Carmustine Side Effects and Warnings

What are the precautions when taking this medicine?

• Talk with healthcare provider before receiving any vaccinations. Use with this medicine may either increase the risk of serious infection or make the vaccination less effective.

• Avoid alcohol (includes wine, beer, and liquor).

• Talk with healthcare provider before using aspirin, aspirin-containing products, other pain medicines, blood thinners, garlic, ginseng, ginkgo, or vitamin E.

• You may bleed more easily. Be careful. Avoid injury. Use soft toothbrush, electric razor.

• Check medicines with healthcare provider. This medicine may not mix well with other medicines.

• Use birth control that you can trust to prevent pregnancy while taking this medicine.

• If you are a male and sexually active, protect your partner from pregnancy. Use birth control that you can trust.

• Tell healthcare provider if you are breast-feeding.

What are some possible side effects of this medicine?

• Risk of infection. Avoid people with infections, colds, or flu.

• Feeling lightheaded, sleepy, having blurred vision, or a change in thinking clearly. Avoid driving, doing other tasks or activities that require you to be alert or have clear vision until you see how this medicine affects you.

• Nausea or vomiting. Small frequent meals, frequent mouth care, sucking hard, sugar-free candy, or chewing sugar-free gum may help.

• Diarrhea.

• Lung damage can rarely occur.

• Hair loss. Hair usually grows back when medicine is stopped.

• Skin irritation.

Reasons to call healthcare provider immediately

• If you suspect an overdose, call your local poison control center or emergency department immediately.

• Signs of a life-threatening reaction. These include wheezing; chest tightness; fever; itching; bad cough; blue skin color; fits; or swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat.

• Signs or symptoms of infection. These include a fever of 100.5 degrees or higher, chills, severe sore throat, ear or sinus pain, cough, increased sputum or change in color, painful urination, mouth sores, wound that will not heal, or anal itching or pain.

• Significant change in thinking clearly and logically.

• Difficulty breathing.

• Severe nausea or vomiting.

• Severe diarrhea.

• Unusual bruising or bleeding.

• Dark urine or yellow skin or eyes.

• Feeling extremely tired or weak.

• Any rash.

• No improvement in condition or feeling worse.