Started Irinotecan with Vectibix last week, help!

When did you start on it? They may have to reduce your dosage. I go on a 70% dose and it works very well for me. I just have the Vectibix, not the Irinotecan. I also get the mouth sores and generally don't wash my hair for weeks during it because the sores on the scalp burn and weep. I find that the rash starts a week or two after starting it and then it lasts several weeks after the treatments are over. Once it's gone I have very little to show it was ever there, just some very slight dark spots like freckles.

I'm sorry to say that it will not get better as long as you're on the chemo. It's a tough one. I found that simple, non fragranced creams helped me just as much as the cream I was prescribed. Also, Aveeno helps. The severity of the rash shows how well the chemo is working, that's the only good thing about it.

It also makes me very sun sensitive and the sun will make the rash worse. I also like having baths in epsom salts.

The thing that finally helped me deal with the nausea was CBD/THC. I have no neausea whatsoever now and I was on the strongest anti-nausea drugs available. 

Hope this helps!

Jan

ghoule said:

1 week

Thanks for the info, I had my first treatment last tuesday, so 1 week and the side effects I would say are not tollerable so I'm sure we will have to discontinue it temporarilly then try a lower dose. Maybe half, I don't know. I will go back next week for my next treatment was set up for two week intervals. I think the combination of really bad mouth sores and the painful rash have me really struggling, so maybe my dr. will try to lower the chemo also, we have done that with past chemotherapy because of pain. Thanks again. Glen

I haven't finished a round of it yet and I've been on it three times. The first time I'd been having unexplained hives before I started on it and the chemo made the skin situation much worse. I had one treatment that time. I tried it again last September and could only get through four out of six because it irritated my colon so badly it perforated and allowed bacteria to get into my bloodstream. I ended up in the hospital with sepsis. Despite only doing four it really brought my CEA down and shrunk the tumours. I was on it again in March and only did two before I had to stop. It still shrunk the tumours a bit and halved my CEA. This last time it went after something in my reproductive parts- not sure becasue I've had a hysterectomy- and caused a lot of pain and unpleasantness with that so I went off of it again.

I'll be on it again in September after having the summer off. I'm not looking forward to it. You know how it works, right? It goes after a protein in the tumours and tells the body to deal with it. But the protein is also in the skin and it goes after the head, chest, back, etc. I have sheets with blood on them that I se when I'm on it because the sores have been bleeding. Also nighties with blood stains. It's miserable but it does work great. 

Hopefully I can make it though all six treatments this time and it makes a big difference. I'm terrified of getting sepsis again, though. I was sick for months. And it happens really fast so no warning.

I'd think your onc will suggest lowering the dose for you. If I were you I'd try that one time at least. It might make a big difference. Certainly I know how truly crappy it can be. Good luck!

Jan

The rash is tough. My husbands hands and feet are cracked as is his lips. He also has redness and an acne like reash all over. His oncologist says that this shows that the treatment is working and also joked that his modeling days are over. It's tough for him, he is in IT and sometimes bleeds all over the keyboards but his mets are disappearing so he claims that it is a small price to pay. Ask your doctor if they have a kit to give you. The manufacturer has made a "goody bag" containing various lotions, lip balms and sunscreen to try as well as a bunch of coupons.

Stay out of the sun! use sunscreen if you go outdoors at all 70spf or higher. DO NOT use the aresol spray it burns. Aquaphor lip balm is the best he has found. put globs of lotion on your feet and wear socks to bed. Your doctor should have provided you with a mouth wash to help with the sores if not ask for a script. It's a rough regime but doable and you will pull thru it. It's just a matter of finding the right products to help calm the reaction. 

cowgirlval said:

Rash

Hello everyone and thank you for this forum. Just the few posts I've read are helpful. My husband has metastatic colon cancer which has returned into his lungs. He was originally diagnosed 10 years ago. It had spread to his liver but that and the colon was treated with successful surgeries. His oncologist started him on Vectibix with Irenotican (after a severe allergic reaction to Erbitux). The rash began 4 days after his first infusion! We see his oncologist tomorrow and I'm hoping that his dosage is at least reduced and that there are some lotions or SOMETHING to relieve his discomfort. 

I get a bad sensitive-and-itchy scalp rash with Erbitux. Taking doxycycline and Zyrtec daily has helped decrease the symptoms, although nothing seems to completely eliminate the itching and sensitivity. Sometimes tea tree oil wipes for my face and tea tree oil shampoo also help a little (they're not magical though). Topical antibiotic solution also helped, but was WAY too drying on the face, which just caused a new set of problems. I do use it on my chest and back though, which are not that sensitive. If the skin starts to get really dry and flaky, I found it helped a lot to use Udderly Smooth cream. It felt really weird to put something so heavy on what seems like acne, but becuase the acne is different thatn teenage-type acne, it really did help.

The threads above were from 2018, so you might start a new thread to get more current input.

cowgirlval said:

Rash

Thank you for your post. How many treatments have you had? My husband is on Vectibix and Irenotican (he had a severe, almost fatal reaction to Erbitux) and his rash began within a few days. The doctor says it lessens as treatments go on but do they? 

I've been on the Erbitux since Feb 2019, a total of 19 weekly infusions so far with some breaks for various reasons (with irinotecan/5-FU/leucovorin added in every other week). I'm supposed to do five more weeks, then stop to see what happens. I do think the side effects have lessened a little bit since starting, but I think the doxycycline helped the rash a lot, and I'm also just getting used to dealing with the side effects. My doctor says I have a moderate rash. I also had a reaction to the Erbitux during the first infusion (not anaphylactic though), but they keep me on it with extra sterioids and antihistamines, and I always sound a little wheezy for the first couple of days after the infusion. So far no disease progression though, so I'm going along with the plan. I recently took a two-week break from everything to get some of my skin issues to heal. The acne started to improve after a couple of weeks of break, but the other skin issues (cracks in the fingers and feet, inflammed, oozing toenails) will probably take a lot longer to go away after the drug is stopped. Erbitux is just really hard on the skin, and I hope that means it's doing what it's supposed to do to cancer cells.