Cancer Side Effects

Yes, everyone I've spoken with has a similar experience with chemo. I found that I could not concentrate and therefore reading was useless. Too bad, I love to read and learn - its exciting to learn by reading. Eating was not so hot either, my tasting ability was gone along with my appetite. So I ended up watching the clock tick, went for long slow walks. I improved physically as my body acclimated to the chemo. Then, I became much more active - reading, watching tv, walking, talking on the phone, checking out the internet, writing letters, and more.

My chiropractor has been great with trying to get them back in alignment. They were so off after chemo.

I also took it easy on exercising after chemo, started small and built up.

When approaching a patient with pain, the first step is to do a very thorough pain history to determine the etiology of pain, severity of pain, duration of the pain and the impact of the pain on the patient’s life and physical functioning. The etiology of the pain will guide us to understand the expected duration of the pain and the approaches that are most likely to be effective in treatment. For cancer patients in moderate to severe pain, opioid pain medications are often effective. We may use opioid pain medications in conjunction with acetaminophen or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs). Our goal in treating patients is to get a stable control of pain with a standing medication regimen, with the availability of “breakthrough” or “rescue” medications for acute exacerbations of pain that may occur. When starting patients on new pain medication regimens we make sure to have close follow-up with patients to assess for efficacy as well as side effects of the regimen. We also make use of other members of the interdisciplinary palliative care team, including our massage therapists to assist in pain management. Certain cancer pain syndromes may also be amenable to interventional procedures such as nerve blocks, in which case we work with and make referrals to our colleagues in Anesthesiology who specialize in interventional pain management.

I had at least three sinus infections during cancer treatment. The most effective treatment was a daily sinus wash containing a prescribed antibiotic, plus an oral antibiotic, plus an allergy drug (such as claritin) to help dry out the sinuses. But even this cocktail of treatments took over a week to resolve the infection.

My sinuses are great at last. I just had a cold last month and for the first time since cancer treatment it didn't turn into a sinus infection.

This is a tough question for me. Taxol, to my knowledge does not commonly cause an autonomic neuropathy, rather a peripheral neuropathy. This generally presents as numbness and tingling of the hands and feet. I have never seen taxol cause an autonomic neuropahthy although this has been reported in the literature with rare case reports.

Big problem! Many patients who have been treated for cancer are left with some degree of neuropathy if they received a taxane or other neurotoxic chemo. I have a couple of suggestions. Acupuncture is a good treatment for neuropathy. It has only been looked at in a very small group of cancer patients but it works for other causes of neuropathy. No offense to your acupuncturist intended, but another acupuncturist may approach it slightly differently. So before you give up on that, try another practitioner at least once a week for 10 treatments before you throw in the towel. The other recommendation I have is for alpha lipoic acid 600mg per day. This should not be used while you are still getting chemotherapy or radiation since it is a potent anti-oxidant and will interfere with those therapies. Other suggestions are those therapies that are good for pain in general including guided imagery, massage, and hypnotherapy. Good luck!

You've hit upon a very important topic and one that will become more and more challenging as the number of heavily treated survivors continues to rise. At the time of my treatment the physicians admitted they weren't sure what kind of long-term health issues I would face but felt the only way to even hope for survival was very aggressive treatment.

Bone loss associated with chemotherapy induced early menopause is problematic. I've taken calcium, Vit D and tried to walk regularly in an effort to keep my bones strong. Unfortunately that hasn't been terribly successful but has helped some. I tried an oral bisphosphonate but developed esophageal problems. Given some of the issues with IV bisphosphonates I've been reluctant to try them and my insurance doesn't cover them.

As a nurse, I'm hesitant to add medication to deal with those issues unless there is no other choice. Joint pain escalated to the point of needing an anti-inflammatory agent but again, walking regularly does help. Hot flashes can be an issue. Again, I tried an anti-depressant for a while and decided to keep a dietary record to determine if there were dietary triggers and have found some success changing diet rather than medication. Getting adequate rest and hydration seem to help as well.

I now have extreme sun sensitivity so limit my sun exposure and when out always use a 45-60 SPF sun block, sun glasses, hat and sun-protective shirt.

Often it's hard to know if symptoms are treatment related or simple part of the aging process. Following extensive chemotherapy it does seem that survivors may experience unexpected consequences and physicians aren't sure how to manage those.

Keeping active has been useful for me and having an understanding oncologist who will listen and explore ways to help me deal with continued questions related to my treatment.

I think that your symptoms are related to previous treatments.
When you have doubts, a clinical examination by a physician is required to have answers and be reassured