Chemo

[Comanche24]

Starting a new round of chemo. Taking Jevtana and Carboplat with 21 days between treatments. I have had one treatment 7 days ago. I am weak and exhausted. No appetite. Is anyone on this treatment? Will the symptoms improve before I take the next round of chemo?

[ctarleton]

I am not on this treatment, but I have been around some people who have been. There is a pretty good chance that you will have some better recovery days in the 2nd and 3rd weeks.

Carboplatin is probably the tougher of the two to take, due to its side effects potential.

You probably have already seen things like these when you first started.

oncolink.org/cancer-treatme...

oncolink.org/cancer-treatme...

Some symptoms are very much correlated to what's happening with your blood cells. Fatigue, for example, can get progressively worse if your red blood cells and hemoglobin levels drop and stay low. Watch them closely. If they drop markedly, insist on some kind of relief, such as, perhaps, an transfusion of a unit of blood (or maybe two, if it's really, really low), or, perhaps, some kind of drug that stimulates the production of more red blood cells, e.g. Procrit. Expecting a patient to suffer with a really low hemoglobin level is bordering on torture, especially when there may be something that can be done about it. Such things may not occur on the early rounds of a chemo, but they are a possibility in the later, final rounds, sometimes.

Another thing that sometimes might happen is when a doctor or oncologist sees a blood marker get out of limits, and immediately takes an "all or none" approach, and just stops a cycle of chemo, rather than considering the option for perhaps reducing the dosage by some factor like 20%, or whatever, and still getting some benefit against the cancer cells.

Every Body is different. Tell your doctor about all symptoms, however small.

Wishing you Better Days ahead for this cycle, and those to follow.

Charles

[Comanche24 in reply to ctarleton]

Thanks

[paulofaus in reply to ctarleton]

Great answer Charles, this helps me out also.

[Nicnatno]

Comanche, I finished 2 rounds of chemo (Docetaxol) and my third round is on May 11th. It took 10 days post first chemo for the fatigue to subside. I felt much better and regained my appetite. To combat the fatigue, I make it a point to get up and do brisk walks and do light stretches. This had helped tremendously. After my second round, it only took 3 days to feel much better. I eat plenty of fruits and vegetables as well as fish, grilled chicken-no red meat. I drink soy milk which gives protein also and help boost my energy daily.

[Comanche24 in reply to Nicnatno]

Thanks for the tnfo. Day 8 is not much better. We will see.

[sfboy58]

I have been on this same combination for three treatment cycles. My experience is that the fatigue began to subside after 7 days. I get treated in Friday and my worst days are Sunday through Thursday. My primary side effects is fatigue and I lose my appetite in the evenings. I try to eat a big lunch and then a small dinner. The side effects were much less then when I was on docetaxel.

[BillNIttles]

I finished 9 rounds of taxotere in December, it sucked. I am recovering (sans psa and tumors) just fine. I took prednisone daily and other heavy steroids at the start of each cycle, which helped with my appetite. My body got used to the chemo and each cycle got pretty predictable. I hope yours does too. Hang in there.

[Hidden in reply to BillNIttles]

I've found the same recovery at 7 days as most others have. I'm on Docetaxel which supposedly has almost identical side effects as Jevtana. Not sure about Carboplatin. I've read that one's more difficult. I'm at day 5 after infusion second cycle right now. I'm still tired but it's getting better quickly. They prescribed Prednisone 10mg daily for me and that really helps with the energy level, appetite and other side effects like nausea. Best to take it mainly at the beginning of each cycle, maybe the first few days or for the first week. Good luck with your treatments and hope your fatigue improves in the next 2 weeks.