Iv Cytoxan With Peniclliamine

[Gidget]

Has anyone done the Cytoxan by IV and taken the penicilliamine at the same time? I have some beginning fibrosis in the lungs and the Dr. says there is a 20% chance that this medication will halt its progression. It just seems like such a toxic mixture for a 20% chance of it working. Please let me know if this treatment has been effective for you and what your side effects were. Thanks for the help. Gidget

[Shelley Ensz]

Hi Gidget,

That treatment plan sounds a bit unusual, since as I understand it, d-pen has largely fallen by the wayside for treatment of scleroderma. See:
Ineffective Treatments: Penicillamine

You may want to consult a scleroderma expert for a second opinion, if you haven't already. It's my impression that some scleroderma experts still use d-pen under certain conditions, but if it were me, I'd really think twice about accepting the idea from anyone else, and I would want to know the reason they are prescribing it and what research they are basing their ideas on. It's possible they just may not have discovered the most recent research, since for many years d-pen was "the" treatment for scleroderma.

Also read our page on Cytoxan Clinical Trials for Scleroderma.