I’m on my second line of carbo 5 cycles in. Yesterday I had an allergic reaction to it and they had to stop the infusion. I had nausea and a red rash. They said it was a grade 1 reaction. I am a bit despondent as I only had less than a third of the dose.
Has anyone else had this experience?
I hope the next cycle will go OK. They have given me Ranitidine, Dexamethasone and Cetrizine to take the day before my next treatment.
Will this ward off the allergic reaction?
Any advice welcome.
Hi Julie
I had a grade3 anaphalatic shock on my third cycle of Carbo for a first recurrence and can now no longer have it. When someone has a milder reaction (scary as it is) then my understanding is that they slow down the infusion and give more antihistamines. If you cannot continue on the Carbo then they may swop to Cisplatin, which is what they did in my case. I also had Cisplatin for my second recurrence. Hopefully the Carbo will be tolerated. From what I was told it's not uncommon to have a reaction to Carbo xx Kathy xx
I had a reaction twice and now its in my notes to give me a double dose of anthistamines so we shall see, third time lucky perhaps.
I had a reaction on my second cycle , really excruciating pain in my back , they stopped it for 30 minutes, gave me some tablets ,can't remember what, then continued slower , I was fine after that , good luck ,hope you're OK next time xx
Hi Julia. I am currently on Carboplatin only for my second recurrence. I feel nauseous during the transfusion, I had thought it was because I am now receiving treatment through a port. I had been leaving my medication until just prior treatment, and I am now going to try having it much earlier. I have also been having really itchy legs. This is all classed as a mild allergic reaction to date, and has not stopped them proceeding.
My 5th cycle is on Friday. I’ll admit I hold my breath each time, as my Oncologist has said it is not unusual to have a bad allergic reaction to carbo, but it is most likely to happen while I am at the hospital, so they will be there to deal with it. Phew! This the third time I have had this chemical, and I just hope the rest of the transfusions pass with no increase in reaction.
However I have also been really sick for about 8 days afterwards. Have you ? It is like the worst flu you have ever had, and extreme joint paid. I am really disappointed, as most people I read about seem to sail through this particular treatment regime, in terms of recovery afterwards, and I had not thought it would be this hard. It is almost equivalent to first line treatment, and I had thought the culprit was Paclitaxel. Maybe my body just needs a rest. I was diagnosed three years ago, and for 18 months of this I have been having treatment. The only good news is that it is still working. My CA125 had increased to 217 from 10, and I had spots on my liver and a cyst I have had forever had enlarged and now had a cancerous component.
The good news is that I had my bloods done today, prior to the next transfusion on Friday, and the CA125 is now 17. After the first treatment it reduced from 217 to 137, then to 32 where it stayed for 2 cycles, now today it is 17. I guess I will just have to grit my teeth for the last two cycles. I just hope my scan then shows the liver spots and the main tumour have been dealt to. Is it working for you? Regards Therese
I’ve felt OK since the chemo. The last scan showed that the chemo was working - two tumours had shrunk and two had stabilised. So I feel glum about them having to stop the chemo on Monday. I didn’t even get a third of it so worried about the tumours growing back before my next cycle.
I don't think it will do that. I had carbo/gem for my first recurrence last year, and had to have a treatment break because of my general health in terms of bloods etc. I had to have four blood transfusions over the period of treatment. The Oncologist told me that this would not affect the over all results, and it is quite common to have to have a treatment break, or a reduction in strength.
Hi Julia
I too had a reaction to my last carbo. Last of 6 cycles for a second recurrence. My hand started to swell near infusion site. They had not seen that before and advised to stop infusion after 1/2 dose.
Given anti histamine in other hand which also started to swell.
App with consultant Monday for results of CT so fingers crossed.
Good luck with everything
Janet
Sounds very like my experience. Good luck for your appointment
Hi,
I believe there is a higher risk of carboplatin hypersensitivity amongst Brca mutation carriers.
Apart from the antihistamine drugs and steroids your chemo suite should operate a hypersensitivity protocol which includes much slower infusion and more saline bags in between doses. I presented hypersensitivity from my 7th dose, the protocol was then used and I managed to complete total of 14 infusions with no further problems. In fact I would advise any slight suspect of red face, hands, swelling ask to go straight onto a hyper proto.
Thanks for that advice. I’ve been given medication to take the day before my next cycle. Just hope this will stop me having another reaction. Will look out for flushing etc
Yes, I also had reaction although it was on my 9th infusion. The remainder of my infusions were done in the ICU and I had lots of extra pre-meds to take. And the normally 3 hour infusion ended up being 8-10 hours in ICU as they go super, super slow. But doing it this way, I didn't have any hypersensitivity for my last 3 sessions. They have a bunch of different options - premeds, changing to another drug.... Best of luck!
Thanks for sharing that with me. Hopefully with the premeds I’ll be ok next time. Only one to go anyway
I was told it is common for a reaction to carboplatin after about ten infusions. Depending on how bad then you can’t have any more. This happened to me and I stopped treatment for my first recurrence. Fortunately it had already done its job and my petscan showed Ned. For my second recurrence a year later I had cisplatin instead.
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