Chemotherapy for prostate cancer treatment

[MrJack]

Whew , Cycle number three is pretty tough for me, seems worse than number two,

I had bad body ache, stomach ache, nausea, burning of lips, hands and feet,

foggy brain , loss of appetite , all food tastes bad, fighting off sores in mouth, etc..

makes me fear what cycle four will do, anyone have input on progressive Chemo cycles and what to expect? my hair is falling out too.

good news is the PSA has fallen from 45 to 4.9, so Chemo is working for me.

what do you guys think about medical Marijuana is it a legit remedy or medicine?

[Dan59]

Mr Jack, Congratulations on the great response. I might suggest glutamine powder dissolved in water to wash out your mouth for mouth sores, others also use ice on the fingernails, I think often they do 6 cycles and stop till it increases again,then your hair will grow back and taste will come back. My wife sucked on ice cubes to maintain taste buds, and the glutamide powder helped a lot using it as a mouth wash dissolved in water, best of luck

Dan

[bryson43]

Hi just had my 15th infusion of taxotere over a 2 year period -main problem is fatigue for a couple of days so I have tolerated it reasonably well -still managed to exercise and part time work -PSA is 23 after a 11 year battle -originally diagnosed in 2005 with Gleeson 4+4 and PSA 24-chemo can be a tough option but it does work

[jimreilly]

I do not know about marijuana and PC, and I personally do not smoke anything, but it's more and more obvious that marijuana is of great use to many people with a variety of conditions. Someone else who knows more should chime in here, I hope. Must be some of you out there who can use it legally so you don't have to worry about getting into trouble for an honest answer, no?

[patandemma]

patandemma *@Mrjack

had all except burning sensations and mouth sores.

Consider glutamine supplements for the mouth sores,recently recommended from Memorial Sloan Kettering.Seems to be useful for a variety of chemo symptoms

mskcc.org/cancer-care/integ...

Omeprazole,or pantoprazole may help with some of the GI symptoms

Did your oncologist prescribe daily low dose prednisone as well as decadron just for a couple days before and after each cycle? A fair number of oncs feel it might ameliorate side effects. Steroids have their unwanted effects too though like elevating blood glucose

Is your neutrophil count staying within normal levels?, My oncologist treated me with Neulasta prophylactically with each cycle instead of waiting until it dropped to dangerous levels

As I mentioned in my post to you a while back cycle 4 (cycle 3 for you) was when it became progressively tougher. Keep in mind you are having an excellent response to the chemo so stick with program. You are going to feel rapidly better a moth or so after you finish.

[harryflittle]

Ask your chemo pharmacy about a powdered substance that is available in health food stores that you start taking a few days prior to your 4th round. I'm sorry I. Can't recall the name of the substance, there are several brands. I had a terrible time in round one and the pharmacy had a hand out explanation and I went to a health store. Hopefully someone reading this will know what I'm talking about?

Good luck, it really helped me.

Harry

[Gecrellin]

I'm currently in my 21st cycle. in terms of a progressive side effect, I have increased numbness in the soles of my feet and fingertips. llist hair during the first set of chemos, but it grew back some during a break after 10 cycles. Very little growth or loss of hair during later cycles. Bad taste comes and goes. I'm lucky, only had nausea or fatigue during one cycle...#18, when I started a trial. My PSA impact has not been good, but otherwise chemo has kept me feeling well and active. Good luck!

[Scruffybut1]

MrJack I can only bring you back to what I wrote previously. I didn't get the side effects over my 10 cycles although you remind me of loss of taste (I found food & drink I could still enjoy to overcome that). Mood swings controllable, hot flashes now - six months after completion - turned into horrible polyneuropathy but that won't kill me and slowly diminishing in intensity. Stick with it. We're all with you. If you go to 10 cycles it shouldn't get worse and you have an end date for chemo....just add up those 3 weekly cycles and prepare to rejoice.

[Scruffybut1]

I forgot. No foggy brain now. Hair back now all over body. And what a great response with your PSA! Go for it. 21 weeks only left to make 10. Even England soccer managers last longer!

[efsculpt]

What chemo drug?

Thanks,

Craig

[MrJack in reply to efsculpt]

I am using Taxotere, every three weeks or once a month.

[Daddyishealing]

Routing for you. my dad goes second round on the 28th . and I'll keep you in my prayers. go for it my friend. you are experiencing what would be expected as we say goodbye to pca cells . xoxo

[MrJack in reply to Daddyishealing]

thank-you

[Hidden]

MrJack,

When I was Dx in '10, a Dr. in the family suggested I smoke pot again. So I did. At the time I was also a cigarette smoker. After quitting the cigs, the pot smoke was too much to handle, so I quit that. Then I came upon oils and waxes. Since then I've been vaping wax.

Now, does this help me in any way that I can absolutely attribute it to CBD's? That I don't know. What I do know is this, I have mets in my spine, hip and sacrum, and I have yet to experience any pain from them. I can smoke/vape this stuff until I get to lala land, but I don't like lala land. I do get a slight buzz, which is not that bad either.

Now, the legaleeze of it? Not in my state. Do I care? Not one bit.

Peace, pot, microdot, Joe

[Daddyishealing in reply to Hidden]

Joe, I love your close on your response thanks for the smile

[Daddyishealing]

How are you feeling, champion ?

[MrJack in reply to Daddyishealing]

Hello, today I feel good, I have felt good all week, so it seems that after treatment I am sick for a week with body aches, and stomach ache , but after I make it past the rough part, I feel pretty darn good, I also had a big problem with food tasting like crap, nothing tasted good, but that also improves with time.

I have round four coming up on Nov29th , we will see how that goes

I will get another blood test and see what my psa is....

thank you! God Bless you all and may you find some peace and love this holiday season!

[Doofusthefirst]

I am on Docetaxel and carboplatin. My taste returns to almost normal about five to seven days after the treatment. Some foods are better than others during that time such as pork and rice or Moo Goo Gai Pan. I am still experimenting to find new foods that don't make me sick. For about two days after treatment I have to be very careful about heart burn. I am guessing that the esophageal sphincter is weak and eating more than it can hold back is just asking for major burn.

After the five to seven days, I can eat my normal diet but some of the tastes are weak. Steak just doesn't have that full flavor anymore. In spite of all that, I still gain weight.

[MrJack in reply to Doofusthefirst]

yes, ok, same here, I just discovered that my taste does come back most of the way after a week, it helps to eat light meals, etc prune juice and prunes to stay regular etc..

thanks