BR ...Side effects

[alice111]

My husband is about to have his 3rd of 6 BR treatments..I am worried about him as , although he has tolerated the treatment well, he has become very breathless..stairs are almost impossible for him now. I wondered if anyone else had experienced this on BR..? Thank you

[wroxham-gb]

Dear Alice

I would contact your specialist nurse for advice or your doctor. I was on BR and cannot remember this happening to me. The two might or might not be connected. Please let us know how it goes.

Best wishes.

Sue

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

Alice...

I would put a call into your doctor as soon as possible, it is certainly something that needs to be addressed.

~chris

[alice111]

I rang the hospital and they are going to ask his Consultant to examine him before they administer the BR....thank you for your advice.. x

[arthurschneider]

I had 1 round of BR and it knocked the heck out of my blood counts - including my hemoglobin to the point that I was severely anemic. I barely had the strength to stand up, much less move around. I wound up needing blood transfusions on 3 occasions. I was then taken off BR and am now participating in a clinical trial of oral drugs at Ohio State University. Sounds like your husband also may need a transfusion to boost his hemoglobin, and maybe needs to investigate treatment options other than BR. The oral drug Ibrutinib could be a possibility now that he has already had 2 rounds of BR. Other oral drugs may be available in clinical trials.

Art

[Hidden]

Hello from Arkansas, USA. Breathlessness, I know this. FCR, as well as CLL, treatment will reduce my oxygen transport capacity in my blood. One night it seemed so bad I cried. I suppose blood transfusions correct this issue. With the passing of time my body coped. I didnot need transfusions the last of the treatments. Maybe the treatment was less. Now I am not taking treatment, remission state, but from time to time I feel the breathlessness. Seems like the treatment keeps working out in me. To correct the issues of leukemia the drugs have to be tough. Lucky for us they are. I healed up with time. Last week I dreamed that I wasn't any better. It was just a dream. The reality is I am better; stronger, heavier and able to go longer without breathlessness. Leukemia is not the quick to cure defect. Today hope is real. Treatment manage the disease well. I am glad I never smoked. I am glad I didnot drink alcoholic drinks. I am glad I ran, jumped and pushed my body in my youth. When you get old you realize your youth prepares for old age, for the good or for the bad. I see now my employer worked me to many hours. I just did not get enough down time. With treatment, because of this breathlessness, I have relaxed more than I have in the last thirty years. This has been good. Maybe CLL has been what I needed to be happy.

[splashsplash3]

As my Leukaemia cells went up, my breathlessness went up too. I could walk miles on the flat but come to stairs or a slight hill and I suddenly became 150 years old. I was not anaemic so it must've just been the Leukaemia and since starting on Ibrutinib the breathless has disappeared.