low dose xeloda

vinaykumar
vinaykumar Member Posts: 66 Member
edited July 2013 in Colorectal Cancer #1

the onc just prescribed low dose xeloda ( 500 mg/day) to my dad as maintenance chemo.

 

does anyone  have experience with low does xeloda? 

 

it will be helpful to know what to look out for and any know abt good results as well

 

rgds

 

A

 

update  ( 8th July ) 

 

just as i was thinking and discussing maintenance chemo with the onc my dad  had massive upper GI bleeding ( vomitting clumps of blood). He was in ICU for 3 days, got 2 pints of blood ,total  1 week total in the hospital. He was a little weak because of all this but is bouncing back and doing better each day

good news is that they did all tests ( Xrays, ECG, liver function , renal function,doppler ultrasound) and found no abnormality ( DVT or portal hypertension)  and the gastric varice was closed by endoscopy . so he stays NED  , But we still dont know what caused the bleed.

 

Onc doesnt seem to think it was chemo side effect !! i will be meeting him again to discuss options for maintenance  !

 

 

Comments

  • johnnybegood
    johnnybegood Member Posts: 1,117 Member
    #2
    hello nice

    to meet you.i am stage 4 colorectal cancer and will be on chemo for life.too many spots in lungs now.i have been on 1000mg/day for almost a year i had hardly any side effects at all maybe some stomach cramping.had to have my spleen out in feb.due to my platelets would not rise to be on avastin with the xeloda.after that they doubled my dose of xeloda to 2000mg/day with the avastin.started having bad hand and foot syndrome with that dosage so i am now on 1600mg/day with the avastin.7 days on 7 days off.with such a low dosage there should not be any problems but if there are any tumors to be controlled by this low dosage i might be a little concerned that it would not do the job.please ask the doctor about this as this seems to be a very low dosage.....Godbless...johnnybegood

  • vinaykumar
    vinaykumar Member Posts: 66 Member
    #3
    johnnybegood said:

    hello nice

    to meet you.i am stage 4 colorectal cancer and will be on chemo for life.too many spots in lungs now.i have been on 1000mg/day for almost a year i had hardly any side effects at all maybe some stomach cramping.had to have my spleen out in feb.due to my platelets would not rise to be on avastin with the xeloda.after that they doubled my dose of xeloda to 2000mg/day with the avastin.started having bad hand and foot syndrome with that dosage so i am now on 1600mg/day with the avastin.7 days on 7 days off.with such a low dosage there should not be any problems but if there are any tumors to be controlled by this low dosage i might be a little concerned that it would not do the job.please ask the doctor about this as this seems to be a very low dosage.....Godbless...johnnybegood

    HI JBG,
     
    thanks for your

    HI JBG,

     

    thanks for your inputs....there are no visible mets and my dad is currently NED.

     

    The onc wanted to do avastin +xeloda  maintenance but he wants to do a laproscopy  first to determine state of the peritoneum . So the avastin is being withheld right now.

     

    A

     

     

  • tachilders
    tachilders Member Posts: 313
    #4
    vinaykumar said:

    HI JBG,
     
    thanks for your

    HI JBG,

     

    thanks for your inputs....there are no visible mets and my dad is currently NED.

     

    The onc wanted to do avastin +xeloda  maintenance but he wants to do a laproscopy  first to determine state of the peritoneum . So the avastin is being withheld right now.

     

    A

     

     

    I did 1000mg/day for a few

    I did 1000mg/day for a few weeks with no side effects, but then my oncs here increased my dose to 2000mg/day (2 weeks on and 1 week off).  I'll be starting FOLFIRI plus avastin in a coupel weeks so I will be back on infusion 5FU for that and not Xeloda.

    Tedd

  • tanstaafl
    tanstaafl Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #5
    vinaykumar said:

    HI JBG,
     
    thanks for your

    HI JBG,

     

    thanks for your inputs....there are no visible mets and my dad is currently NED.

     

    The onc wanted to do avastin +xeloda  maintenance but he wants to do a laproscopy  first to determine state of the peritoneum . So the avastin is being withheld right now.

     

    A

     

     

    status ck

    NED, that's great !  Could you quote more CEA, CA199, MCV, esr results and where you are on any off label uses (CIM, celebrex, metformin, etc)?  

    I would question if he meant xeloda 500 mg  twice a day, everyday, no breaks or weekends only, if there is no DPD syndrome.  500 mg per day without DPD syndrome, sounds low even for elderly.  Second opinion time ?

    We use low dose UFT-LV and off labels, but there are critical low thresholds that things start to rise , so we aim to not set a low dose record. 

  • lp1964
    lp1964 Member Posts: 1,239 Member
    #6
    Xeloda

    I'm so glad that your dad is doing well. 500mg/day Xeloda sounds low. Don't be shy to get a second opinion. My oncologist gave me half of the dose I needed and I went like that for 8 days. If wasn't for this forum my recovery would have been delayed and compromised.

    as far as the side effects: keep hands and feet moisterized because xeloda may cause reall bad cracks in the skin. Very unlikely but watch out for diarrhea.

    good luck.

    laz

  • vinaykumar
    vinaykumar Member Posts: 66 Member
    #7
    update ( 8th July )

    update  ( 8th July ) 

     

    just as i was thinking and discussing maintenance chemo with the onc my dad  had massive upper GI bleeding ( vomitting clumps of blood). He was in ICU for 3 days, got 2 pints of blood ,total  1 week total in the hospital. He was a little weak because of all this but is bouncing back and doing better each day

    good news is that they did all tests ( Xrays, ECG, liver function , renal function,doppler ultrasound) and found no abnormality ( DVT or portal hypertension)  and the gastric varice was closed by endoscopy . so he stays NED  , But we still dont know what caused the bleed.

     Onc doesnt seem to think it was chemo side effect !! i will be meeting him again to discuss options for maintenance  !

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