How Much Did You Sleep After Chemo? Chemo experiences :)

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deanfromuk
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Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2018 1:36 pm

How Much Did You Sleep After Chemo? Chemo experiences :)

Postby deanfromuk » Mon Sep 10, 2018 12:54 pm

So my dear old mum 58, stage 4 adenocarcinoma on her ascending colon with mets around her abdominal cavity and a lesion on her sigmoid colon had her first chemo Friday (folfiri and cetuximab) she took it well until Sunday where she felt a bit strange, some metallic taste in her mouth and bit of chemo brain and a slight upset stomach. None of the side effects they warned us about the nurses gave her a bunch of meds for diarrhoea and appetite and nausea except since the chemo and warned us of all sorts of side effects they expected ... only side effect (if it is?) is that she has been sleeping continuously since Saturday and always seems to be wanting to sleep....

Is this normal? She even fell asleep at the cancer centre today where she had an appointment upright in a chair, she must be sleeping I would guess 16+ hours a day. Her energy seems fine when she is moving around but she is sleeping like a cat.

How did folfiri go for everyone else?

stu
Posts: 1613
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:46 pm

Re: How Much Did You Sleep After Chemo? Chemo experiences :)

Postby stu » Mon Sep 10, 2018 1:14 pm

Yes . Very normal and the horrible metallic taste .
My mum slept loads . She needed it.
Well done her for getting through round one .
Send her our love ,
Stu
Ps . She is very young :D
supporter to my mum who lives a great life despite a difficult diagnosis
stage4 2009 significant spread to liver
2010 colon /liver resection
chemo following recurrence
73% of liver removed
enjoying life treatment free
2016 lung resection
Oct 2017 nice clear scan . Two lung nodules disappeared
Oct 2018. Another clear scan .

hiker
Posts: 139
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:15 am

Re: How Much Did You Sleep After Chemo? Chemo experiences :)

Postby hiker » Mon Sep 10, 2018 1:15 pm

I had 11 rounds of Folfiri + Panitumumab and it was no fun at all. Fatigue and extreme constipation were my worst side effects. I didn't have the luxury of sleep as I worked full-time all during treatment and still had my normal stuff to do around the house (inside/outside maintenance, keeping all the vehicles serviced, etc). I'm six months post-chemo and my energy is almost back to normal.

hiker
Colonoscopy 2/17, 5cm tumor descending
Diagnosed stage iv, liver mets 3/17
Colon resection 3/17
Told surgery not an option, get my affairs in order
Meet w/MSK team 5/01/17
Folfox(3rds) 5/17-6/17
Liver resection/implant HAI pump 7/17
HAI pump chemo(5rds) 8/17-2/18
Folfiri+Vectibix(11rds) 8/17-2/18
Spot on chest CT 10/17
Lung biopsy (that was fun) 11/17
Nocardia bacterial infection w/spread to brain (this is serious) 11/17
IV antibiotics 12/17-2/18
Oral antibiotics 3/18-12/18
Clear of cancer since surgery

KimT
Posts: 695
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2010 8:53 pm

Re: How Much Did You Sleep After Chemo? Chemo experiences :)

Postby KimT » Mon Sep 10, 2018 1:22 pm

I would get chemo on Wednesday’s. I felt good on Wednesday and Thursday because of all the steroids they gave me. I pretty much slept from Friday afternoon until Monday morning. Chemo is very hard on the body. I would sleep 10 hours, and be exhausted after being awake an hour and sleep like 6 more hours, wake up for an hour or two and sleep another 6-8 hours. The fatigue was overwhelming for me. It seemed crazy to sleep so much and not feel rested.
2/10 dx colon cancer
right hemicolectomy 3/19/10
Stage 2a 0/43 nodes
Lynch syndrome
3/14/10 colon resection/ removal of metal clips
Nov 11 dx ovarian cancer

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betsydoglover
Posts: 978
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:31 pm
Facebook Username: Betsy Lindh Williams
Location: Maryland - outside DC

Re: How Much Did You Sleep After Chemo? Chemo experiences :)

Postby betsydoglover » Mon Sep 10, 2018 2:30 pm

From what I have read on this site, it seems that 5FU causes more intense fatigue in the short term than Xeloda/capecitabine (which you could consider it's oral analog). I found that Xeloda fatigued me, but less intensely - more spread out for a week or two - never needed extra sleep and worked after about day 4 (which was, I think, mostly due to the oxaliplatin). I hope your mother manages to cope with this, but if it becomes more difficult, she might ask her onc about using Xeloda instead of the 5fu component of her cocktail".

Take care,
Betsy
diag. Stage IV, 5/05, liver met
lap sigmoid colectomy, 6/05
6 cycles Xeloda/oxaliplatin/Avastin (NED after 2)
11/08 9x13mm right lower lobe lung nodule; removed via VATS 4/09
NED
6 cycles Xeloda + Avastin
Avastin only 10/09-5/11
Still NED 06/18

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O Stoma Mia
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Joined: Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:29 am
Location: On vacation. Off-line for now.

Re: How Much Did You Sleep After Chemo? Chemo experiences :)

Postby O Stoma Mia » Mon Sep 10, 2018 2:51 pm

I slept all the time, but I was on Xelox. If you need more info, let me know.

deanfromuk
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2018 1:36 pm

Re: How Much Did You Sleep After Chemo? Chemo experiences :)

Postby deanfromuk » Mon Sep 10, 2018 3:52 pm

KimT wrote:I would get chemo on Wednesday’s. I felt good on Wednesday and Thursday because of all the steroids they gave me. I pretty much slept from Friday afternoon until Monday morning. Chemo is very hard on the body. I would sleep 10 hours, and be exhausted after being awake an hour and sleep like 6 more hours, wake up for an hour or two and sleep another 6-8 hours. The fatigue was overwhelming for me. It seemed crazy to sleep so much and not feel rested.


This seems to be the patern my mum has fallen into, glad it is normal. i have never seen tiredness and fatigue like this had me slightly worried.

Thanks everyone for your input, 5FU is a strange beast indeed but I hope to whatever god cares to listen it shrinks her cancers and obliterates some of her mets. Will send her all the wishes :D

NHMike
Posts: 2555
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:43 am

Re: How Much Did You Sleep After Chemo? Chemo experiences :)

Postby NHMike » Tue Sep 11, 2018 5:56 pm

I've heard of cases where people sleep the vast majority of the day. I usually took a two hour nap in the afternoon after an infusion day. Responses to chemo vary widely.
6/17: ER rectal bleeding; Colonoscopy
7/17: 3B rectal. T3N1bM0. 5.2 4.5 4.3 cm. Lymphs: 6 x 4 mm, 8 x 6, 5 x 5
7/17-9/17: Xeloda radiation
7/5: CEA 2.7; 8/16: 1.9; 11/30: 0.6; 12/20 1.4; 1/10 1.8; 1/31 2.2; 2/28 2.6; 4/10 2.8; 5/1 2.8; 5/29 3.2; 7/13 4.5; 8/9 2.8, 2/12 1.2
MSS, KRAS G12D
10/17: 2.7 2.2 1.6 cm (-90%). Lymphs: 3 x 3 mm (-62.5%), 4 x 3 (-75%), 5 x 3 (-40%). 5.1 CM from AV
10/17: LAR, Temp Ileostomy, Path Complete Response
CapeOx (8) 12/17-6/18
7/18: Reversal, Port Removal
2/19: Clean CT


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