Folfox side effects

vinny3
vinny3 Member Posts: 928 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I am going to be starting Folfox and Avastin treatment next week. Has anyone done well during the treatment time. I am hoping to still be able to work. What are the most bothersome or worse side effects? I'm not looking forward to the next 6 months. Any information will be appreciated.

Comments

  • lfondots63
    lfondots63 Member Posts: 818 Member
    #2
    Hi Vinny,

    I e-mailed you on this site before seeing this. I'm still working full time and I'm on treatment 8. The good thing about my job is I can work from home when doing my treatments. My biggest problem at work is the diarehea and tiredness. I kind of work through the diarehea unless it gets real bad. I have Immodium on hand in lots of places for just such emergencies. I have found that I'm leaving at 4pm to go home and take a nap before doing stuff with my kids. Naps help and are the new "normal" for me. E-mail me if there are more questions. You will have others post too about this. Take care.

    Lisa
  • vinny3
    vinny3 Member Posts: 928 Member
    #3
    lfondots63 said:

    Hi Vinny,

    I e-mailed you on this site before seeing this. I'm still working full time and I'm on treatment 8. The good thing about my job is I can work from home when doing my treatments. My biggest problem at work is the diarehea and tiredness. I kind of work through the diarehea unless it gets real bad. I have Immodium on hand in lots of places for just such emergencies. I have found that I'm leaving at 4pm to go home and take a nap before doing stuff with my kids. Naps help and are the new "normal" for me. E-mail me if there are more questions. You will have others post too about this. Take care.

    Lisa

    Thanks- i responded to the email before looking at this also. I have a colostomy so I'm hoping that will help with management of the diarrhea. I have been doing some naps since having surgery although it doesn't seem like I sleep as easily as before. My employer has been very supportive in modifying my schedule when needed.

    ****
  • Betsydoglover
    Betsydoglover Member Posts: 1,248 Member
    #4
    lfondots63 said:

    Hi Vinny,

    I e-mailed you on this site before seeing this. I'm still working full time and I'm on treatment 8. The good thing about my job is I can work from home when doing my treatments. My biggest problem at work is the diarehea and tiredness. I kind of work through the diarehea unless it gets real bad. I have Immodium on hand in lots of places for just such emergencies. I have found that I'm leaving at 4pm to go home and take a nap before doing stuff with my kids. Naps help and are the new "normal" for me. E-mail me if there are more questions. You will have others post too about this. Take care.

    Lisa

    Hi Vinny -

    I am Stage IV and was on Xeloda/oxaliplatin/Avastin - the moral equivalent of what you were taking. I had 6 treatments. Not sure what your stage is, but Stage III's often get 12 treatments that in the oncology world is really 6 cycles, while Stage IV's may only get 6 treatments (depending upon response), but the doses are higher each time. All that regardless, drop me an email at this site and I can give you all the gory details of my experience (and they really are not all that gory.) The "OX" part of your FOLFOX is going to be most likely responsible for the worst effects, but in general it is much less bad than what some other cancer patients go through (breast for example). And work is possible. I took the week of chemo off - though I kept up via email at home. I was on a nominal 3-week cycle. I worked the following two weeks, but only 24 hrs/wk. Anyway, that's just me and the 24 hrs was related to a life decision I made before cancer (just before cancer) so while it came in handy it was not a choice related to cancer.

    Anyway, drop me email at this site - preferably with your real email address, but if not OK - and I will send you details of my treatment with essentially the same drugs.

    Take care,
    Betsy
  • JADot
    JADot Member Posts: 709 Member
    #5
    Hi Vinny:

    I wasn't on Avastin, only the straight folfox w/ 5FU/leucovorin/Oxaliplatin. The biggest side effects are neuropathy, extreme fatigue, nausea and bird-brain-ness. You may want arrange your treatments to be on Thursdays or Fridays so that you can spend the weekend in bed if you need to. I have my treatments on Thursdays, I usually recover by Monday.

    Best of luck to you. Don't worry it's not too bad. And when it gets bad, just think about nailing those bad cancer cells. I think all of us just survive it by keeping our heads down and just plow through it.

    Keep us posted on how you do!

    Cheers,
    Ying
  • Limey
    Limey Member Posts: 446 Member
    #6
    Hi Vinny, it aint all that bad. i did my treatments on Wed as mine was 3 hours of infusion and then i went home with a chemo ball of 5fu for the thursday and 1/2 of friday. I had a reaction to the chemo which was easily taken care of with meds. My biggest issue was being tired on the weekend. i usually was fine on the thursday and most of the friday then monday was my sucky day for work. but tue i was right back at it. other than missing time for the infusions, i think i missed two days from the side effects in the 4 months. best of luck. eat well and remember we get to make the choice to win.
  • sam991
    sam991 Member Posts: 16
    #7
    I had bad constipation. If you do take action *early* with stool softeners and whatever meds your onc recommends. Ask onc about calcium/magnesium infusions for neuropathy especially if you are older or have enjoyed alcohol for years. Keep hydrated.
  • texas312
    texas312 Member Posts: 3
    #8
    Hi, Vinny. I completed 9 cycles of Folfox6 with Avastin in early March. I had no problem at all with either diarrhea or constipation. I had no problem with reduced blood cell counts, so no problem with infections. The Folfox side effects I did experience were very mild at first and gradually built over time. I was so anxious before my first cycle, and it really wasn't that bad. The side effects that became most troubling for me were neuropathy, nausea and fatigue. The weirdest part of the neuropathy was sensitivity to cold. Nausea seems to be more of a problem for women than men -- and if you do have it, there are lots of different meds to try to combat it. As for fatigue, I really got into napping. Avastin has few side effects. I had a mild allergic reaction to it, so I'd get Benedryl in my IV before the Avastin. The Avastin also elevated my blood pressure, which only became a real concern for the last 2 cycles.

    I think side effects vary from person to person, but it's my understanding that Folfox is one of the "easier" chemos. You do spend a longer period of time in the infusion room than most people on other chemo, though. I always brought something to keep me busy instead of vegging out and watching TV (which I don't think helps you feel better!). A fellow Folfox patient looked like he brought most of his office with him each time!

    Just take it one step at a time, and don't assume that you'll have major problems with side effects. Do try to imagine that the chemicals flowing through your IV are hunting down and destroying those damn cancer cells. Good luck to you.
  • vinny3
    vinny3 Member Posts: 928 Member
    #9
    texas312 said:

    Hi, Vinny. I completed 9 cycles of Folfox6 with Avastin in early March. I had no problem at all with either diarrhea or constipation. I had no problem with reduced blood cell counts, so no problem with infections. The Folfox side effects I did experience were very mild at first and gradually built over time. I was so anxious before my first cycle, and it really wasn't that bad. The side effects that became most troubling for me were neuropathy, nausea and fatigue. The weirdest part of the neuropathy was sensitivity to cold. Nausea seems to be more of a problem for women than men -- and if you do have it, there are lots of different meds to try to combat it. As for fatigue, I really got into napping. Avastin has few side effects. I had a mild allergic reaction to it, so I'd get Benedryl in my IV before the Avastin. The Avastin also elevated my blood pressure, which only became a real concern for the last 2 cycles.

    I think side effects vary from person to person, but it's my understanding that Folfox is one of the "easier" chemos. You do spend a longer period of time in the infusion room than most people on other chemo, though. I always brought something to keep me busy instead of vegging out and watching TV (which I don't think helps you feel better!). A fellow Folfox patient looked like he brought most of his office with him each time!

    Just take it one step at a time, and don't assume that you'll have major problems with side effects. Do try to imagine that the chemicals flowing through your IV are hunting down and destroying those damn cancer cells. Good luck to you.

    Thanks for the information. It is comforting. I start in 5 days and have been very anxious about it. I did well during the chemoradiation and after my surgery but it is still difficult as one starts to think of what problems may develop. These discussions are really helpful, I wish I would have discovered them a year ago.
  • DK2006
    DK2006 Member Posts: 126
    #10
    Limey said:

    Hi Vinny, it aint all that bad. i did my treatments on Wed as mine was 3 hours of infusion and then i went home with a chemo ball of 5fu for the thursday and 1/2 of friday. I had a reaction to the chemo which was easily taken care of with meds. My biggest issue was being tired on the weekend. i usually was fine on the thursday and most of the friday then monday was my sucky day for work. but tue i was right back at it. other than missing time for the infusions, i think i missed two days from the side effects in the 4 months. best of luck. eat well and remember we get to make the choice to win.

    I agree with Limey. I had my chemo on Wednesday. I felt fine on Thursday and would start feeling bad by Friday night. Saturday was my worst day and usually I was better by Monday. Best wishes, Donna

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