Commonly reported unwanted effects include:
- gastrointestinal symptoms (44% of patients):
- unwanted effects occurring in up to around 10% of patients - eczema or dry skin; alopecia; dizziness and/or headache; mildly raised blood pressure; leucopenia (white cell count >= 2 x 10^9/l); mild elevation in liver enzymes
Rare unwanted effects (occurring in less than 0.1% of patients) include:
- severely disturbed liver function
- severe cutaneous reactions such as toxic epidermal necrolysis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome
- severe leucopenia (total white cell count < 2 x 10^9/l)
- agranulocytosis
- pancytopenia - in most of these cases leflunomide was given soon after treatment, or concomitantly with disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), or had been changed to treatment with another DMARD with the potential for haematological toxicity
- anaphylaxis
Check the manufacturers prescribing information before prescribing this drug.
Reference:
- (1) Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (2000), 38 (7), 52-4.