ABVD treatment barely bothered me?

Hinesc27

i just started my treatment on the 28 of February, after the first few days I felt normal except for a little more tired than usual. Should I expect this from every treatment? I understand everyone reacts differently but I don't have anyone to really talk to about this. I really only felt nauseous for about two days afterwards, and the nurses had made it sound like I wouldn't even want to walk by the time the weekend rolled around, this just confused me because a week later and I feel completely normal. I was wondering if maybe the side affects really start bothering people after an entire cycle has passed or if I should be optimistic about this not being horrible?

Swati Bahl

No you're good

Hi

I am undergoing ABVD as well and I feel good in 2-3 days also. There's nothing abnormal about it. I am done with 4 cycles and it only takes this long to recover. So don't worry and all the best for remaining course of the treatment! 

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

Experience

Hines,

I'm glad your chemo experience is mild thus far. There is no real "average" abvd experience, but for the overwhelming majority of users, side-effects only occur later in treatments.  One effect is pretty easy to predict however: You will lose all of your hair within about a week of your second infusion. This is almost universal with these drugs.  And I lost ALL my hair, even eyebrows and eyelashes. 

Virtually any chemo regimen intensifies with more applications.  After two infusions (=1 "cycle") my abvd experience was so mild that I went back to work, thinking "this is nothing."  After two more infusions, however, the bottom fell out.

I lost my sense of taste, my appetite. I got severe neuropathy, losing feeling in my hands and feet, which has never returned, seven years later.  I got a condition known as "Flu-Like Syndrom," in which a person has severe muscle pain, such as the flu would cause.  I developed severe shortness of breath, and my fatigue was so bad I slept 17 hours per day, average.  "Chemo Fog" tends to only manifest itself after several infusions; it is rare early-on. This is characterized by loss of short-term memory, inability to concentrate, and agitation.

All of these are known abvd side-effects.  Most people do not get as many as I had; some have more. I have known a few writers here over the years who had to be hospitalized long-term to continue on treatments.  So the possibilities are wide open: your experience might be mild, it might be bad, or it might be severe. And no doctor can predict how any given patient will react.  But do be aware that it is quite uncommon to just continue feeling like nothing is going on later in combination chemo. How you feel today might become a fond memory quickly. WHat I or someone else had as our particualr set of side effect will be different from yours, in numerous ways.

max

rima14

It differs, but this is normal.

In the beginning I did'nt even lose that much hair. About 4th cycle it went away, and the ABV arent painful but I found D very very painful. It burns the nerves and is very hard to resist. Try ice packs if it happens to you. 

I had extreme fatigue, nausea and gain of appetite. 

Hope you recover soon