stomach pains, on ibrutinib and ventoclax

[Givemestrength23]

morning all, wanted to ask has anyone else had problems with stomach issues whilst on ibrutinib and Ventoclax

[Shepherd777]

Yes it can give you gastritis, where you fluctuate between constipation and the runs some days. Their literature says about 10 percent chance as I recall. My wife has had it on a regular basis due to previous intestinal surgeries.

[Givemestrength23 in reply to Shepherd777]

Thank you

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

Hi Givemestrength23,

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While I did not take the same combination as you, while on Venentoclax mono for 6 years I had about 3 very short ( 45 minutes) bouts of diarrhea every month. When I was on Venetoclax and Acalabrutinib the frequency of these sudden bouts increased to 3 per week. When I discontinued the Venetoclax the gastro problems stopped completely.

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Len

[Poodle2]

Yes, on Venetoclax. Awful stomach cramps and diarrhoea, about 3-4x a week at its worst. Cutting out certain foods (spicy in my case) and taking the medication late in the evening helped me. Didn't stop it completely but it got much better.

[AussieNeil Administrator]

On my acalabrutinib + venetoclax + obinutuzumab trial, the first month is on just acalabrutinib and the last 6 months on venetoclax + acalabrutinib. The most challenging part of the treatment was the sudden, usually morning and about once per week or so, onset of diarrhoea with little to no warning. So I suspect for me, it was due to venetoclax. Didn't abate until several months after finishing treatment.

[Poodle2 in reply to AussieNeil]

Neil, that's interesting... I have experienced diarrhoea several times since I stopped Venetoclax - actually about 5-6 times since September when I started paying more attention to it as I thought it was weird and started considering going to my GP but thinking about it now, it's similar to the cramping I used to have on Venetoclax, never thought it could still be the "aftermath" of the treatment...interesting...

[Zigster49]

I am on Acalabrutinib + Ventoclax. During the ramp-up period for Ventoclax, I alternated between constipation and the runs. Now I just have an urgent need for a bowel movement as soon as I wake up in the morning.

Years ago, I mentioned I had annoyingly loose bowels to Physician’s Assistant, who I was seeing for an unrelated problem. She suggested one capsule a day of Psyllium. I was surprised because psyllium in larger doses is usually used for constipation, but it worked well. There is no information on the bottle as to of how much psyllium each capsule contains, but the recommended dose is 5 capsules at a time up to 4 doses a day, so the amount must be small. However, it’s worked for me.

I hope your stomach issues resolve with time as mine have.