Interferon muscle cramps

[Dovme]

I am in the process of switching from HU 18 pills per week to interferon. Taking both at present. I had my second injection yesterday and no symptoms no flu like etc However during the night l had bad pain in my leg and hip. It felt a little like swimmers cramp. I am seeing my haematologist this week. Reading the literature they all list muscular pain as possible side effect. Any tips advice or similar experiences appreciated

[harleydavidson]

Hi Dovme. Sorry about your muscle cramps. Try walking in the afternoon and doing some leg stretches, drink lots of water and rub your legs with lavender massage oil. I hope this helps. Mel x

[BeHealthy1986]

Hi, some people said Tylenol can help the pain after the injection. It’s worth a try.

[mhos61]

No tips dovme, but here’s wishing you well on Interferon. It will be interesting to see how you do.

[Jocko]

Hi,I have been taking Peg for 4 years and I do get muscle cramps / aches at night.

It's not always the same and the way I have dealt with it is to take 2 paracetamol before

I go to sleep. It's no big deal and I for me it works 95% of the time. On the odd occasion I still get muscle aches in the night - I take another couple of paracetamol and it goes. So I always have a couple of paracetamol by the side of my bed just in case.

Good luck

Jocko

[Dovme]

Thanks so much for the replies - l took a paracetamol and the pain stopped

I get my bloods this week so fingers crossed.

[Helpatlast]

Hi just seen your query - I am like Jocko as I also get muscle aches from Peg the first year or so especially so, less now in my second year and I too take paracetamol and it settles, the worse versions of it came when I had to have a higher dose for some months it was quite bad then but I keep now on the lower 45 dose and my consultant prefers now to up it at all because of the effect it had on me - we are all of course different in responses but defo paracetamol at bedside is a good plan all the best - despite side effects Peg is excellent as helping MPNs so worth it

[hunter5582]

Sorry to hear you are having an issue switching to IFN. Myalgia is indeed one of the potential side effects. I hope you find some solutions to reduce the discomfort and that the side effect will diminish as your body adjusts.

Not sure which form of IFN you are taking, but I did check for interactions between HU and Pegasys to see if that was an issue. Here is the result from ePocrates

hydroxyurea (generic) + Pegasys (peginterferon alfa 2a)

Monitor/Modify Tx

monitor CBC: combo may incr. risk of myelosuppression; may incr. risk of cutaneous vasculitic toxicities in myeloproliferative disorder pts (additive effects; mechanism unknown)

While it does not list the muscle cramps it does note that there are potential additive effects. I wonder of there are others on the forum who can speak to side effects they experienced while making the transition from HU to IFN. Hopefully this will be a transient issue.

Meanwhile all I can think of is the various interventions we all use for muscle cramps. Certainly pay attention to other things that can contribute (e.g. magnesium and iron levels). There are various muscle cramp lotions/rubs that might help as others have suggested. There are also prescription muscle relaxers (e.g. Flexeril) that might help. I do occasionally get the cramps to (likely related to the PV tx iron deficiency). I usually have to get up and stretch it out when this happens. I do find that massage therapy can be helpful in preventing this sort of thing, but a little hard to get these days.

Do please stay in touch and let us know how you are doing and what you learn. All the best to you on this next stage of your journey.