What are the side effects of Interferon Alpha-26?

Wally – a couple of questions before I try to answer your question.  

Did you have a typo in the headline when you said Interferon Alpha 26…the approved protocol for many years was Interferon Alpha 2B?  ( googled the Alpha 26 and couldn't find any related treatment.)

And based upon your previous posts are you not an advanced Stage 4 patient?

If my assumptions are correct…then Interferon Alpha 2B is absolutely NOT the right treatment plan based upon what I know.  You need the new drugs like Yervoy or Keytruda (and several other similar alternatives). Now having said that before I call your doctors idiots…they may be avoiding those because of your stomach surgeries so did they discuss those new alternatives with you and your specific risks?

I just finished a full year of Interferon Alpha 2B treatments 2 weeks ago and will be happy to answer your questions about side effects….(my situation was Adjunctive for 3A) but wanted to be sure we are talking about the drug that I have just finished and not something else.

Here's to a healthier New Year for all of us….Michel

Wally – a couple of questions before I try to answer your question.  

Did you have a typo in the headline when you said Interferon Alpha 26…the approved protocol for many years was Interferon Alpha 2B?  ( googled the Alpha 26 and couldn't find any related treatment.)

And based upon your previous posts are you not an advanced Stage 4 patient?

If my assumptions are correct…then Interferon Alpha 2B is absolutely NOT the right treatment plan based upon what I know.  You need the new drugs like Yervoy or Keytruda (and several other similar alternatives). Now having said that before I call your doctors idiots…they may be avoiding those because of your stomach surgeries so did they discuss those new alternatives with you and your specific risks?

I just finished a full year of Interferon Alpha 2B treatments 2 weeks ago and will be happy to answer your questions about side effects….(my situation was Adjunctive for 3A) but wanted to be sure we are talking about the drug that I have just finished and not something else.

Here's to a healthier New Year for all of us….Michel

Wally – a couple of questions before I try to answer your question.  

Did you have a typo in the headline when you said Interferon Alpha 26…the approved protocol for many years was Interferon Alpha 2B?  ( googled the Alpha 26 and couldn't find any related treatment.)

And based upon your previous posts are you not an advanced Stage 4 patient?

If my assumptions are correct…then Interferon Alpha 2B is absolutely NOT the right treatment plan based upon what I know.  You need the new drugs like Yervoy or Keytruda (and several other similar alternatives). Now having said that before I call your doctors idiots…they may be avoiding those because of your stomach surgeries so did they discuss those new alternatives with you and your specific risks?

I just finished a full year of Interferon Alpha 2B treatments 2 weeks ago and will be happy to answer your questions about side effects….(my situation was Adjunctive for 3A) but wanted to be sure we are talking about the drug that I have just finished and not something else.

Here's to a healthier New Year for all of us….Michel

Wally – so let's start with the bottom line first…would I do Interferon for your situation (without completely understanding the implication of the stomach location)…NO WAY.  I am a stage 3A and was looking for adjunctive therapy (prevention more than cure).  In 2014, Interferon was the only real viable alternative for 3A.  The main benefit was to delay reoccurrence by 6-12 months…it is not a cure by any imagination….but I am currently NED so I am thinking it was the worth the effort.

But let me answer your question directly.

The normal delivery in month 1 is 40 units done via IV at the clinic (4 weeks x 5 days).  I made 19 of the 20 IVs that were prescribed but let me tell you it was a real challenge.  The worst is the first 3-5 days where I experienced high fever (103), body aches, shakes, lost appetite (total of probably 20 different symptoms).  But over the course of the month the violent nature of the first week subsided and then the real issue became fatigue.  (I still worked about 35 hours a week from home…the rest of the time was at the clinic and sleeping)  i would say my body strength was down to 40-50% by month end barely able to walk into the clinic.

Once you finish that they will give your body 2 weeks to recover and then you start the home shots at 20 units 3 times per week.  The best way to describe it as "Super Blah days", "Blah days", and depending on the timing I typical got to have a "not so Blah day" once per week.  My wife administered the shots which were not fun but really not a big deal in the scheme of things.

So here is what I experienced for those 11 months.

Shot at 7:30 PM…started feeling it at about 8:30 PM (take with Tylenol) as I went to bed.  Was able to sleep until sometime around 1-3 AM when the fever began to spike (only about 100-101 most shots).  Really restless sleeping until about 6:00 AM when fever was typically down to 99-100.  At that point energy level is probably 60-70%…but you will recover to 70-80% by mid-day.  Appetite is down and generally you feel crappy but you can function.  I worked from home and then traveled about 1-2 times per month for 2-3 days per week.  I timed my shots and trips so that nobody saw me on Super Blah days and occasional I had work from bed days.  I often would skip a shot (maybe 1-2 per month) if I had to make a 3 day trip.

A couple of other thoughts….I took drug holidays (which my doctor recommended) which required me to stop the drug 6-7 days before a beach vacation (so not too much activity).  By day 7-8 my appetite was back and I was back to almost 85-90% and by day 10 that I was feeling really good and eating, drinking, and having fairly active fun again.   The bad news is that when you come back home after 14 total days off of the shots…you are going to hate that night…back to 103 fever, real body shakes followed by a Super Super Blah day.

Sometime about 2/3rds of the way through the year, I reduced my shots to 15 units (so by about 25% of full strength) and that really helped on the depth of the Super Blah days.

So my net…you can do Interferon with a bit of common sense management.

Now back to "should you even do this"….I would really make sure you take a serious look at all of the new drugs that became available over the past year.  For stage 4 patients you have so many better choices than Interferon….but your specific situation may prevent you from taking them.  BUT ABSOLUTELY MAKE SURE YOU ARE TALKING TO A MELANOMA specialist…not just an oncologist.

Feel free to message me directly…and I can answer any additional questions you might have about managing the side effects if you do the Interferon path.

Best wishes….Michel

Wally – so let's start with the bottom line first…would I do Interferon for your situation (without completely understanding the implication of the stomach location)…NO WAY.  I am a stage 3A and was looking for adjunctive therapy (prevention more than cure).  In 2014, Interferon was the only real viable alternative for 3A.  The main benefit was to delay reoccurrence by 6-12 months…it is not a cure by any imagination….but I am currently NED so I am thinking it was the worth the effort.

But let me answer your question directly.

The normal delivery in month 1 is 40 units done via IV at the clinic (4 weeks x 5 days).  I made 19 of the 20 IVs that were prescribed but let me tell you it was a real challenge.  The worst is the first 3-5 days where I experienced high fever (103), body aches, shakes, lost appetite (total of probably 20 different symptoms).  But over the course of the month the violent nature of the first week subsided and then the real issue became fatigue.  (I still worked about 35 hours a week from home…the rest of the time was at the clinic and sleeping)  i would say my body strength was down to 40-50% by month end barely able to walk into the clinic.

Once you finish that they will give your body 2 weeks to recover and then you start the home shots at 20 units 3 times per week.  The best way to describe it as "Super Blah days", "Blah days", and depending on the timing I typical got to have a "not so Blah day" once per week.  My wife administered the shots which were not fun but really not a big deal in the scheme of things.

So here is what I experienced for those 11 months.

Shot at 7:30 PM…started feeling it at about 8:30 PM (take with Tylenol) as I went to bed.  Was able to sleep until sometime around 1-3 AM when the fever began to spike (only about 100-101 most shots).  Really restless sleeping until about 6:00 AM when fever was typically down to 99-100.  At that point energy level is probably 60-70%…but you will recover to 70-80% by mid-day.  Appetite is down and generally you feel crappy but you can function.  I worked from home and then traveled about 1-2 times per month for 2-3 days per week.  I timed my shots and trips so that nobody saw me on Super Blah days and occasional I had work from bed days.  I often would skip a shot (maybe 1-2 per month) if I had to make a 3 day trip.

A couple of other thoughts….I took drug holidays (which my doctor recommended) which required me to stop the drug 6-7 days before a beach vacation (so not too much activity).  By day 7-8 my appetite was back and I was back to almost 85-90% and by day 10 that I was feeling really good and eating, drinking, and having fairly active fun again.   The bad news is that when you come back home after 14 total days off of the shots…you are going to hate that night…back to 103 fever, real body shakes followed by a Super Super Blah day.

Sometime about 2/3rds of the way through the year, I reduced my shots to 15 units (so by about 25% of full strength) and that really helped on the depth of the Super Blah days.

So my net…you can do Interferon with a bit of common sense management.

Now back to "should you even do this"….I would really make sure you take a serious look at all of the new drugs that became available over the past year.  For stage 4 patients you have so many better choices than Interferon….but your specific situation may prevent you from taking them.  BUT ABSOLUTELY MAKE SURE YOU ARE TALKING TO A MELANOMA specialist…not just an oncologist.

Feel free to message me directly…and I can answer any additional questions you might have about managing the side effects if you do the Interferon path.

Best wishes….Michel

Wally – so let's start with the bottom line first…would I do Interferon for your situation (without completely understanding the implication of the stomach location)…NO WAY.  I am a stage 3A and was looking for adjunctive therapy (prevention more than cure).  In 2014, Interferon was the only real viable alternative for 3A.  The main benefit was to delay reoccurrence by 6-12 months…it is not a cure by any imagination….but I am currently NED so I am thinking it was the worth the effort.

But let me answer your question directly.

The normal delivery in month 1 is 40 units done via IV at the clinic (4 weeks x 5 days).  I made 19 of the 20 IVs that were prescribed but let me tell you it was a real challenge.  The worst is the first 3-5 days where I experienced high fever (103), body aches, shakes, lost appetite (total of probably 20 different symptoms).  But over the course of the month the violent nature of the first week subsided and then the real issue became fatigue.  (I still worked about 35 hours a week from home…the rest of the time was at the clinic and sleeping)  i would say my body strength was down to 40-50% by month end barely able to walk into the clinic.

Once you finish that they will give your body 2 weeks to recover and then you start the home shots at 20 units 3 times per week.  The best way to describe it as "Super Blah days", "Blah days", and depending on the timing I typical got to have a "not so Blah day" once per week.  My wife administered the shots which were not fun but really not a big deal in the scheme of things.

So here is what I experienced for those 11 months.

Shot at 7:30 PM…started feeling it at about 8:30 PM (take with Tylenol) as I went to bed.  Was able to sleep until sometime around 1-3 AM when the fever began to spike (only about 100-101 most shots).  Really restless sleeping until about 6:00 AM when fever was typically down to 99-100.  At that point energy level is probably 60-70%…but you will recover to 70-80% by mid-day.  Appetite is down and generally you feel crappy but you can function.  I worked from home and then traveled about 1-2 times per month for 2-3 days per week.  I timed my shots and trips so that nobody saw me on Super Blah days and occasional I had work from bed days.  I often would skip a shot (maybe 1-2 per month) if I had to make a 3 day trip.

A couple of other thoughts….I took drug holidays (which my doctor recommended) which required me to stop the drug 6-7 days before a beach vacation (so not too much activity).  By day 7-8 my appetite was back and I was back to almost 85-90% and by day 10 that I was feeling really good and eating, drinking, and having fairly active fun again.   The bad news is that when you come back home after 14 total days off of the shots…you are going to hate that night…back to 103 fever, real body shakes followed by a Super Super Blah day.

Sometime about 2/3rds of the way through the year, I reduced my shots to 15 units (so by about 25% of full strength) and that really helped on the depth of the Super Blah days.

So my net…you can do Interferon with a bit of common sense management.

Now back to "should you even do this"….I would really make sure you take a serious look at all of the new drugs that became available over the past year.  For stage 4 patients you have so many better choices than Interferon….but your specific situation may prevent you from taking them.  BUT ABSOLUTELY MAKE SURE YOU ARE TALKING TO A MELANOMA specialist…not just an oncologist.

Feel free to message me directly…and I can answer any additional questions you might have about managing the side effects if you do the Interferon path.

Best wishes….Michel

My first question is are you being seen by a melanoma specalist.  They have the most up to date things available for melanoma as they see it every day and are better equipped than a regular cancer oncologist.

My first question is are you being seen by a melanoma specalist.  They have the most up to date things available for melanoma as they see it every day and are better equipped than a regular cancer oncologist.

My first question is are you being seen by a melanoma specalist.  They have the most up to date things available for melanoma as they see it every day and are better equipped than a regular cancer oncologist.

I'm wondering, are you not in the United States or Europe? If not, I wonder if the newest drugs are not available in your country which would be why your docotor wouldn't mention them. Certainly, here in the U.S. there would be very little oncologists that would recommend Interferon anymore since Yervoy, Opdivo, and Keytruda are all available for stage IV with much much better results than Interferon. 

Definitely talk to your oncologist about the other options, ask why they didn't mention these newest drugs, and absolutely find a Melanoma specialist if you don't already have one.

I hope all the best for you!

I'm wondering, are you not in the United States or Europe? If not, I wonder if the newest drugs are not available in your country which would be why your docotor wouldn't mention them. Certainly, here in the U.S. there would be very little oncologists that would recommend Interferon anymore since Yervoy, Opdivo, and Keytruda are all available for stage IV with much much better results than Interferon. 

Definitely talk to your oncologist about the other options, ask why they didn't mention these newest drugs, and absolutely find a Melanoma specialist if you don't already have one.

I hope all the best for you!

I'm wondering, are you not in the United States or Europe? If not, I wonder if the newest drugs are not available in your country which would be why your docotor wouldn't mention them. Certainly, here in the U.S. there would be very little oncologists that would recommend Interferon anymore since Yervoy, Opdivo, and Keytruda are all available for stage IV with much much better results than Interferon. 

Definitely talk to your oncologist about the other options, ask why they didn't mention these newest drugs, and absolutely find a Melanoma specialist if you don't already have one.

I hope all the best for you!