Some more information:
I am currently taking 2000mg of Xeloda during each day - 1000 every 12 hours - for 14 days with a seven day break.
I did some reading here and saw that some folks were having problems with nausea because they were either taking it on an empty stomach, or they hadn't waited long enough after eating before taking it. Until yesterday, I was taking it with meals, and so far, I haven't felt nausea today.
However, as I mentioned in my first post, I am nearing the end of my third cycle, and this one has been very rough. In fact, until this cycle, the only trouble I had was during the breaks, and the problem there was relatively mild nausea, and unrelenting diarrhea, tho Imodium took care of that for the most part. I also had really bad "had/foot syndrome" (a form of neuropathy). At one point my feet were blistering and it was very painful to even walk. However, the good news I can report is that I have been regularly applying generous amounts of moisturizing lotion to both my hands and feet, and while they are still very red, this is not one place I am feeling pain. When I told my oncologist this, he said that were he working with an intern, he would present my case as a textbook example of the kind of side effects one gets from this treatment.
But the past 2-3 weeks have been really bad. I hate to get too graphic, but here's what's been happening in a nutshell for the past couple of weeks:
I have had persistent diarrhea, regular abdominal pain (a feeling of having been punched in the gut) that sometimes makes standing up for even short periods of time difficult, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, insomnia, and fatigue - sometimes all I want to do, or can do, is lie around on the couch, or in bed. Doing something as routine as taking out the garbage is a project. I had been taking a prescription for the diarrhea (lomotil), but it did not work at all, and even made eating an ordeal because I had zero appetite (I was down about 30 pounds from where I was at the beginning of all this). My oncologist took me off that drug and now I'm back to (Imodium) regularly, and that has helped a good deal, but not completely. I'm also taking Zofran for nausea, and that has also helped a good deal, but not completely. For overall pain relief they gave me Neurontin, which I took once, and not only did it not relieve the pain, it made me feel strange and uneasy, so I stopped taking it. The good news is I am the proud owner of a State of California medicinal marijuana card, and I bought a really nice tincture that has done more to relieve me completely of pain than anything I've been prescribed, and I'm grateful for that. It's also increased my appetite (the munchies - brings back memories!
) so I've put a little bit of the weight back on, but I'm still way down from my regular level.
And all of this this has, for the most part, zeroed out any quality of life. I've missed a lot of work, and I'm considering taking a leave of absence because I can't really function.
Honestly, I never expected anything like this to happen.
So, did any of you experience things like this during your time taking Xeloda? What was/is your dosage level? Also, once you completed your course, did you continue to feel any after effects? If so, for how long?
Anyway, my wife and I are talking about possibility reducing the dosage, but in spite of this ordeal, I'd rather just bite the bullet and deal with it, because there's just one more cycle after this one, and the sooner I can finish it, the better it seems to me. But we'll see what the doctor says.
So that's about it. In spite of this wicked curve ball I'm doing my best to keep up a positive outlook - namely trying to accomplish at least one otherwise routine household task a day just so I have that normalcy in my life. But still this has thrown me for a loop.
Any insights you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
- The dr said that what they found was adenocarcinoma - not uncommon for colon cancer.
- There were NO associated tumors.
- They took out 30 lymph nodes. Of those 30, one showed signs of cancer/metastasis, so I'm Stage 3.
- The doctor said I will need about 4 months of chemotherapy for the maximum cure rate.
- I will NOT need radiation therapy.