Revlimid is a white, lightweight capsule manufactured by Celgene company and a derivative of the thalidomide drug. Revlimid works especially well in 5q- MDS patients, but is also taken by other MDS patients and Multiple Myeloma patients (I believe in combination with Dexamethosone or something like that).
Over time, Revlimid can raise your hemoglobin level (and Red blood cell count) so that the patient can be transfusion free. It will fix the size of the red blood cells so the red blood cells are not abnormally large anymore and the hemoglobin carries oxygen better. It seems to fix the defect in the 5th chromosome.
I take it so that I don’t have to live on constant red blood cell transfusions, because after a high number of transfusions, you would need to watch out for iron overload because packed red blood cells in the transfusions are full of iron. I think there is a treatment (Exjade) to help with iron overload, but Revlimid daily is an easier route for me than living on transfusions.
There are side effects from Revlimid which include things like constipation, diarrhea, slightly suppressed white blood cell & platelet counts. Also, the red blood cell count will drop for the first 6-8 weeks until the
Revlimid starts working. The benefits are that I can be transfusion free and not out of breath.
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