Mitotane

• Take small and frequent meals.
• Avoid foods or smells that may make you feel nauseous, such as oily, fried, or strong-smelling food.
• Avoid tight-fitting clothes around the waist.
• Your doctor may prescribe medications to help relieve or prevent nausea or vomiting. Take these as instructed.

• Drink plenty of clear fluids (at least 2 litres or 8 glasses every day).
• Eat food that is gentler on the stomach such as porridge or soup.
• Avoid milk, dairy products, high-fibre food and oily or spicy food.
• Your doctor may prescribe medications to help relieve diarrhoea. Take these as instructed.
• Proceed to the A&E Department immediately if you have very bad diarrhoea (for example increase in bowel movement of more than 4 times per day) that does not improve even after taking medications for diarrhoea.

• Avoid hot showers. Use cool or lukewarm water to bathe.
• Apply a moisturiser to areas with dry skin.
• Please see a doctor immediately if the rashes are painful, blistering, or affect a large area of the body.

Vertigo/Drowsiness

A sensation of a loss of balance that can be caused by looking down from a great height, or from a disease affecting the inner ear

• Do not drive or operate machinery if you are feeling drowsy
• Avoid alcohol as this may cause you to feel more drowsy
• You should seek medical advice if vertigo symptoms persist for a couple of hours or keep reoccurring for more than a couple of days.

• This may be worsened by a change in taste of food and/or nausea.
• Try different flavours of food and have small frequent meals.
• For poor appetite, try to include nutritional supplements (such as milk supplements) into your diet.

• Seek medical advice if you experience any of the following during the infusion:
  • Flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills or dizziness, feeling warm or flushed
  • Red, warm, and itchy bumps on the skin
  • Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat
  • Breathlessness, wheezing, cough or sudden difficulty breathing
  • Back pain or chest pain
• You may also be given medications to help with the symptoms. 

Hormone abnormalities 

• Inflammation of various hormone glands (such as the pituitary, thyroid, pancreas, and adrenal glands) may occur.     
• This may affect the production of certain hormones in your body.

Thyroid function may be less effective

• Symptoms of an underactive thyroid gland include tiredness, weight gain, constipation, aches, feeling cold, dry skin and dry hair.

• Some hormone levels can be monitored with regular blood tests. Some of the signs and symptoms include the following:
   
  • Headaches that do not go away
  • Vision problems
  • Unusually fast heartbeat
  • Increased sweating
  • Extreme tiredness
  • Unusual weight gain or weight loss
  • Feeling cold all the time
  • Increased hunger or thirst
  • Increased urination
  • Dizziness or fainting
  • Changes in mood or behaviour
• Inform your doctor if you have any new symptoms as you may need a blood test to check your thyroid levels.
• This medication may affect your body’s normal response to stress (such as when you have a fever, infection, severe injury or surgery) as it causes a lowering of the natural steroid that your adrenal gland makes. Inform your doctor immediately if there is any injury (shock or severe trauma) or infection (fever, chills, severe sore throat, pain when passing urine, wound that does not heal).If you experience any of these symptoms, you should stop your medication and see your healthcare professional immediately.

Liver problems

• Rarely, this medication can injure or damage the liver. A liver injury may recover on its own. However, in some cases, it can cause serious liver damage.

• Stop this medication and proceed to the A&E department immediately if you experience any:
  • Dark coloured urine
  • Llight-coloured stools
  • Yellowing of your skin or eyes
  • Nausea, vomiting that does not go away
  • Severe abdominal pain