Esbriet (Pirfenidone) stomach upset and runny nose

Posted by grrranny @grrranny, Apr 22 12:08am

Hubby's in his 3rd week with Pirfenidone now, and the increase to 3 pills 3 times a day seems to be causing stomach upset/tightness, as well as constant runny nose. These side effects were not a problem last week when he was taking "only" 2 pills 3 times a day.
He decided not to take his 3rd dose of 3 pills tonight, and is planning on cutitng back to the 2 pills 3 times a day dose tomorrow, after getting approval from doctor. Have any of you had these same or similar problems with Esbriet?

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grrranny | @grrranny | Apr 23 1:25am

Hubby called pulmonologist, but so far no response. The good news is that cutting back to the previous 2 pills 3 times a day helped. Today, at least. No stomach problems, and less runny nose side effects. What do you all do for runny nose??

grrranny | @grrranny | Apr 23 6:55pm

Lots of sneezing, too. Wouldn’t you know it — doctor is out today. Supposed to call tomorrow. Meanwhile, second day of previous six pills a day dosage is still working fairly well. Is it possible that Hubbs will never be able to go up to the maintenance nine doses without experiencing extreme side effects? I mean, you can’t just go around with a bloody nose and/or runny nose and/or constant tummy tension and not wanting to eat — right?

wreath | @wreath | Apr 25 7:41am

In reply to @grrranny "Lots of sneezing, too. Wouldn’t you know it — doctor is out today. Supposed to call..." + (show)

That’s right. My husband had all the side effects, so he decided of quality time left instead of quantity. He tried both available medications with the same result. Hopefully, things will go better for your husband. My husband felt like his pulmonary fibrosis was already too far along before he was placed on the meds.

vic83 | @vic83 | May 15 10:43pm

In reply to @wreath "That’s right. My husband had all the side effects, so he decided of quality time left..." + (show)

Sorry about your husband. I will be starting one of the two drugs for pulmonary fibrosis. How far along was your husband when he started the drug?

vic83 | @vic83 | May 15 10:52pm

How is your husband doing now? I will be starting one of the two anti-fibrotic drugs shortly, so I wonder what awaits me.
I don't know if any help, but I have had a problem of chronic runny nose for many years. Sometimes caused by certain medications and sometimes other things. My ENT recently gave me a saline nose rinse to try. It actually cleared out a lot of my nose and my nose is much drier now. It is sold off-the-shelf at drugstore so one does not need a prescription.

grrranny | @grrranny | May 16 1:45am

In reply to @vic83 "How is your husband doing now? I will be starting one of the two anti-fibrotic drugs..." + (show)

Vic, my husband made it through the first few "introductory" weeks of Pirfenidone, with only having to skip a couple of pills due to the temporary side effects of runny nose, occasional slight nose bleed, and stomach discomfort. Ayr nasal gel seemed to help. He is now in his second week of full dose (one pill 3 times a day with meals) with no problems, thank goodness. Says he is breathing better. I hope you do well with yours!

vic83 | @vic83 | May 16 8:31am

Thanks for your reply. I know Ayr brand and will get some gel to keep on hand.

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