nausea/hair loss question

LeeinLondon
LeeinLondon Member Posts: 103
in Esophageal Cancer #1
Hi everybody;

I've had a very rough few days, and have a question. Lately I've been getting a lot of nausea, mainly in the mornings. I'm sure you can relate to the temperature issue, I'm either boiling or freezing and no happy medium. I'll get relatively comfortable in bed, and then suddenly break out in sweats, the nausea skyrockets, and I vomit... headache, dizzy, you know the drill.

But I also noticed that my hair is falling out.. this really concerns me as I haven't had any chemo for 4-5 weeks. Would this hair loss and nausea be related to the chemo, or could something else be triggering it now? I find it really strange that I would have no nausea for weeks and now it's back with a vengeance. Could it be my liver? I'm pretty well hydrated now, and getting approx. 1600-1800 calories a day from the feeding tube.. could the liquid diet be a driver?

thanks,
Lee

Comments

  • Wpturner05
    Wpturner05 Member Posts: 114
    #2
    Lee,
    What was the last
    Lee,

    What was the last chemo regimen you were on?
  • LeeinLondon
    LeeinLondon Member Posts: 103
    #3
    Wpturner05 said:

    Lee,
    What was the last
    Lee,

    What was the last chemo regimen you were on?

    dosage
    I was on iv cisplatin and epirubicin followed by 1 week of capecitabine (xeloda) orally. Last day was approx. 4 weeks ago.
  • Wpturner05
    Wpturner05 Member Posts: 114
    #4
    LeeinLondon said:

    dosage
    I was on iv cisplatin and epirubicin followed by 1 week of capecitabine (xeloda) orally. Last day was approx. 4 weeks ago.

    Kevin's cocktails were not
    Kevin's cocktails were not the same, but on irinotecan and cisplatin his hair thinned a lot about 4 weeks out. When he was on xeloda and oxaliplatin he did not experience hair loss. His nausea is always worse in the morning hours and anytime he goes more than 2 2 1/2 hours without eating. He does not eat a lot, but he forces something. 1/2 of a fruit and yogurt smoothie, 1/2 baked potato, protein bar, a nutritional drink - something. He never did well if his stomach got empty.
  • annalan
    annalan Member Posts: 138
    #5
    LeeinLondon said:

    dosage
    I was on iv cisplatin and epirubicin followed by 1 week of capecitabine (xeloda) orally. Last day was approx. 4 weeks ago.

    Hi Lee
    So sorry you are
    Hi Lee
    So sorry you are having such terrible side effects. My husband, Alan, was on exactly the same Chemo as you and he was just as ill. He lost his hair both with the Chemo before his op and mop up Chemo after. He truly hated it. But after a while he did get to feel better. Really hope you do too. Ann (2)
  • TerryV
    TerryV Member Posts: 887
    #6
    Nausea AFTER chemo
    Lee,

    Nick has cisplatin followed by 5FU and found his nausea worst AFTER treatment ended. Maybe 2 - 4 weeks following the end of chemo were really rough. Hair loss or thinning is common with cisplatin and did seem delayed for Nick as well. Nick didn't lose all his hair with it, but had some definite thinning.

    I would not expect the nausea to be tube feeding related UNLESS you experience nausea from "pushing" too quickly. If you find during feeding that your stomach begins to twist a bit, turn down the pump speed by 10 or 20. It could help.

    I hope things improve for you. You and Chantal deserve some quality time together. Hoping and praying for peace for you.

    Terry
    wife to Nick, Stage 3
  • paul61
    paul61 Member Posts: 1,392 Member
    #7
    I definitely lost my hair with cisplatin and epirubicin
    Lee,

    I was on cisplatin, epirubicin, and 5 FU when I was doing chemo and I definitely lost what little bit of hair I still had. I still had side effects from the cisplatin and epirubicin for at least a month after I finished chemo. The hair did grow back though after a couple of months.

    However, the symptoms you are describing sound more like the symptoms I heard from a fellow who had an esophagectomy around the same time I did. He was having some of the same difficulties you are describing and our oncologist finally traced it to the formula that they were using for his feeding tube. They changed his feeding formula to a different formula and his symptoms went away. I am not sure if you have access to a nutritionist but that area may be worth investigating.

    I will be praying you feel better soon.


    Best Regards,

    Paul Adams
    McCormick, South Carolina

    DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
    12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
    2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
    6/21/2010 CT Scan NED
    3/14/2011 CT Scan NED

    Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!
  • hopper52
    hopper52 Member Posts: 108
    #8
    Not Much but Some
    Lee,

    I was on cisplatin and Xeloda along with the radiation. My nausea started about 3-4 weeks in and only declined within the past 3 weeks (I finished Chemo and Radiation on Jul 6th). They gave me compazine for the nausea which worked okay for the first couple of weeks but after that it didn't help so much. One thing that I found helpful was Tic Tac (those mints). I'd suck on a couple of them and it seemed to help the nausea somewhat albeit it was short lived. I went through a whole bunch of Tic Tac.

    As far as the hair loss, I did experience some thinning toward the latter part of treatment but it wasn't coming out in gobs. I was pretty much thin up there anyway so I don't know if it was the chemo or just the natural process of aging.

    Michael Daniels (T3N0M0)
    Brandon, FL

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