Starting Tagrisso: What time of day do you take it? With food?

Oh wow! That’s sounds like progress! Good luck!!

Thank you!

Hello, I take my Tagrisso first thing in the morning after breakfast. I have not experienced any immediate digestive (or other) effects. Side effects vary from person to person so just keep track of what changes you might be experiencing and inform your oncologist.
Good luck!

I've been on Tagrisso since December 2020. Since the beginning, I've taken it two hours away from food, usually mid-morning between breakfast and lunch. My cancer metastasized to my brain, requiring brain surgery, so I was initially on other medications I had to take first thing in the morning and before going to bed, and I was paranoid about potential interactions. By now, when I forget, I can take it right before a meal with no negative side effects. Also, my oncologist has become an expert on Tagrisso and says it doesn't interact with anything else I'm taking or have taken.

Every body is different, but I feel mine went through an adaptive phase. For example, early on, my sodium level fell to 126, and my glucose was at 50 an hour after breakfast. My glucose had been a rock solid 95-101 since 2017, before my first round of cancer. As a guy, I was cautioned not to get anyone pregnant while taking Tagrisso or for 4 months after stopping. After my wife and I stopped laughing, we guessed that it takes the body around 4 months to adapt to the presence or absence of Tagrisso.

Tagrisso doesn't leap into your bloodstream and track down cancer cells like a heat-seeking missile. It's a cumulative effect over time. I agree with your doctor that the time of day doesn't matter; just be consistent.

Friggin' side effects. Initially, diarrhea that had me taking 2 Imodium a day. After 6 months, that was gone. My most consistent and ongoing side effect is brittle nails that chip and split easily. 10 mg Biotin a day has helped a lot, and I try to remember to rub Vitamin E into my nails after a shower.

3 years cancer free, so it's worth it! I still plan to live forever or die trying. 🙂 Best of luck to you!

Thank you Mathew! Your message made me laugh and smile. My cancer hasn’t metastasized (thankfully) to other parts of my body other than 1 lymph node that they removed during surgery. But now, the plan is to take this for 3 years to prevent recurrence. I’m hoping that is the case. Like you, I plan to live a long time. I told my oncologist 40 more years is the goal!!

Thank you! Hope long have you been on it?

Hello dragonspark, I’ve been on Tagrisso for a total of 8 months now (following my chemo treatments). I started at 80 mg/day for about 4 months however I was having such moderate skin reactions (acne-like) that they then lowered my dose to 40 mg. That really didn’t totally resolve the issue until they have switched the antibiotic treatment from doxycycline to cephadoxil (huge improvement!!). I haven’t noted any other adverse effects except for elevated creatinine levels which may be Tagrisso related.
I did a quick review of articles related to cancer cells being more active during our sleep cycles and it appears that there might be something to that. One problem that I could foresee is to remember to take your medication every night……sometimes I just want to get to bed as quickly as I can. I should note that each dose of Tagrisso also stays in your system for a few days (the half life….meaning 50% of the dose….is still in your system after 48 hours, so if you are taking a daily dose you are constantly being exposed to the drug). I hope this helps.

Thank you for your response! Yes very helpful.

My wife started Tagrisso (80mg) about 2 weeks ago. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, extreme fatigue, occasional diarrhea. Taking anti-nausea med. & Imodium. No for diarrhea. No fever. Any suggestions on how to we can mitigate these side effects?

@conyankee I’m not sure I have any advice other than letting the oncologist know about the side effects. When I first started taking Tag my oncologist told me to message them any time I had side effects. Initially, that was rash, fatigue, diarrhea., and nail issues. They prescribed me something for the rash. Other than that they told me to manage the symptoms with Imodium and aquafor for nails. I also take biotin everyday for nails. It help’s. I still have all of those symptoms but they are milder and less frequent.