night sweats

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oneagleswings
oneagleswings Member Posts: 425 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
In answer to some of my posts a few people have mentioned night sweats..I wonder how common they are and how much it has to do with liver/lung mets?..or the chemo.
My husband has had 2 treatments of folfiri and avastin and both times the night of the treatment he wakes up 2-3 times with drenching night sweats...
please let me know if this is common- what causes it and if anything can be done about it?
Thanks so much.
Bev

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  • kangatoo
    kangatoo Member Posts: 2,105 Member
    #2
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    Hi Bev, now that is a very interesting question! While doing 5FU/Leucovorin I had unblievable night sweats. It was incredibly noticeable..especially when Jen asked me after the first time if I had wet the bed! Geeez, was I really embarassed but any way told her that I hoped it was not a side effect. Well, it did continue and fairly frequently...and for may months after the chemo was finished.I had never had night sweats before.(nor did ever wet the bed)Oh, and the interesting thing is that Jen said that the smell was most overpowering. That was not body odor...kanga does wash...lol! I never could smell it but she told me that it was an unusual smell so we put it down to the chemicals leaching out in my sweat. The only time I could smell anything was when I urinated.(in the bathroom, of course!....lol!) So I would be interested in any other answers too.
    cheers Bev, Ross n Jen
  • jdzed
    jdzed Member Posts: 12
    #3
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    Hi Bev:

    My thoughts go out to your husband. I was diagnosed with colon cancer in Feb - Stage three, no METS yet. After my resection, I had terrible drenching night sweats, and still do from time to time. For me, I recognize that the night sweats are an indicator that my body is injured, and trying to heal. They seemed to correlate with times that I'd be the most week, IE after a powerful chemotherapy, or a draining surgical procedure. For me, they were a harbinger of a blood clot in my lung I suffered several months ago as well. He should definitely pay attention to his body, if there is no apparent explanation for the sweats, such as surgery or chemotherapy, they may be an indicator of another problem, in which case, he should start searching himself deeply, and notify his doctors. Best of luck to you both - this disease is beatable!
  • JKendall
    JKendall Member Posts: 186
    #4
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    Hey Bev...my wife (Jerri) stopped her chemo back in April, '05. During the treatments, and continuing to the present, (but it does seem to be decreasing a little in intensity) she has often told me during the night that she feels like she's "gonna burst into flames." Just a little scary from my perspective after watching the "burning bed" movies...put's a whole new twist on a wife's revenge, doesn't it?

    Anyway...we attributed it to the instant menopause from the surgery. Maybe it's more chemo related. It's a hot topic in our house anyway. Take care. Jimmy
  • optimist
    optimist Member Posts: 51
    #5
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    I have had a few reasons for having night sweats. Even though I had colon surgery and chemo from 5/04 to 9/04, I didn't have night sweats. I had a liver resection and a hysterectomy in 3/05 so it made sense to have night sweats for a few months. My night sweats and daytime flashes went crazy a few months later. However, I was put on steroids for a few weeks and that could have caused them. But even after I was off of them, I continued to have the sweats for about a month. At that time, I developed new liver lesions. Maybe it was my imagination, but I felt that the night sweats were occurring as changes to my liver occurred. Now those sweats have been gone. Again, it could be my imagination, but I do think it had something to do with my liver.

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