Like all medicines, Xeloda can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.
When Xeloda is used alone, the most common side effects which may affect more than 1 person in 10 are:
- diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, stomatitis (sores in mouth and throat) and abdominal pain
- hand-and-foot skin-reaction (palms of the hands or soles of the feet tingle, become numb, painful, swollen or red), rash, dry or itchy skin
- tiredness
- loss of appetite (anorexia)
These side effects can become severe; therefore, it is important that you always contact your doctor immediately when you start to experience a side effect. Your doctor may instruct you to decrease the dose and/or temporarily discontinue treatment with Xeloda. This will help reduce the likelihood that the side effect continues or becomes severe.
STOP taking Xeloda immediately and contact your doctor if any of these symptoms occur:
- Diarrhoea: if you have an increase of 4 or more bowelmovements compared to your normal bowel movements each day or any diarrhoea at night.
- Vomiting: if you vomit more than once in a 24-hour time period.
- Nausea: if you lose your appetite, and the amount of food you eat each day is much less than usual.
- Stomatitis: if you have pain, redness, swelling or sores in your mouth.
- Hand-and-foot skin-reaction: if you have pain, swelling, and redness of hands and/or feet
- Fever or Infection: if you have a temperature of 38°C or greater, or other signs of infection.
- Chest pain: if you experience pain localised to the centre of the chest, especially if it occurs during exercise .
If caught early, these side effects usually improve within 2 to 3 days after treatment discontinuation. If these side effects continue, however, contact your doctor immediately. Your doctor may instruct you to restart treatment at a lower dose.
Other less common and usually mild side-effects which may affect between 1 and 10 people in 100 have been seen: decreases in the number of white blood cells or red blood cells, skin rashes, slight hair loss, weariness, fever, weakness, drowsiness, headache, numbness or tingling sensations, taste changes, dizziness, sleeplessness, swelling in the legs, constipation, dehydration, cold sores, inflammation of the nose and throat, chest infection, depression, problems with the eyes, inflammation of the veins (thrombophlebitis), shortness of breath, nose bleeds, cough, runny nose, bleeding from the gut, heartburn, excess wind, dry mouth, skin discolouration, nail disorder, pain in the joints, chest or back and loss of weight.
If you are concerned about these or any other unexpected effect(s), talk to your doctor. If any of the side effects gets serious, or if you notice any side effects not listed in this leaflet, please tell your doctor or pharmacist.
