For Upsofloating from Songflower Regarding Gemzar

Songflower

am taking Gemzar and doing very well on it. I don't know if it's working yet. I read you didn't have premeds. Does that mean you didn't have steroids? What drives me crazy is the steroids and hamster nights and then the crash down. It's hard to do weekly. I'd love to try it without the dexamethasone.

Diane

upsofloating

Hi Diane,
Yes, you are
Hi Diane,
Yes, you are correct - no steroids. I usually took the oral anti-nausea drug 30 min. prior to infusion, basically the time it took for the pharmacy to prep the Gemzar. That seemed to be the routine protocol for my gyn-onc and for the infusion ctr. I'm so glad I did not have any steroid premed - I have to premed with prednisone and Benadryl for any procedure requiring IV contrast and that is more than enough for me. Do you know the purpose of the premed - nausea, allergic response, etc.?? I did Gemzar from April thru December, with a 2 month break late summer.

Annie

Songflower

upsofloating said:

Hi Diane,
Yes, you are
Hi Diane,
Yes, you are correct - no steroids. I usually took the oral anti-nausea drug 30 min. prior to infusion, basically the time it took for the pharmacy to prep the Gemzar. That seemed to be the routine protocol for my gyn-onc and for the infusion ctr. I'm so glad I did not have any steroid premed - I have to premed with prednisone and Benadryl for any procedure requiring IV contrast and that is more than enough for me. Do you know the purpose of the premed - nausea, allergic response, etc.?? I did Gemzar from April thru December, with a 2 month break late summer.

Annie

Premeds
I think they give you the steroids to prevent a drug reaction. I just don't like getting the steroids every week. I can't sleep on them and really felt hyper this time. I'm going to ask if I can skip them or at least cut the dose down. I hope this works because otherwise I seem to be tolerating it well. After topotecan and now gemzar my hair is so thin. It's almost easier to have it fall out completely.

Thanks for the help Annie. Your picture is so cute.
Diane

Fayard

Songflower said:

Premeds
I think they give you the steroids to prevent a drug reaction. I just don't like getting the steroids every week. I can't sleep on them and really felt hyper this time. I'm going to ask if I can skip them or at least cut the dose down. I hope this works because otherwise I seem to be tolerating it well. After topotecan and now gemzar my hair is so thin. It's almost easier to have it fall out completely.

Thanks for the help Annie. Your picture is so cute.
Diane

Steroids
I had 6 cycles of taxol/carbo. The first 2 or 3 cycles, I was getting steroids every week. Later, the doc told me everyone was going to have it only once a month, first day of each cycle. His explanation was, like you said Diane, to prevent reactions but women getting steroids of any kind so often were complaining about getting weight.

So steroids do not enhance chemo effectiveness.

upsofloating

Songflower said:

Premeds
I think they give you the steroids to prevent a drug reaction. I just don't like getting the steroids every week. I can't sleep on them and really felt hyper this time. I'm going to ask if I can skip them or at least cut the dose down. I hope this works because otherwise I seem to be tolerating it well. After topotecan and now gemzar my hair is so thin. It's almost easier to have it fall out completely.

Thanks for the help Annie. Your picture is so cute.
Diane

Have you had reactions to
Have you had reactions to other chemos? I specifically asked when starting Gemzar as I expected it was routine for chemo but was told it was not necessary and I never had any kind of reaction.

Ro10

Songflower said:

Premeds
I think they give you the steroids to prevent a drug reaction. I just don't like getting the steroids every week. I can't sleep on them and really felt hyper this time. I'm going to ask if I can skip them or at least cut the dose down. I hope this works because otherwise I seem to be tolerating it well. After topotecan and now gemzar my hair is so thin. It's almost easier to have it fall out completely.

Thanks for the help Annie. Your picture is so cute.
Diane

Steroids
I was told that taking steroids makes the chemo more effective and to also reduce the nausea. I was given steroids as pre-chemo drug and then took them three day, twice a day after the chemo.

Diane I can understand you not liking the hampster nights and coming off of the steroids. Good luck with getting the dosage reduced. In peace and caring.

Kaleena

Songflower said:

Premeds
I think they give you the steroids to prevent a drug reaction. I just don't like getting the steroids every week. I can't sleep on them and really felt hyper this time. I'm going to ask if I can skip them or at least cut the dose down. I hope this works because otherwise I seem to be tolerating it well. After topotecan and now gemzar my hair is so thin. It's almost easier to have it fall out completely.

Thanks for the help Annie. Your picture is so cute.
Diane

I was given steroids before
I was given steroids before taking tAXOL. Although I still had an allergic reaction. When they switched me to Gemzar, I no longer had to take the premeds. I just got a bag of stuff right before my infusion which had benedryl and anti nausea meds in it.

Kathy

Songflower

Kaleena said:

I was given steroids before
I was given steroids before taking tAXOL. Although I still had an allergic reaction. When they switched me to Gemzar, I no longer had to take the premeds. I just got a bag of stuff right before my infusion which had benedryl and anti nausea meds in it.

Kathy

Thanks Kaleena and Annie
Thank you for the info; I would like to get off these steroids for gemzar. It is weekly and I really don't sleep much. I will ask if I can try it without or at least half it. Your info has been very helpful!

Love ya, Diane