Do you have the same kinds of side effects with all your rounds of chemo?

MyLungCancer
MyLungCancer Member Posts: 72
edited May 2020 in General Cancer
I seem to have something different on each one. Sometimes they are opposite from the last time. One time its constipation, the next time its diarrhea. Dizziness one time and air-headed the next.

Comments

  • Bengal
    Bengal Member Posts: 518
    edited May 2020
    Mine was pretty predictable. Felt OK the first day then just got hit by a bus with fatigue, aches everywhere, nausea, had to force myself to eat. Much worse on the weeks I was given neulasta. Then after about three days of that I started to feel better just in time to go back and start it all over. Definitely not fun but doable.
  • LiveWithCancer
    LiveWithCancer Member Posts: 470
    edited May 2020
    Mine were the same. EXCEPT that I learned I had to drink whether I wanted to or not or else the constipation was worse than any other side effect. Otherwise, the extreme nausea, fatigue, etc. was the same from treatment to treatment.
  • Paperpusher
    Paperpusher Member Posts: 78
    After the first cycle, hubby felt awful then better just before cycle #2. His hair started falling out before cycle 2 which they told him wouldn't happen. From that point on, he felt horrible all the time and slept a lot. He wasn't awake enough to drink much so ended up either outpatient or inpatient for fluids. He turned down a port bc he would have had to come off his Coumadin for insertion. He later regretted that.
  • legaljen1969
    legaljen1969 Member Posts: 763
    @Bengal. So the Neulasta seemed to make the side effects worse? For some reason I thought it was supposed to minimize side effects. I have done a little more reading and now understand that is not its purpose.
  • Bengal
    Bengal Member Posts: 518
    edited May 2020
    Nope, neulasta boosts your immune system. It does it by way of bone marrow and a while it was working I could tell you exactly where every bone was in my body because every one of them ached. Neulasta also made my stomach very upset to the point they sent me for a CAT scan on day just to be sure something wasn't seriously wrong down there. I hated that stuff.

    Paperpusher, I was also told I probably wouldn't lose my hair until close to the end of the first 18 weeks. Doctor was shocked when I showed up third week with no hair! I heard her say kinda to herself, "maybe I need to adjust the amount". Always inspires confidence.
  • MarcieB
    MarcieB Member Posts: 528
    edited May 2020
    I never noticed any difference with the neulasta. But, I did get three days worth of steroid pills to take immediately after my infusion and the neulasta patch kicked in after 24 hrs. So maybe the steroid gave me a boost that counteracted the immediate effects of neulasta? All I remember is I kinda loved those three steroid days...lol!

Categories