Tretinoin Side Effects: What to Expect & Manage

Tretinoin is a prescription medication used to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia. Despite its effectiveness, tretinoin poses a risk for side effects in some patients.

Significance

• According to clinical studies by the Food and Drug Administration published on RxList.com, nearly all users of tretinoin experience at least minor side effects.

Common Side Effects

• Common side effects of tretinoin include headaches, fever, dry skin, bone pain, nausea, vomiting, skin rashes, swelling of the mucous membranes, itching, increased sweating, blurred or double vision, hair loss and bone inflammation.

Risks

• Tretinoin can cause serious complications such as hypothermia, hallucinations, kidney failure, convulsions and coma in some patients. Others experience cardiovascular side effects such as arrhythmia, heart failure, stroke and heart attacks.

Warning

• Tretinoin usage leads to increased cranial pressure in some patients, causing a risk of blindness or bleeding. Early symptoms of increased cranial pressure include swelling of the area surrounding your eyes, very severe headaches and persistent vomiting.

Considerations

• If you have a history of allergic reactions to vitamin A, you should not take tretinoin due to a potentially fatal hypersensitivity to the drug. Because tretinoin causes abnormal fetal brain development and miscarriages, doctors do not prescribe the drug to pregnant women.