More news on treatment

I just got back from the cancer centre and they have now added chemo too the treatment.. Cisplatin.. Can anyone tell me what the side effects are?

Good - I'm glad they added the cisplatin! I didn't have it, but lots of cc women here did, so one or more of them will be around to answer your question. I do know from reading the posts about cisplatin that you will not lose your hair and drugs can be given to you so that you're not too sick from it. May your treatments pass quickly! Best to you!!!

Thank you Ann.. That makes me feels alittle better.. I have low thyroid so I already have thin hair.. Can't really afford to lose much more..

Cisplatin is one of the few chemos that is known to NOT cause hair loss. I received 6 rounds of it and didn't have any problems as far as hair went.

The major side effects I had were dizzy spells when standing too quickly and some ringing in the ears too. These eased after the treatments ended. I had a mild case of neuropathy set in about 5 weeks after treatments ended (typical side effect) and that subsided after some time as well. As usual there is the nausea and metallic taste for a few days after each round, but both were manageable with meds.

My best suggestion is to take an anti-nausea pill when you get home from treatment and continue taking it every 4-6 hours for the next 2-3 days. Regardless if you feel ill or not. Its much easier to keep the nausea at bay than to try to get on top of it once it starts.

Eat what you want, when you want. Worry about any weight changes afterwards. My main staple food was cinnamon graham crackers. I kept them on me at all times.

There are many many internet resources that will tell you about all of the potential side effects of cisplatin. Just remember that not everyone experiences all of the side effects. And your overall health contributes to the effects as well.

A good website I found is this: http://www.chemocare.com/bio/cisplatin.asp

Here's what I experienced and most of this has now returned to normal
(the last chemo I received was on 8/24):
- I lost a small amount of hair - unnoticeable to anyone but myself.
- My sense of smell changed - I could no longer handle the smell of garlic or roasted chicken.
- My sense of taste changed.
- I had mild, occassional bouts of nauseau - mostly starting 2 or 3 days after the day of chemo. It was easily managed by reglan.
- I had ringing in my ears that got worse as the chemo continued. I am not sure if I have permanent hearing loss yet, but I have pre-existing hearing issues which contributed (I think) to the ringing in my ears.
- The IV anti-naseau meds they gave me had steroids in them that gave me the munchies the night after chemo. My appetite never really changed and I didn't really lose any weight. Don't worry about your weight during all of this, you don't want to stress your body more than it will be. Eat comfort foods and keep tasty snacks on hand with you at all times (you never know when the nausea kicks in and crackers seemed to work well with me.)
- I received chemo one day a week and was in the infustion center for about 6 hours total.

I am sooo sooooooo glad they are giving you cisplatin!! I thought it was rediculous that just because you had the surgery you wouldn't be getting it. *whew*

You'll get through this - it'll be rough, but you will. I wish I knew this site existed when I started my cancer journey. Initially I was told I wouldn't be getting a hysterectomy so it never occurred to me to join. These folks are a great wealth of knowledge and support!

I also had Cisplatin. My side effects were fatigue, no hair loss but my got really dry and all hair on my body stopped growing. I also had the nausea, but the meds took care of that, and listen to Vega, take the anti nausea meds on schedule even if you are not nauseated,that means they are working. I made the mistake of thinking I'd be ok not taking them cause I felt ok, BIG MISTAKE. And boy did I get sick. Remember, if one anti-nausea med doesn't work ask for another, there is something that would work. I also had weight loss due to lack of apetite so they put me on daily steroids until my treatment ended.

I am SOOOO happy to hear that they added Cisplatin to your treatment. It really is the standard for cervical cancer. Now you will know that you did everything possible to kill the beast for good!

At first, the anti nausea meds, Zofran, caused terrible constipation but after a couple of weeks, that was a blessing because the radiation caused diarrhea. Try to always have a full bladder when you get the radiation, to avoid future problems.

I took the Zofran religiously and had very little nausea. The last week of treatment I felt more tired than usual and even took a few naps. Other than that, I didn't have any side effects. No hair loss at all, even my hair dresser didn't know that I was in treatment. She couldn't tell at all.

You can do this. In a couple of months cancer will be buried in your past and you can return to your real life, cancer free for good!

Hugs,
Janie

Hi Babe - Just an FYI: you wrote that you have thin hair from an underactive thyroid. I also have an underactive thyroid and was losing my hair. Once I was given thyroid medication (just the lowest dose), my hair returned to normal. Take good care, Pat

Oh My goodness ladies..
What a welth of information.. I wrote most of those things down so I could look at it when needed.. I did go get my 3 nausea mends.. I got that much for sure.. Take the meds!!.. lol..

Ann - I take tyroid hormone and have for the past 4 yrs but I still lose it.. Not sure if the surgery made it worse or just being under so much stree lately.. Hoping it will get better..

The sense of smell was something else I wanted to mention. I noticed I couldn't handle most "fake" odors. Perfume and cologne at the top of the list. If you plan on working through treatments you may want to ask your co-workers to cut back on those.