2nd chmo update

I had dizziness from the chemo and now, seven months later, I still deal with it once in awhile.  I went through PT to try and get rid of it but two weeks ago while hanging my hummingbird feeder with both hands, I looked up and wham, I fell sideways.  I hope yours goes away!!!  It's scary because you're always afraid you're going to fall.  When mine was at its worst after my third chemo, I crawled because I knew I'd fall if I tried to walk.  But....I don't think a lot of ladies here had dizziness to that extent.

Love,

Eldri

I've had 3 chemos so far and I've been getting similar dizziness every time the chemo side effects start to kick in by the 3rd day. It passes, but you need to give yourself the time to be off of your feet till then so you don't hurt yourself. My treatments have been timed to either Wednesdays or Thursdays so that my husband can be home to be with me through the worst of it. Definetly alert your doctor or his nurse that you are having this issue and maybe they'll be able to pinpoint what's happening for you in case it is something or the combination of what you took . 

I get nauseous too, but it almost feels like it might be heartburn effects. I eat a little and then feel kind of queezy and punky. I clued into the possibilty of heartburn rather than nausea because I was moving an ice pack from my head to my throat at times. When I told the oncology nurse about it she told me it was ok to try Tums or Pepcid (just not close together) and that worked better for me than the nausea med did. Don't self medicate without running this by your oncologist though. The Pepcid AC works the best for me and I only take it in the evening for a day or two during the worst of things so I can sleep. 

My gyn oncologist also put me on a bowel regimen to deal with the constipation issues. I'm taking Miralax 2x/day preceded and followed by a really big glass of water. It's an osmotic laxative as opposed to the harsher stimulant ones like ducolax or senekot-s, so drinking a lot of water around the clock (like 10-12 glasses) makes a big difference.  I'm also on a low fiber diet because during chemo fiber tends to worsen constipation rather than help it as we are normally told it does. Taking a stool softener alone won't necessarily help without using it in conjunction with a stimulant laxative. Now this is what I've been told to do, but definetly tell your oncologist or his nurse that this is an issue for you now (don't wait for it to get worse) and what you've done (stool softener). He may want you to follow a  different plan of action, but this has been working well for me so far. If I have too many BMs on any given day, I do hold off taking the Mira-lax for one or two doses. 

Hope this helps you. 

Also, did you get a list of foods to avoid during chemo to reduce digestive issues?  I was told no: Citrus, tomatoes, pepper, chili powder, cloves, nutmeg, horseradish, dry coarse foods like toast and crackers, alcohol, coffee, tea, or colas during chemo. Never realized how many things have tomatoes in them until I couldn't have that one and I really miss pepper. I got a list online of which foods digest alkaline vs. which digest acid and it seems to really help the more alkaline I eat. The foods that give me the worst problems are flour, table sugar, and meat. I found the list at http://greenopedia.com/alkaline-acid-food-chart/. 

I was told not to eat these foods because their acidity would encourage or exacerbate mucositis issues during chemo. The issues I'm having with flour, table sugar, and meat are personal to me. I just have trouble eating them without feeling like I have heartburn, so rather than constantly taking antacids, I'm eating very little of them for the moment. I liked my bakery and pasta too much before all of this anyway! ;-)