Description
What is Capecitabine (Xeloda Generic)?
Capegard® Tablet Capecitabine is the generic name for the trade name drug Xeloda. In some cases, health care professionals may use the trade name Xeloda when referring to the generic drug name capecitabine.
Capegard® Tablet is used in the treatment of cancer of the breast, colon, and rectum. It may be also used to treat other conditions, as determined by the doctor. It is used alone or in combination with some other medicine as a part of chemotherapy. Capegard® Tablet should be taken with food within 30 minutes after eating a meal. Your doctor will decide what dose is necessary and how often you need to take it. This will depend on what you are being treated for and may change from time to time. You should take it exactly as your doctor has advised. Taking it in the wrong way or taking too much can cause very serious side effects. It may take several weeks or months for you to see or feel the benefits but do not stop taking it unless your doctor tells you to.
Capegard® Tablet helps to treat breast cancer and it may be used alone or in combination with other medicines or treatment modalities like chemotherapy. It relieves the symptoms of breast cancer such as breast lumps, bloody discharge from nipples, or changes in the shape or texture of the breast. Capegard® Tablet kills or stops the growth of cancer cells and also prevents the multiplication of cancer cells. Discuss with your doctor if any of the side effects bother you.
Capecitabine is used to help treat patients with Dukes’ C colon cancer (colon cancer that has spread to lymph nodes in the area close to the colon), after having surgery. This medicine is also used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon or rectum that has spread to other parts of the body). Capecitabine is also used together with docetaxel to treat metastatic breast cancer (breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body) in patients who have received other medicines (eg, paclitaxel) but did not work well, or in the the patients who cannot receive cancer medicines anymore.
Capecitabine belongs to the group of medicines called antineoplastics (cancer medicines). It interferes with the growth of cancer cells, which are eventually destroyed by the body. Since the growth of normal cells may also be affected by the medicine, other side effects may also occur. Some of these may be serious and must be reported to your doctor.
Capegard tablets contain Capecitabine which is known as an anticancer/ antineoplastic drug. Cancers are difficult to cure and spread quickly to other body parts. The cancer cells keep on replicating without stopping. Cancers produce abnormal cells in large numbers, altering normal physiological functions. The cancer cells affect the functions of the normal body cells and damage the surrounding cells and tissues. Cancer cells get transferred to other healthy body tissues by a process known as metastasis.
Capecitabine belongs to anticancer agents as they have cytotoxic properties. Capecitabine gets converted to 5-fluorouracil inside the body, harming the cancer cells. 5-fluorouracil influence the synthesis of DNA within cancer cells. As a result 5-fluorouracil is capable of lowering the cellular mitosis of cancer cells. Therefore, the rate of cancer cell replication gets alleviated compared to cellular death.
Capegard is a medication prescribed for cancer patients. So medical advice is so much important in this instance. Gastric cancers, colon cancers, and breast cancers are commonly treated with Capegard tablets.
How to take a Capecitabine (Xeloda Generic)?
Use the Capegard dose as exactly prescribed by the physician. Swallow the tablets after the main meal to reduce the side effects. Wait for around half an hour after the main meal to consume Capegard tablets.
Side effects of Capegard tablets are nausea and vomiting, weakness and tiredness, lowering the appetite, decrease immunity and enhance the chance of infections, loss of hair, diarrhea, altered the blood cell production and making the consumer anemic, ulcers within the oral cavity.
Precautions:
- Be cautious if you have been allergic to any of the medications.
- If you consume any anticoagulant with Capegard, tell the physician. The combined effect of anticoagulants and Capegard tablets may induce bleeding.
- If you are taking anti-epileptic drugs such as phenytoin, it is very important to consider the doctor’s advice. Capegard can increase the plasma phenytoin level causing an intoxication. Therefore it is important to monitor plasma phenytoin levels regularly.
- Do not consume aluminum hydroxide while consuming Capegard tablets because aluminum hydroxide may slightly increase the plasma Capegard level and its metabolite level.
- A physician must closely monitor patients under anticancer therapy. So never try to self-administer the drugs without advice.
- It is very common to experience vomiting and diarrhea during anticancer therapy. Therefore there is a chance of developing dehydration. So it is important to consider the fluid and electrolyte balance of the patient. If the patient gets dehydrated, there is a higher chance of experiencing drug intoxication.
- The patients who have already experienced hypocalcemia and hyperkalemia needed special precautions while consuming Capegard tablets.
- Patients with neuropathy and disorders associated with the nervous system should be alert about their disease condition.
- Capegard tablets may alter the blood glucose level of consumers. So it is essential to monitor the blood glucose level regularly.
- There is a higher risk of inducing cardiac problems following Capegard therapy. Therefore be cautious if you have a history of cardiac disorders.
- Capegard tablets may contain lactose as an excipient. Therefore be cautious if you are intolerant to lactose.
- Avoid alcohol usage with Capegard. It can worsen adverse reactions.
- Capegard is contraindicated during pregnancy. Capegard can result in congenital disabilities. Therefore it is indicated to use effective contraceptives if you are a sexually active woman.
- Capegard can get excreted with breast milk. So never feed a baby while consuming Capegard tablets as it can harm the baby.
- If you are a patient diagnosed with a liver problem, discuss more with the physician to mask the further damage.