Side Effects

Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Cytarabine can cause serious side effects on your brain or central nervous system that may not be reversible. Cytarabine is usually given together with steroid medicine to help lessen these side effects.

Cytarabine may cause serious side effects. Call your doctor at once if you have:

• severe drowsiness, confusion, unusual thoughts or behavior;
• fever, chills, body aches, feeling very ill;
• stomach pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting, bloody or tarry stools;
• loss of movement in any part of your body;
• liver problems–loss of appetite, right-sided upper stomach pain, dark urine, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);
• low platelets or red blood cells–pale skin, easy bruising, unusual bleeding, tiredness, feeling light-headed, cold hands and feet;
• lung problems–pain when you breathe, shortness of breath while lying down, cough with foamy mucus; or
• signs of eye infection–swelling, redness, severe discomfort, crusting or drainage;

Your cancer treatments may be delayed or permanently discontinued if you have certain side effects.

Common side effects of cytarabine may include:

• liver problems;
• fever;
• bleeding;
• nausea, vomiting, diarrhea;
• mouth sores;
• rectal pain or sores;
• rash; or
• bruising where medicine was injected.