irinotecan and the sweats

amy_4314
amy_4314 Member Posts: 7
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi,

My friend gets a dose of irinotecan every other week and for the first night after his infusion, just breaks out into a real icky sweat and just feels disgusting. Does anyone have any ideas on how to mitigate this?

Thanks so much,

Amy

Comments

  • idlehunters
    idlehunters Member Posts: 1,787 Member
    #2
    Sweats....
    Does your friend get Decadron steroid with this?

    Jennie
  • amy_4314
    amy_4314 Member Posts: 7
    #3
    idlehunters said:

    Sweats....
    Does your friend get Decadron steroid with this?

    Jennie

    sweats...
    My friend doesn't get a Decadron steriod. What is the connection between the steroid and the sweats?

    Thanks,


    Amy
  • westie66
    westie66 Member Posts: 642
    #4
    amy_4314 said:

    sweats...
    My friend doesn't get a Decadron steriod. What is the connection between the steroid and the sweats?

    Thanks,


    Amy

    Sweats
    This is so weird!!! I was just going to post a discussion thread on excessive sweating with the FOLFOX or FOLFOXFIRI chemo treatments! In fact when I told the chemo nurse today about it, she said she hadn't heard of it before but maybe people don't always report their side effects. Anyways, mine started after the first FOLFOXFIRI (with irenotecan) treatment whereby water just poured off my head, especially around the hairline. Now, sweating to me means the body wants to get rid of toxins. But which chemo drug is the culprit? My sweating occurs with a change in surrounding air temperature - the chemo room was very cold but outside it was very hot and humid and the sweats started immediately. Same going from my car to my air conditioned house. And it doesn't go away. I believe irenotecan is the culprit as I get an injection and many pills just before it is infused to stop a number of things like nausea, stomach pain, etc. I may also get the steroid. But I also get Emend for nausea and it says on the box that excessive sweating can occur.
    All I know is it is embarrassing and uncomfortable. I've never had anything like this (I'm 67).
    Any thoughts or experiences with this out there?
    Cheryl
  • emtwoods
    emtwoods Member Posts: 37 Member
    #5
    westie66 said:

    Sweats
    This is so weird!!! I was just going to post a discussion thread on excessive sweating with the FOLFOX or FOLFOXFIRI chemo treatments! In fact when I told the chemo nurse today about it, she said she hadn't heard of it before but maybe people don't always report their side effects. Anyways, mine started after the first FOLFOXFIRI (with irenotecan) treatment whereby water just poured off my head, especially around the hairline. Now, sweating to me means the body wants to get rid of toxins. But which chemo drug is the culprit? My sweating occurs with a change in surrounding air temperature - the chemo room was very cold but outside it was very hot and humid and the sweats started immediately. Same going from my car to my air conditioned house. And it doesn't go away. I believe irenotecan is the culprit as I get an injection and many pills just before it is infused to stop a number of things like nausea, stomach pain, etc. I may also get the steroid. But I also get Emend for nausea and it says on the box that excessive sweating can occur.
    All I know is it is embarrassing and uncomfortable. I've never had anything like this (I'm 67).
    Any thoughts or experiences with this out there?
    Cheryl

    Sweats
    My husband had his 3rd FOLFOX Monday, he does get the steriod and this treatment was the first with Avastin. He has sweat through all of them, I keep a stack of t-shirts next to his bed so he can change them through the night and then have to change the sheets daily.

    Jessica
  • idlehunters
    idlehunters Member Posts: 1,787 Member
    #6
    emtwoods said:

    Sweats
    My husband had his 3rd FOLFOX Monday, he does get the steriod and this treatment was the first with Avastin. He has sweat through all of them, I keep a stack of t-shirts next to his bed so he can change them through the night and then have to change the sheets daily.

    Jessica

    Sweats..
    I get just the Camptosar every week but was also getting the steroid with it. I was getting major hot flashes and found that Decadron side effects were sweating. I stopped the steroid with my last treatment and only had 1 minor episode of those ikky sweats with the Camptosar ONLY. Much better but JUST the Camptosar made me sweat too..... on a much lesser scale.

    Jennie
  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    #7
    idlehunters said:

    Sweats..
    I get just the Camptosar every week but was also getting the steroid with it. I was getting major hot flashes and found that Decadron side effects were sweating. I stopped the steroid with my last treatment and only had 1 minor episode of those ikky sweats with the Camptosar ONLY. Much better but JUST the Camptosar made me sweat too..... on a much lesser scale.

    Jennie

    Steroid Switch?
    You might want to consider trading in the Decadron for Dexamethasone. The side effects might be better.

    -Craig
  • westie66
    westie66 Member Posts: 642
    #8
    Sundanceh said:

    Steroid Switch?
    You might want to consider trading in the Decadron for Dexamethasone. The side effects might be better.

    -Craig

    Sweats
    Hi all: Thanks - glad I'm not alone in this! Someone suggested Promensil which is for menopause plus other kinds of sweats - a supplement but expensive at 30 pills for $30 Can. I can't remember which steroid I get so will find that out for sure. Luckily my sweats don't occur at night just during a temperature change from cool to hot and humid.
    Cheryl
  • Kathryn_in_MN
    Kathryn_in_MN Member Posts: 1,252 Member
    #9
    hot flashes, night sweats and awful odor
    I get bad hot flashes, night sweats and an awful body odor for the first several days after chemo. This happened on FOLFOX, FOLFIRI, and now on only Irinotecan and Avstin. I also run a low-grade fever for a few days. As far as I know there is nothing to make it stop except time. That goes away in a few days, as the toxins leave the body.
  • westie66
    westie66 Member Posts: 642
    #10
    Kathryn_in_MN said:

    hot flashes, night sweats and awful odor
    I get bad hot flashes, night sweats and an awful body odor for the first several days after chemo. This happened on FOLFOX, FOLFIRI, and now on only Irinotecan and Avstin. I also run a low-grade fever for a few days. As far as I know there is nothing to make it stop except time. That goes away in a few days, as the toxins leave the body.

    Sweats etc
    Hi: My sweats seem to come and go but don't last the whole time between treatments thankfully. Glad I'm not alone here!
    Cheryl
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #11
    Hi Amy
    Tell him "Not to sweat it, it will get better".
    Sorry, cheap shot at an questionable pun...

    I would get the sweats too. It didn't last too long, maybe 2-4 nights but I could never get comfortable. Sometimes a shower helped ease the symptoms, other times the shower didn't. Things did get better over time.
    Tell him to hang in there, things will get better...
    -phil

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