Camptosar?

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suelanders
suelanders Member Posts: 25
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi All,

My onc changed my treatment from ox to camptosar as I was having so many problems. I am still takeing it every two weeks for 10 more treatments and will still get the 5FU. I would love any feed back on this med. and any information about the side effects. The onc told me the most common are diarrhea, nausea and hair thining, if that is the worst, I can live with it. I am so glad I talked to the onc about how bad I was feeling. Any information anyone can give me would be great. Thank you all for your support and well wishes.....right back at you all.

Sue

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  • damama24
    damama24 Member Posts: 174 Member
    #2
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    new chemo
    Hi Sue

    I recently started on that very same chemo april 21st. The only difference is i'm only getting iriontecan,another name for camptosar,and vectibix. No more 5-FU. I was on folfox too and oncologist switched me to this because of problems from the oxi. So far this chemo regime has been much easier for me to tolorate. I have not had problems with diarrhea so far and have not noticed much hair loss yet. Hopefully you will do fine on this compo. Good Luck and blessings to you.
    Deb
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #3
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    I am on this + avastin. I
    I am on this + avastin. I have had significant hair loss (growing back now), fatigue + some diarrhea. Overall I have found it very manageable + very effective. Good luck!
  • HollyID
    HollyID Member Posts: 946 Member
    #4
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    Sue,
    I am so glad you talked to your onc about your symptoms. It's so important to talk to him about any signs or symptoms you're having, even if you think it's unimportant or irrelevant. To your onc, it could be something big, even though you don't think so.

    My hair has thinned, but nobody else notices except my husband and me.

    I'm really glad that you decided to con't your treatments. Even though it's really no walk in the park, it's manageable.

    Love and Hugs,

    Holly
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #5
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    sounds like a plan!
    I have done FOLFIRI many times, and like your onc said, diarrhea, nausea and hair loss are the biggies. Fatigue as well, which of course can be exacerbated by dehydration from diarrhea. They have meds that can manage these side effects very effectively. Sandostatin is a once a month shot that helps tremendously with the diarrhea and tiredness. Emend and decadron combo work well for the nausea. Lomotil for the diarrhea, and when it got real bad, hyocyamine 375mg works really well. I think it is much more manageable than the FOLFOX, and I believe you will find it to be as well! Glad you spoke up and are on a plan that can bring you further into this fight!
    mary
  • thready
    thready Member Posts: 474
    #6
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    Thank you
    Sue,
    Thank you for talking to your onc. My Dr talked about switching me at treatment #7 to what you are getting now (folfiri). She told me that there are European studies that show there is no difference as far as success rates with folfox and folfiri (5FU and Camptosar), and that they often do switch people half way through to prevent all the side effects from the oxaliplatin. I did not switch, I kept on with he folfox.

    So why did I not change, fear mostly I knew what the oxi was doing and I did not want to introduce another drug, also the onc wanted to keep all available options open for later down the road. She is a bit concerned because the tumor had grown past the bowel into the tummy and that I might have recurrences, (up to this point I have not any indication that the cancer as metastasized) . I also talked to the Radiology oncologist about folfiri and she said that the diarrhea can be managed by taking Metamucil. It seems that the folfiri treatment does cause a bit of diarrhea problems so keep your Dr posted and find out what helps.

    I am sure you will hear from others who have been given folfiri. It will be very helpful hearing from them.

    Well, Sue, I hope things go better for you, this is no fun but I hope it is tolerable now.
    You are a trooper! Take care,
    Jan
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #7
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