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Chemotherapy stopped

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User
Posted 13 Apr 2020 at 21:48

My oh has had to stop chemo after having 6 of 10 due to coronavirus. He took his last steroid today after cutting down gradually.Last chemo a month ago.

I am worried as he is suffering really badly with withdrawal side effects. Extreme fatigue, nausea and finding it hard to find drinks he likes and needs. There is oedema in feet and one leg particularly making skin tight and walking and standing uncomfortable. Has anyone experienced similar things and is there anything we can do to help or is it just a case of waiting it out till things get better?

User
Posted 13 Apr 2020 at 23:28

Sorry, don't know much about chemo.

For the oedema, keep the legs/feet raised.

When sitting, have them resting on something same height as seat (or near same height if that's too uncomfortable). If you have a bed that can raise your legs, do that. It may make you need to pee more at night - that's good (it's the excess fluid draining out).

Can you talk with your chemo team? I'm wondering if they might suggest a diuretic, although that affects blood pressure too, so needs linking with any blood pressure meds dose.

User
Posted 14 Apr 2020 at 00:24
The fatigue, nausea, etc suggest that he may have come off the steroids too quickly - worth checking with his team whether he could step back up to a low dose for a little while until his adrenal function kicks back in or to clarify how soon these symptoms should disappear and who to contact if they don't.

The oedema may not be anything to do with the steroid. It may be that his lymph nodes are more affected than they were, preventing proper drainage, so my advice would be to speak to the GP about water tablets - if the GP is reluctant to get involved, give the oncology department a ring.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 14 Apr 2020 at 12:58

Thank you. I did in fact contact the triage nurse at the oncology dept and on her advice the GP who has prescribed a reducing  steroid regime over 5 weeks and checking for any other reasons for the swelling too so we are sorting it and getting looked after. I couldn't praise our surgery enough. They are so thorough and caring. Thank you all. 

 
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