diarrhea
Comments
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Hi Robin
Diarrhea for me it was just the opposite I was always plugged up and had to take meds to keep the bowel moving. On the mouth sores and eating they too are just part of the healing effects, it got to get worse before it gets better. Don’t get discouraged it is just a part of going through the treatment, soon you will be finished and looking back on all of this.
Wishing you the best
Hondo0 -
HugsHondo said:Hi Robin
Diarrhea for me it was just the opposite I was always plugged up and had to take meds to keep the bowel moving. On the mouth sores and eating they too are just part of the healing effects, it got to get worse before it gets better. Don’t get discouraged it is just a part of going through the treatment, soon you will be finished and looking back on all of this.
Wishing you the best
Hondo
Robin,
So sorry you are going through this. Sending hugs and prayers for you both. I add a double encouragement to keep hydration high. It causes all sorts of additional problems.
Praying for relief.
Debbie0 -
Mouth sores
Has he tried the LGlutamine powder? One heaped tsp in an 8 ounce glass of water and swish and swallow.0 -
Watch out for dehydration..sweetblood22 said:Mouth sores
Has he tried the LGlutamine powder? One heaped tsp in an 8 ounce glass of water and swish and swallow.
Watch out for dehydration.. I hope y'all find some relief soon.0 -
Shot in the dark
Have they tried fluconazole (or another antifungal?) Both the sores and the diarrhea could be symptoms of a bad candida outbreak.
That, by the way, is a total shot in the dark, but it is the first thing that came to my mind (I'm a chemist, not a "doctor" so my intuition is not necessarily useful). The second thing to come to mind is that the mouth sores are caused by something else and the diarrhea is bacterial in nature - that should be easier to check on, however.
For immediate relief of the sores, however - Doug found both "magic mouthwash" and straight lidocaine (painted on with a q-tip) helped a lot. He couldn't tolerate much more than oxycodone, but I hear the stronger pain-killers (like the Fentanyl patch, or liquid hydromorphine) can help, and they also tend to slow bowel contractions.
This sounds like a lot of not fun - best wishes for a resolution coming your way, and keep us posted.0 -
WishingDrMary said:Shot in the dark
Have they tried fluconazole (or another antifungal?) Both the sores and the diarrhea could be symptoms of a bad candida outbreak.
That, by the way, is a total shot in the dark, but it is the first thing that came to my mind (I'm a chemist, not a "doctor" so my intuition is not necessarily useful). The second thing to come to mind is that the mouth sores are caused by something else and the diarrhea is bacterial in nature - that should be easier to check on, however.
For immediate relief of the sores, however - Doug found both "magic mouthwash" and straight lidocaine (painted on with a q-tip) helped a lot. He couldn't tolerate much more than oxycodone, but I hear the stronger pain-killers (like the Fentanyl patch, or liquid hydromorphine) can help, and they also tend to slow bowel contractions.
This sounds like a lot of not fun - best wishes for a resolution coming your way, and keep us posted.
Yep wish I could get a little of the diarrhea, but you can keep the mouth sores, oh how I remember how they hurt.
Hondo0 -
C.diff can be life threatening
Robin, My wife Connie did induction chemotherapy which consisted of cisplatin, doxotacel, cetuximab and then the 5FU via the infusion pump for 4 days. She was suppose to do 9 weeks of chemo, the 1st week the cocktail of chemo drugs, the 2nd week just cetuximab alone and the 3rd week off. This regiment was to be repeated 3 times. After her second treatment and during the 2nd time with the 5FU infusion pump, Connie developed severe diarrhea. After the 2nd day of the diarrhea I took her to the emergency room and she was admitted for the night and later in the night she told me to go home and get some sleep. The next morning I got up and headed to the hospital, to my surprise Connie was in isolation with C. diff or Clostridium Difficile. It is a bacterial infection and can have serious complications. In Connie's case the C. diff caused her to get colitus which can cause the colen to swell and stop funtioning. If you notice blood in your stool, you should head for the emergency room immediately because Connie was in the hospital for 34 days and although the doctors never told me, her life was in danger the whole time. Connie never did anymore chemo due to these complications. One thing that bothered me from the beginning was the hospital never turned off that 5FU infusion pump. Afterwards she did a CT scan to check her colon to make sure she was well and I mentioned I thought the chemo caused this whole fiasco and her chemo doctor looked me right in the eye and said chemotherapy did not cause the C.diff or colitus. I later found out that the infection was directly related to the chemo. I am not trying to scare you but I wanted you to be aware of these complications. Be Safe, Homer & Connie0 -
Thank youconnieprice1 said:C.diff can be life threatening
Robin, My wife Connie did induction chemotherapy which consisted of cisplatin, doxotacel, cetuximab and then the 5FU via the infusion pump for 4 days. She was suppose to do 9 weeks of chemo, the 1st week the cocktail of chemo drugs, the 2nd week just cetuximab alone and the 3rd week off. This regiment was to be repeated 3 times. After her second treatment and during the 2nd time with the 5FU infusion pump, Connie developed severe diarrhea. After the 2nd day of the diarrhea I took her to the emergency room and she was admitted for the night and later in the night she told me to go home and get some sleep. The next morning I got up and headed to the hospital, to my surprise Connie was in isolation with C. diff or Clostridium Difficile. It is a bacterial infection and can have serious complications. In Connie's case the C. diff caused her to get colitus which can cause the colen to swell and stop funtioning. If you notice blood in your stool, you should head for the emergency room immediately because Connie was in the hospital for 34 days and although the doctors never told me, her life was in danger the whole time. Connie never did anymore chemo due to these complications. One thing that bothered me from the beginning was the hospital never turned off that 5FU infusion pump. Afterwards she did a CT scan to check her colon to make sure she was well and I mentioned I thought the chemo caused this whole fiasco and her chemo doctor looked me right in the eye and said chemotherapy did not cause the C.diff or colitus. I later found out that the infection was directly related to the chemo. I am not trying to scare you but I wanted you to be aware of these complications. Be Safe, Homer & Connie
Doc found a bacterial infection and my husband began treatment for it yesterday and there is already sloop much improvement. They decided to hold off on his chemo treatment this week because his body was so deployed from 11 days of diarrhea. Thank you all for your helpful information. It was quite a scary period of time.0 -
Glad Things are Looking Uprobinleigh said:Thank you
Doc found a bacterial infection and my husband began treatment for it yesterday and there is already sloop much improvement. They decided to hold off on his chemo treatment this week because his body was so deployed from 11 days of diarrhea. Thank you all for your helpful information. It was quite a scary period of time.
I (gratefully) did not have diarrhea to the extent your hubby and some others have. Glad he's improving. I do know how he feels on the mouth sores, though. Argh. After chemo round two, when I got hospitalized, docs gave me viscous lidocaine - rays of light shone down, and I heard singing - then I ate some soft food.0 -
Hi robinPam M said:Glad Things are Looking Up
I (gratefully) did not have diarrhea to the extent your hubby and some others have. Glad he's improving. I do know how he feels on the mouth sores, though. Argh. After chemo round two, when I got hospitalized, docs gave me viscous lidocaine - rays of light shone down, and I heard singing - then I ate some soft food.
I am glad they got it before it got too bad, sometime bacterial infection can go un-notice until it does a lot of damage like in my case.
All the best
Hondo0 -
ClostridiumHondo said:Hi robin
I am glad they got it before it got too bad, sometime bacterial infection can go un-notice until it does a lot of damage like in my case.
All the best
Hondo
Wanted to let everyone know that the bacterial infection was clostridium dificile and we are treating it with vancomycin. Andy is already feeling sooo much better. I also read that it is caused by being on lots of antibiotics so wanted topass that on to any of you that may run into this problem. Also, acidophilus and case found in yoghurt and kefir help keep the good bacteria healthy in the colon.0 -
Homer called that one!robinleigh said:Clostridium
Wanted to let everyone know that the bacterial infection was clostridium dificile and we are treating it with vancomycin. Andy is already feeling sooo much better. I also read that it is caused by being on lots of antibiotics so wanted topass that on to any of you that may run into this problem. Also, acidophilus and case found in yoghurt and kefir help keep the good bacteria healthy in the colon.
I'm glad that it's responding to treatment. Homer, I'm sorry you got to be an expert on the topic, but thank you for your very informative post. Did your doctors (either Andy's or Connie's) offer opinions as to why the chemo caused the infection?0 -
cause of infectionDrMary said:Homer called that one!
I'm glad that it's responding to treatment. Homer, I'm sorry you got to be an expert on the topic, but thank you for your very informative post. Did your doctors (either Andy's or Connie's) offer opinions as to why the chemo caused the infection?
From what I understand, the bacterial infection was not caused by the chemo. Andy was put on antibiotics for quite a long time and evidently the antibiotics kill off your good intestinal bacteria. He was put on antibiotics because one of the drugs in his chemo cocktail is erbitux and it causes acne (the erbitux rash). They prescribe antibiotics just like they would for teenage acne to keep it under control. Well, needless to say, he's off of those antibiotics because we'd prefer a healthy intestine over blemish-free skin!
I am thankful that Andy's was caught before he ended up hospitalized. Another bump in the road.
Hope this information can help someone else avoid this infection. It was quite horrendous and he was so ill that he thought it was the beginning of the end.
You guys are so kind here and I appreciate the responses!
Robin0 -
Robin & Dr. Mary, I am sorryDrMary said:Homer called that one!
I'm glad that it's responding to treatment. Homer, I'm sorry you got to be an expert on the topic, but thank you for your very informative post. Did your doctors (either Andy's or Connie's) offer opinions as to why the chemo caused the infection?
Robin & Dr. Mary, I am sorry if I was wrong on the chemo causing the bacterial infection. No one really ever explained it as clear as Robin did as to what was the actual cause. It makes perfect sense though because Connie did Cetuximab which is Erbitux, maybe that's why Connie's chemo doctor said the chemo did not cause the C.diff. I was giving Connie so much medication I didn't know she was taking antibiotics. Either way I am happy to hear that Andy is doing the Vancomycin and is getting better. I just always try to help anyone on this site, I don't know what we would have done without all the help and advice we received here. Like I always say "Their's no place like this place" God Bless Everyone Here, Homer & Connie0 -
good bacteriaconnieprice1 said:Robin & Dr. Mary, I am sorry
Robin & Dr. Mary, I am sorry if I was wrong on the chemo causing the bacterial infection. No one really ever explained it as clear as Robin did as to what was the actual cause. It makes perfect sense though because Connie did Cetuximab which is Erbitux, maybe that's why Connie's chemo doctor said the chemo did not cause the C.diff. I was giving Connie so much medication I didn't know she was taking antibiotics. Either way I am happy to hear that Andy is doing the Vancomycin and is getting better. I just always try to help anyone on this site, I don't know what we would have done without all the help and advice we received here. Like I always say "Their's no place like this place" God Bless Everyone Here, Homer & Connie
Just in case anyone has this clostridium difficile in the future...
DanActive makes an immune system probiotic drink that contains lactobacillus casei, yoghurt has lactobacillus acidopholus, and kefir has all sorts of good bacteria so we have added it to our daily smoothie concoction.
I hope none of you even need this information! But just in case...0 -
what a small worldGreend said:Montgomery
Are you using the Montgomery Cancer Center by chance? That's where I was treated.
Prattville
Denny
Yes, we are at The Montgomery Cancer Center. Earlier today, I looked at the map "Where in the World are You?" which I had never looked at before and saw that there was another member here in Montgomery.
My husband, Andy, had his original treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. We are now in Montgomery because of metastasis. New ballgame for us now.
Glad to be in touch!
Robinleigh0 -
what a small worldGreend said:Montgomery
Are you using the Montgomery Cancer Center by chance? That's where I was treated.
Prattville
Denny
Yes, we are at The Montgomery Cancer Center. Earlier today, I looked at the map "Where in the World are You?" which I had never looked at before and saw that there was another member here in Montgomery.
My husband, Andy, had his original treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. We are now in Montgomery because of metastasis. New ballgame for us now.
Glad to be in touch!
Robinleigh0 -
what a small worldGreend said:Montgomery
Are you using the Montgomery Cancer Center by chance? That's where I was treated.
Prattville
Denny
Yes, we are at The Montgomery Cancer Center. Earlier today, I looked at the map "Where in the World are You?" which I had never looked at before and saw that there was another member here in Montgomery.
My husband, Andy, had his original treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. We are now in Montgomery because of metastasis. New ballgame for us now.
Glad to be in touch!
Robinleigh0
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