Bowels misbehaving!

sorry for the delicate nature of this post! I finished chemo 5 weeks ago, all through cycle 5 & 6 I had diarrhoea and unfortunately it has continued. My recent scan was clear so my hospital are not overly concerned, they were pleased that Imodium works very well, but I can't take it for ever! can I? I would also like to investigate what is causing it, I have tried keeping a food diary and it seems to be dairy food that makes it worse but not the cause. Is it normal to still be "suffering" so long after chemo?

[delia2]

Hi Lynn. Now you've got me worried as I head into cycle 5 of carbo caelyx and have been getting diarrhea instead of the usual constipation. My dr warned that caelyx causes it so maybe it will take care of itself as you heal from chemo. Has it even been a month yet? Caelyx stays in your system quite a while. Good luck and congratulations on being ned! They don't seem to expect me to to be ned when I'm done.

[Hidden in reply to delia2]

I am just coming up to 5 weeks since last chemo, so it could be the caelyx is still affecting me. I am not exactly NED as my CA125 is 131, just nothing showing on the CT scan, its a mystery to me. Hoping my bowels begin to behave themselves very soon, don't worry it may not effect you in the same way. Good Luck

[delia2 in reply to Hidden]

I hope things improve soon and you get the Niraparib.

[bluepeterella]

I don't know if normal or not, but my bowels have been quite over-active since carbo/caelyx and that was 5 months ago! They seem to be slowing down a bit now. We went on a family holiday before christmas and I was so relieved that we had our own ensuite bathroom. The need to go has been very urgent and I didn't want to be fretting about my daughter's boyfriend being in the bathroom!

I have to say I prefer to be more urgent than to be worried about constipation so I didn't really mind.

[Hidden in reply to bluepeterella]

I understand the problem of urgency! It is very worrying when out and about. I can go anytime from morning to bedtime, but like you say not quite as bad as constipation and blockages. Take care

[Gemimablackvelvet]

Morning Lyn, it is a delicate subject isn't it and one of the good things OVC has done for me- I'm not half as inhibited as I was and now able to discuss toilet and ladies' problems freely.. I had my last carbo/caelyx this Monday. I find the first week (as Delia mentioned) the usual constipation therefore loads of laxatives to combat that which puts fear of God into me if I move from the house. (I find Tena Pants a must ) Usually this clears itself up by the second week and a little nausea and a lot of mouth ulcers set in. I seem to enjoy maybe 2 weeks and look forward to starting Niraparib late February (fingers crossed) Hope you soon feel happier. Things can only get better (fingers crossed again)

Love Angela xx

[Hidden in reply to Gemimablackvelvet]

Thank you Angela we seem to be travelling a similar path, I hopefully start Niraparib next week. (famous last words) 😘 Good luck with your treatment, here's hoping Niraparib is the miracle drug for both of us 🤞

[Lindaura]

Dear Lyn,

Loose bowels have been the norm for me since I was diagnosed, and that gets worse under the different treatments.

But, in this DICE trial, I had such bad diarrhoea, they tested me and it turned out that I had an infection that was making thingsworse.

Antibiotics cleared that up and now I just have three bad days on the trial drug, but have normal loose bowels the rest of the time.

So you might want to have a specimen tested at your hospital.

Best wishes,

Laura

[Lind58]

My mom had the same exact issue - What I recommend is finding a diet that works for you and sticking with it like you said. Eventually you will be able to introduce new food into your diet slowly.

She said the only thing that worked for her was meatballs and spaghetti - Odd but true. She said creamy foods/oily foods still cause her stomach to be upset.

My mom is 6 months post chemo and still certain foods will cause this.

Wishing you the very best!

[Hidden in reply to Lind58]

Thank you - I have cut out all dairy and so far so good 😊

[Hidden]

Hi Linda, I am the same I just had no 7 caelyx and found it hard to balance the movicol, I think it stimulated the bowels too much when I had to take it. I actually had to buy tena products when I felt I might need them. I don't know if there is any hard or fast rule about diet. Dairy could be a culprit as started eating ice cream to put on weight and also the protein shakes. So did google and it was recommended to have the protein shakes at room temperature. I have one more Caelyx to go as my Onc is happy with me at the moment so that is next week. I am eating more normally now than I was so hoping that is a good sign