My husband’s oncologist prescribed a “cocktail” of over the counter medications to be taken with each dose of Revlimid to combat the severe rash caused by Revlimid. It works. First, he reduced the Revlimid dose from the traditional 10 mg down to 2.5 mg. With each dose, take two 20 mg Pepcid, one 500 mg. L-Lysine, and one original Claritin pill. My husband does not have the severe rash, no rash at all so far.

Two years ago Revlimid at 2.5 mg kept him from requiring transfusions to keep Hgb at a sustainable level. He was taken off Revlimid because it negatively affected his kidneys. He eventually had a bilateral nephrectomy, now is taking Revlimid again. So far, with the cocktail, no problems.

The three over the counter meds are unlikely to cause side effects, so this is an essentially problem-free possibility to try when other approaches fail to control the severe rash.