Procarbazine, Oral

What are other names for this medicine?

Type of medicine: antineoplastic (anticancer)

Generic and brand names: procarbazine hydrochloride, oral; Matulane

What is this medicine used for?

This medicine is taken by mouth to treat certain forms of Hodgkin's disease. It is usually prescribed along with other medicines taken by mouth or given by injection. It may also be used to treat other types of cancer.

What should my healthcare provider know before I take this medicine?

Before taking this medicine, tell your healthcare provider if you have ever had:

• an allergic reaction to any medicine
• bone marrow problems
• diabetes
• epilepsy or a seizure disorder
• heart disease
• kidney disease
• liver disease
• problems with alcohol abuse.

Tell your healthcare provider if you smoke. Smoking while taking this medicine greatly increases your changes for getting lung cancer.

Females of childbearing age: This medicine is not usually given to pregnant women because it can harm the baby. If you are pregnant, tell your healthcare provider. Do not become pregnant during treatment with this medicine. If you become pregnant, contact your healthcare provider right away. Do not breast-feed while you are receiving this medicine.

How do I use it?

Take this medicine and any other medicines exactly as your healthcare provider prescribes. The dosages may be changed based on your response and on the results of blood tests and other tests. Keep all your appointments for tests and injections.

What should I watch out for?

Do not take any other medicines unless your healthcare provider approves.

Do not smoke while you are taking this medicine. Talk with your provider if you need help to quit smoking.

This medicine may cause drowsiness, dizziness, slower reflexes, and vision problems. Do not drive or operate machinery unless you are fully alert and can see clearly.

Children may be more sensitive to this medicine. Watch children for signs of shaking or convulsions and contact your healthcare provider right away if any of these occur.

This medicine may make your skin more sensitive to the sun and may cause you to sunburn more easily. While you are taking this medicine, avoid long exposure to the sun. While you are in the sun, wear protective clothing and sunscreen lotion until you know how you will react to the sun. Do not use a sunlamp. If you get a severe sunburn, contact your healthcare provider right away. Also, wear sunglasses when you are outdoors during the day.

This medicine may cause nausea and vomiting. Your healthcare provider may prescribe medicine to keep you from feeling sick and throwing up. If this medicine does not help, tell your healthcare provider.

You may get infections more easily when you are taking this medicine. Stay away from people with colds, flu, or other infections. Also, do not have any vaccines without getting your healthcare provider's approval first.

This medicine may make your mouth sore. Use a soft bristle brush or mouth swab to brush your teeth.

Do NOT drink alcohol or liquids with large amounts of caffeine in them such as coffee, tea, or soda pop while taking this medicine. Drinking these liquids can cause flushing, headache, vomiting, chest pain, or stomach pain.

Diabetics: This medicine may affect your blood sugar level and change the amount of insulin or other diabetes medicines you may need. Talk to your healthcare provider about this.

What are the possible side effects?

Along with its needed effects, your medicine may cause some unwanted side effects. Some side effects may be very serious. Some side effects may go away as your body adjusts to the medicine. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that continue or get worse.

Serious (report these to your healthcare provider right away): Fever, chills, sore throat, unusual bleeding or bruising, shortness of breath, sores in your mouth, cough, vomiting blood, black tarry stools, yellowish skin or eyes, shaking, seizures, chest pain, fast heartbeat.

Other: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle or joint pain, tiredness, sweating, constipation, trouble swallowing, headache, loss of appetite, hair loss, depression, trouble sleeping, dry mouth, dizziness.

What products might interact with this medicine?

When you take this medicine with other medicines, it can change the way this or any of the other medicines work. Nonprescription medicines, vitamins, natural remedies, and certain foods may also interact. Using these products together might cause harmful side effects. Talk to your healthcare provider if you are taking:

• antidepressants such as amitriptyline, imipramine (Tofranil), doxepin (Sinequan), trazodone (Desyrel), desipramine (Norpramin, Pertofrane), mirtazapine (Remeron), nortriptyline (Pamelor), citalopram (Celexa), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (Zoloft), nefazodone, venlafaxine (Effexor), escitalopram (Lexapro), and bupropion (Wellbutrin)
• antihistamines such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl), chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton), and cyproheptadine (Periactin)
• antiseizure medicines such as primidone (Mysoline) and carbamazepine (Tegretol)
• aspirin or other salicylates
• barbiturates such as phenobarbital, butabarbital (Butisol), and pentobarbital (Nembutal)
• buspirone (BuSpar)
• cough and cold medicines containing dextromethorphan or pseudoephedrine (Sudafed)
• cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril)
• diabetes medicines such as insulin, glyburide (DiaBeta, Micronase), glipizide (Glucotrol), glimepiride (Amaryl), repaglinide (Prandin), metformin (Glucophage), rosiglitazone (Avandia), pramlintide (Symlin), and pioglitazone (Actos)
• diet medicines such as sibutramine (Meridia) and diethylpropion (Tenuate)
• live vaccines
• medicines to treat asthma such as albuterol (Ventolin, Proventil, Volmax) and metaproterenol (Alupent, Metaprel)
• medicines to treat nausea such as prochlorperazine (Compazine) and promethazine (Phenergan)
• medicines to treat Parkinson's disease such as levodopa (Sinemet, Larodopa) and entacapone (Comtan)
• medicines used to treat migraine headaches such as rizatriptan (Maxalt), sumatriptan (Imitrex), zolmitriptan (Zomig), almotriptan (Axert), eletriptan (Relpax), and naratriptan (Amerge)
• methotrexate (Rheumatrex)
• narcotic analgesics (pain killers) such as codeine, hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab), oxycodone (Percocet, Tylox, OxyContin), morphine (MS Contin), propoxyphene (Darvocet N-100), pentazocine (Talwin), meperidine (Demerol), fentanyl (Duragesic), methadone (Dolophine), and hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
• sleeping pills such as triazolam (Halcion), temazepam (Restoril), zolpidem (Ambien), and zaleplon (Sonata)
• stimulants such as methamphetamine (Desoxyn), methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta), and dextroamphetamine (Adderall, Dexedrine).

While you are taking this medicine, do not take any prescription or nonprescription medicines unless they are approved by the healthcare provider who prescribed this one.

When taken with certain foods or drinks, this medicine can cause an increase in blood pressure. To avoid this, do not eat large amounts of foods or drink beverages that have a high tyramine content. This includes foods that are aged, fermented, pickled, or smoked, such as aged cheeses; yogurt, dried fruits, smoked fish, meat, or poultry; sauerkraut; soy sauce; red wine; or tap beer. Discuss this with your healthcare provider.

Do not drink alcohol while taking this medicine.

Keep a list of all your medicines (prescription, nonprescription, supplements, natural remedies, and vitamins) with you. Be sure that you tell all healthcare providers who treat you about all the products you are taking.

How should I store this medicine?

Store this medicine at room temperature. Keep the container tightly closed. Protect it from heat, high humidity, and bright light.

This advisory includes selected information only and may not include all side effects of this medicine or interactions with other medicines. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for more information or if you have any questions.

Ask your pharmacist for the best way to dispose of outdated medicine or medicine you have not used. Do not throw medicine in the trash.

Keep all medicines out of the reach of children.

Do not share medicines with other people.