how to reduce chemo side effects

[shipoo]

I will be starting chemo for my prostate cancer in the next few weeks. Any suggestions as to cooling hats, gloves, and/or socks or other ways to reduce the side effects of chemo. What has been your experience with chemo side effects or your endeavors to reduce them? I expect I will be getting a regimen of cabazitaxel. Thank you for your help.

[Mike1971]

Absolutely use ice on hands and feet to reduce the effects of peripheral neuropathy.

My doctor told me if I start feeling ill and not wanting to eat much to eat whatever I wanted “if you only feel like eating potato chips, then just eat that for a while”.

Some of the great people here recommend fasting during chemo. I didn’t know about this when I had chemo but I will look into it if I need to do it again.

[MrG68]

Fasting a couple of days before and a couple of days after.

jeccr.biomedcentral.com/art...

[shipoo in reply to MrG68]

thank you. Others have suggested fasting as well

[spencoid2]

forget the ice pack gloves and booties, more trouble than they are worth especially if you have big hands or feet. a few people suggested plain old ice in good quality bags. get a big bag of ice from Costco for almost nothing and the type of bag used for long term food storage. no swapping cold packs and dealing with freezers etc. if i do chemo again that is what i will do.

[shipoo in reply to spencoid2]

Thank you for your quick response and advice

[London441]

Appetite may be down. Take some nutritional supplements if your sense of taste/appetite is off and eat whatever you like.

Ice and fasting may help, exercise helps more. Get as much as possible.

[shipoo in reply to London441]

Thanks for your response. Your exercise suggestion is one I’ll particularly try to follow

[85745]

I take Vit B1 in the Benfotiamine form along with R- Alpha Lipoic Acid and Acetyl L- Carnitine for my peripheral neuropathy. Helps me a lot. Modified Citris Pectin -Pecta- Sol -C 15 grams of powder daily is what the studies used. I take it and it really helps me. Great liquid drink when fasting. What I read it removes toxins and process out of dead cells, helps with bone met, etc. I do know for me fasting and MCP work good together to cleanse and reset my body. I also use Clinoptilolite Zeolite ( ultra fine ). I mix my amt in with MCP drink. But this is what works for me based on my research.

[shipoo in reply to 85745]

Thank you. Glad u found a way to keep the side effects tolerable. I appreciate the info

[Oct18]

for what it’s worth, my experience has been that the side effects are very tolerable. I contemplated ice gloves and boots, fasting, etc. all the other advice that people give. After discussing it with my doctors and nurses, I decided not to do any of that. so far I have had four rounds of docetaxel. So far, I don’t have any neuropathy, and my appetite increased dramatically. I have actually gained almost 15 pounds. Which I actually was almost a little underweight due to several years of extremely healthy eating and exercise so I don’t mind a few extra pounds. I’m 51 years old and still active and exercising and lifting weights. There is a period of about three or four days where I don’t feel great, and have some achiness, but other than that it usually subsides. My taste buds are shot. That is the most noticeable thing. And so far have not lost my hair. I will have scans this week to see what’s going on but my PSA is down to 3.6 from 17 at the start of chemo. Best of luck to you.

[shipoo in reply to Oct18]

Thanks for this information. Very happpy that chemo is working for u and that your side effects are tolerable

[Oct18 in reply to shipoo]

I also forgot I do have ice in my mouth the entire time while getting treatment. So I may be in the minority but since my taste buds have still been drastically affected, I’m not a firm believer in ice doing anything. I’ll continue to do it just in case because I don’t mind ice in my mouth, but icing hands and feet to me seems like too much trouble, but that’s just my opinion

[OldWarrior]

there are several long threads with lots of great advice if you use the search bar to find them. I used gloves and booties - a little bit of logistical planning required but after 9 cycles of Docetaxel - no neuropathy. I also sucked/chewed ice chips and that seemed to keep the taste distortions to a minimum. Did not use a cooling cap - have a met on my skull and I didn’t want to risk the chemo not being able to do its job. Lost a lot of hair, so wore a short crew cut. Try to get moving, walk, exercise as soon as you can. For me Day 3-6 were the hardest. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Fatigue was my biggest side effect. Nap when you need to.

[shipoo in reply to OldWarrior]

Some very helpful info. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my concerns

[Bethpage]

Here's an excellent post by a member of HU from about a year ago. He graciously agreed to allow me to use it in my support group for spouses. It's excellent and was saved by many.

healthunlocked.com/advanced...

[shipoo]

I appreciate this info. Thank you

[Histbuff]

My main side effect from chemo has been nausea but I have discovered ginger gummies and they have worked great! The NIH's National Cancer Institute has published an elaborate booklet on how to respond to each possible chemo side effect:

cancer.gov/publications/pat...

I wish you the best of luck, shipoo!

[Histbuff]

One of my main problems has been nausea. One of my oncologists says that research supports the use of ginger as a way to fight it off. I tried ginger ale and it was OK but I soon got sick of it. Then I switched to GUMMY GINGER and that has worked like a charm. For a booklet on the NIH's suggestions on how to respond to various chemo side effects check out this link:

cancer.gov/publications/pat...

I wish you the best, shipoo.

[shipoo in reply to Histbuff]

I am thankful for the good info you provided

[Soumen79]

Keep yourself more hydrated, toxins eventually comes out through toilet, take rest 3-6 days period, strongly believe you will feel ok after that. Use ice on feet and hands.

With regards

Soumen

[shipoo in reply to Soumen79]

Than you for your response