Vomiting, diarrhoea, allergic reactions (shortness of breath, skin rashes, swelling of the lips, tongue or face), disturbances of the nervous system (numbness up to unconsciousness). On the psychological level, blackouts, severe fatigue and articulation problems may occur.
Long-term risks:
The most dangerous side effects are aplastic anaemia, agranulocytosis and vasculitis. The former leads to a greatly reduced defence against serious infections due to a lack of white blood cells. Agranulocytosis is a severe reduction in granulocytes, a subgroup of white blood cells. Vasculitis leads to the death (necrosis) of skin areas due to the occlusion of small blood vessels.
The probability of developing agranulocytosis increases with the regularity of levamisole intake, irrespective of the dose taken.
Another risk is posed by the degradation of levamisole to Aminorex (amphetamine-like substance) in the human body; Aminorex had to be withdrawn from the market as an appetite suppressant because it led to pulmonary hypertension (= life-threatening pulmonary hypertension). This risk accumulates when Aminorex is taken repeatedly. Pulmonary hypertension does not occur acutely during use, but may only manifest itself after several months in the form of increasingly impaired physical performance, circulatory disorders and fatigue.
Symptoms such as chills, infections in the respiratory tract, anal region, throat, etc. may be associated with the intake of levamisole. These must be accompanied by a doctor and treated with antibiotics.
