Hi everyone. I just wondered if there is anyone else out there who are now having to take Ceritinib as a film coated tablet? The capsule has been discontinued and initially I was very pleased as the tablet is much smaller than the capsule. If you’re on a targeted therapy you’ll know what I mean, the capsule is huge!
So first day on tablet started well as usual morning stomach cramps did not appear. But 5 hours after taking the tablets I had the worst cramps I’d ever had with diarrhoea. I then vomited which in 18 months on Ceritinib capsule I have never done. It was pretty awful.
I do understand that tablets are absorbed slower and will dissolve in your small intestine as opposed to capsules which start to break down in your stomach. Hence the later time of side effects. Though I don’t get the severity as the dose is the same.
Hope that this kind of makes sense. Just wonder if anyone has had a similar experience or just been switched from hard capsules to film coated tablet?
Thanks x
Lung cancer with brain mets update 
DOCETAXEL WITH NINTEDANIB
Chemotherapy Cycle 4 Week 1
Carboplatin & Etoposide treatment - small cell lung cancer
Palliative chemo - pemotrexid and cisplatin
Hi BellaBe
My husband’s ceritinib tablets have recently changed to the small tablets instead of the massive capsules, for which he’s delighted! No different side effects since the change from capsules to tablets for him. Bless him, he has difficulty taking pills at the best of times and the size of those capsules were something else! When he first started taking ceritinib the starting dose was 750mg and he had to take 5 capsules 750mg with no food for 2 hours before and 1 hour afterwards. This caused him all sorts of problems and the dose was reduced to 4 capsules, 600mg, same no food routine which was also too high a dose for him until he was eventually prescribed 3 capsules, 450mg, still with the no food routine. Eventually protocol was changed and 450mg with food became the starting dose. Which was much better. If only that had been the case when he started on ceritinib it could have saved him a lot of bad side effects. My husband takes his tablets about an hour or so before bedtime which works for him.
Hope you’re feeling better since changing from the capsules to the tablets and continue to have success on them,
Hope you’re coping with the strange times we’re living in at the moment.
Best wishes
Jan
Thank you Jan for your information. Your husband must have been on Ceritinib for some time I’m guessing as it’s been awhile since they changed the dosing advice. I’m so pleased it works well for him. Unfortunately taking them at night for me is out of the question, I tried this once and was up most of the night with crippling stomach cramps.
I’d just got a handle on the side effects with the capsule and now feel I’m back to square one. Well 2nd day today so I’ll give it some time for my body to adjust to the different absorption rate and hope it settles down.
My oncologist is not keen on reducing the dose as it has worked amazingly well for me as at my reoccurrence 18 months ago I had over 17 tumours in my lungs. 2 months after starting it they had all disappeared and my scans are still showing my lungs are clear.
If I didn’t suffer with the side effects life would be pretty perfect! Though I keep telling myself that cancer free is a pretty good trade.
Take care.