Sprycel on a Friday, and was in bed unable to get up all weekend. Luckily, I slept and DID NOT TAKE A SECOND DOSE. When I spoke to a nurse on Sunday about whether it was safe to take my other meds, she nicely asked why I had waited until Sunday evening to ask. When I told her I was asleep through weekend, and that also I was having to how swallowing(!), she instructed me NOT TO TAKE ANOTHER DOSE OF SPRYCEL: I WAS HAVING A SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTION (throat constricted! A choking). So, it was lucky for me to have slept (also a side effect) and NOT to have take even one more dose!!"

• Rsands
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 7, 2017

"dx'd late 2005. Started Gleevec, sick as a dog, got over that but was very hard on my stomach. In remission 2007. Bone and joint pain bad. Cramps in ribs. 2013 started Sprycel. No nausea but bone and joint pain. 2015 at dr complaining short of breath. Tests all normal. 2017 in hospital twice from getting severe infection from other immunos for PsA. Resting sats high 80s low 90s and pleural effusion. Second time effusion worse than the month before. Not enough to drain but still short of breath, low sats at rest. Finally decided it's the Sprycel so back on Gleevec. Been off Sprycel for a month. Am feeling much better but sats still very low. If any of you had low sats, how long after stopping Sprycel before you got better?"

• DOM
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 21, 2019

"Diagnosed (early detection) with CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemias ) July 2019 immediately put onto 400mg of Imatinib, first two weeks great nothing, then after three weeks severe muscle and bone pain had to switch (wondering if lower dose will end up being the trick) anyway, moved to 50mg Dasatinib, severe itching and chest/upper body muscular pains, lowered to 25mg (half dose) side effects lessened, still present is itching occasionally, muscle issues all but gone (thank God) however now developing shortness of breath which is troubling... even with little to no real exertion of myself (simple walk up stairs can cause it) side effects suck but it beats the alternative - 3 month molecular test coming up end of October - will know if its impacting the Phl+ chromosome..."

• Tommy
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 8, 2022

"Diagnosed 14 months ago. White blood cell count was 380; BCR-ABL @ 86%. After 6 weeks of chemo pills (Hydrea), count was down to 110. Then transitioned to 100mg of Sprycel/dasatinib. It's been exactly one year of just Spycel. White blood cell down to 7 (normal), BCR-ABL @ 0.9%, not remission, but pretty darn good. Minor drawback: some trouble catching breath during rigorous exercise, probably minor pleural effusion. Doc isn't worried yet given the intensity of exercise I'm still capable of. The worst drawback is the price: $15,000/month or $500/pill (USA). This is known as "financial toxicity" and it is a stressor. My insurance just stopped accepting Sprycel co-pay assistance ($2,300/month), and raised the policy price on my employer 25%, so I'm not sure I can remain on it. Sure hope I can find a way. It works."

• Pinch...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 28, 2023

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I was diagnosed with CML in April of 2023 by chance because I was in the hospital for a bleeding ulcer. I was prescribed 100 mg of Sprycel in late April when my white blood cell count was 100,000. I had severe coughing, lung fluid, extreme headaches, body aches, and some nausea. Sleeping was not comfortable. I lasted four days on that dose but had to stop because of side effects. I was moved to 80 mg and lasted six days before I had to stop. The good news was that my white blood cell count went down to 7,000. I was moved down to 20 mg and can finally tolerate the side effects, and it's late June. The side effects are most difficult in the mornings with a headache and facial swelling. Blood work is coming up next week, and I'm hoping for good results and still in the normal range. To be continued."

• Anonymous
• October 31, 2016

Sprycel (dasatinib) "I m happy to be in complete remission because of this medication"