Brother is doing Meth while on Chemotherapy...

[concerned parent]

My 'brother' is starting his first round of chemotherapy for Hodgkins Disease and is still smoking about half a gram of meth a day. Some of the chemo drugs he is taking are : 1) Procarbazine HCl 2) APO - DEXAMETHASONE
3) ONDANSETRON SANDOZ 4) METOCLOPRAMIDE 5) PREDNISONE
He foolishly is refusing to inform the nurse or doctors of his 'recreational' drug regimen and I am worried sick about possible side effects. Can someone shed some light other than saying stuff like 'oh thats really bad' , or ' just use common sense, don't worry about it' , because I need some facts here... desperately...

[Imnmbr1]

After just researching the first one you listed, I found this:

To minimize CNS depression and possible potentiation, barbiturates, antihistamines, narcotics, hypotensive agents or phenothiazines should be used with caution. Ethyl alcohol should not be used since there may be an Antabuse (disulfiram)-like reaction. Because Matulane exhibits some monoamine oxidase inhibitory activity, sympathomimetic drugs, tricyclic antidepressant drugs (e.g., amitriptyline HCl, imipramine HCl) and other drugs and foods with known high tyramine content, such as wine, yogurt, ripe cheese and bananas, should be avoided. A further phenomenon of toxicity common to many hydrazine derivatives is hemolysis and the appearance of Heinz-Ehrlich inclusion bodies in erythrocytes.

AND...

Undue toxicity may occur if Matulane is used in patients with impairment of renal and/or hepatic function. When appropriate, hospitalization for the initial course of treatment should be considered.

If radiation or a chemotherapeutic agent known to have marrow-depressant activity has been used, an interval of one month or longer without such therapy is recommended before starting treatment with Matulane. The length of this interval may also be determined by evidence of bone marrow recovery based on successive bone marrow studies.

Prompt cessation of therapy is recommended if any one of the following occurs:

Central nervous system signs or symptoms such as paresthesias, neuropathies or confusion.
Leukopenia (white blood count under 4000).
Thrombocytopenia (platelets under 100,000).
Hypersensitivity reaction.
Stomatitis — The first small ulceration or persistent spot soreness around the oral cavity is a signal for cessation of therapy.
Diarrhea — Frequent bowel movements or watery stools. Hemorrhage or bleeding tendencies.
Hemorrhage or bleeding tendencies.

Bone marrow depression often occurs 2 to 8 weeks after the start of treatment. If leukopenia occurs, hospitalization of the patient may be needed for appropriate treatment to prevent systemic infection.

With all that in mind and knowing that Meth is a CNS stimulator, it would reason to me to chill on the dope and just worry about not dying from the chemo drugs. Just that first one sounds like it'll kick your ass and push you down face first.

Good luck convincing your brother though. A drug addict will quit when they are darn good and ready to.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Good response.
	kudos for being so helpful
	valuable information

[concerned parent]

Are there any absolute conflicts or is it going to vary with the person?

[radiometer]

^^ Yes. It is extremely dangerous to take amphetamines with an MAOI.

[stoneinfocus]

If ther´d be complications with the "slight" MAOI, then he would already realized it and adjusted his meth-dose immediately, believe me.

With all these steroids must be quite a buzz anyway.*lol*

[mick mouse]

As his "sister", and someone who (I assume!) obviously cares for him, perhaps you could consider informing the doctor for him. If the doctor was to bring up the possible side effects of using stimulants while taking everything else, at least he would have the ability to make an informed choice. It could also be that he is fearing the worst and wants to get his fun in while he can. SWIM has a friend with lymphoma and that is exactly what her thought process were. It took quite alot of talking to get her to see the truth. SWIM knows that prednisone is given to those with allergies, but knows nothing else about it.

Originally Posted by concerned parent

My 'brother' is starting his first round of chemotherapy for Hodgkins Disease and is still smoking about half a gram of meth a day. Some of the chemo drugs he is taking are : 1) Procarbazine HCl 2) APO - DEXAMETHASONE
3) ONDANSETRON SANDOZ 4) METOCLOPRAMIDE 5) PREDNISONE
He foolishly is refusing to inform the nurse or doctors of his 'recreational' drug regimen and I am worried sick about possible side effects. Can someone shed some light other than saying stuff like 'oh thats really bad' , or ' just use common sense, don't worry about it' , because I need some facts here... desperately...

[stoneinfocus]

Well, in fact I don´t know how such a therapy feels like and I´m not courious to get to know, perdnisone has some analgetic effects as well as making euphoric, and of course it is an steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
Corticosteroids emphazise the effects of stimulants in some ways, and I think smoking meth is the worst way consuming it, concerning health-issues...
I wouldn´t be too concerned although ,5g /day is a lot, amphetamines are generally well tolerated and if it doesn´t worsen his treatment and the docs don´t notice anything´s going wrong it won´t be that bad... when things were going wrong with him and his therapy they´d already be asking him about anything by now, right?

Swim thinks that telling about drug use might lead the docs to not give someone the roght pain-meds he deserves and leading to a more scepticla attitude concerning the patient, like wasting time for a suicidal drug addict...with too much effort that could be used for "real" patients .. sounds tough and paranoid but swim has already seen such attidutes in medics.

everything is relative and meaning the best for someone almost everytime will do harm...

[nanobrain]

from medicine dot net on contraindications with procarb, his primary Hodgkins therapeutic:

'This drug should not be used with the following medications because very serious interactions may occur: apraclonidine, brimonidine, bethanidine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, dextromethorphan, entacapone, herbal products (e.g., ma huang), indoramin, meperidine, papaverine, sibutramine, SSRI antidepressants, sympathomimetics (e.g., methylphenidate, ephedrine), tolcapone, tricyclic antidepressants (e.g., amitriptyline, doxepin), "triptans" (e.g., sumatriptan, zolmitriptan).

If you are currently using any of these medications, tell your doctor or pharmacist before starting procarbazine. Before using this medication, tell your doctor of all medicines you use, both prescription and nonprescription, especially of: digoxin, levodopa, diabetes drugs, methotrexate, other MAO inhibitors (e.g., furazolidone, linezolid, moclobemide, phenelzine), caffeine-containing drugs, sleeping medication, tranquilizers, mirtazapine, tryptophan. Do not use any over-the-counter medications such as asthma relief inhalers, decongestant nasal sprays, oral decongestants, or cough medicines that contain dextromethorphan or certain antihistamines (e.g., diphenhydramine) without first checking with your doctor or pharmacist.

Consult your doctor about the need to watch your intake of foods containing tyramine. It is possible consuming tyramine- containing foods while using this medication could cause headache and/or increased blood pressure and could lead to a medical emergency.

Tyramine food precautions should be observed for at least 2 weeks after you stop using this medication'

thats a pretty heavy list for just the primary therapy agent. the combination of his illness and chemo, to say nothing of meth, seriously taps the immune system, which may lead to complications.

my advice is to gently impress upon him the significance of the immunity factor and the alternaives to temporarily putting on hold his drug of predilection.

[radiometer]

I don't think that the original poster is still with us.

[Jonah]

You really need to talk to some one about this. You might be pissing him off, but i dont think you'll ever regret the decision. We're not just talking saving a loved one's life, we're talking about not wasting money. That shit is important.