Gastrointestinal Warnings

• The prescribing information for clofazimine carries a warning about a small number of "severe abdominal symptoms . . . in some patients receiving Lamprene." Fatalities have been reported due to gastrointestinal bleeding, obstructed bowels and a condition called splenic infarction, in which the spleen becomes necrotic and unable to fulfill its role in regulating white blood cell counts in the body. Patients with existing gastrointestinal problems should use clofazimine only under the close supervision of a doctor.
  
  

Skin Warning

• Taking clofazimine frequently changes patients' skin color, making it redder or browner. This otherwise symptomless side effect can create mental distress. The prescribing information for clofazimine states, "Two suicides have been reported in patients receiving Lamprene."
  
  

Common Side Effects

• Mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal intestinal problems such as diarrhea, stomach pain and vomiting have occurred in 40 to 50 percent of patients taking clofazimine, according to the medication's prescribing information. Other common side effects patients have reported include dry and flaky skin, itching skin, rash, eye irritation, darkening of the whites of the eyes, high blood sugar and darkening of the body's excretions (urine, sweat, feces).
  
  

Rare Side Effects

• Less than 1 percent of patients taking clofazimine have experienced hypersensitivity to sunlight, yeast infections of the lips, complete loss of appetite, headaches, blood clots, swelling of the hands and feet, dizziness, liver damage and changes in blood levels of liver enzymes and metabolic byproducts.
  
  

A Note on Dapsone

• Jacobus Pharmaceutical produces the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved version of dapsone for the treatment of leprosy. Some of the common side effects from dapsone match those of clofazimine. Patients taking both medications will have higher risks for vomiting, rash, itching and dry skin, loss of appetite, headaches, stomach pain and mental distress. Side effects unique to dapsone include blue-tinged or pale skin, sore throat, bruising, fatigue and weakness.