Diarrhea and bloating and gas, oh my!

[TinaFish]

I had my 3rd round of chemo (oxaliplatin) yesterday. My oncologist reduced the dose by 30% this time, because the previous time, I had horrific acute side effects. This time, I'm feeling a lot better. No diarrhea (but I proactively took lomotil and Imodium), eyes stinging when they tear up, sensitivity with cold drinks, although the sensitivity seems much less than what I previously experienced on day one), and voice/throat feels weird when I speak/yell/drink fluids. Slight fatigue yesterday evening, and pain in my jaw when I chew. That's it. The previous time I had chemo, I had horrible muscle pain on day 3. My calves were the worst. I couldn't even walk. Tomorrow will be day 3 for this round, so we'll see what happens.

These are normal side-effects. You might be having cramps and taking in more electrolytes may help there if it continues. My oncologist often added Magnesium to the IV because of the electrolyte losses.

My first Oxaliplatin infusion was in December 2017 in New Hampshire. The temperatures was in the mid 20s, it was windy and there was a blizzard outside. My hands were painful driving home because the steering wheel was very cold. So it can be pretty rough in colder climates during the winter. It's tough stuff but you get through it.

Thank God I live in Southern California! Although it's become quite a cesspool since my childhood in the 80s. The overpopulation is so bad, you can't drive anywhere without getting stuck in traffic. And last winter was particularly cold for us - the first winter in about 13 years when I actually needed a jacket to go out! I despise cold weather probably moreso than the average person. I had to live in Colorado for a year with my ex husband (husband at the time) because his "legal situation" would not allow him to leave the state. Colorado was rough. Driving in the snow should be against the law, it's so dangerous. Snow ITSELF should be against the law, lol!!

[TinaFish]

Sorry, I meant to post this somewhere else

[NHMike]

One thing that helps with diarrhea is potatoes and sweet potatoes. They soak up a lot of moisture in the small intestines.

I had a temp ileostomy and I got the clear bags so you could see the food coming out of the small intestine in the bag along with the water content. So you could tell what foods looked like after processing by the small intestine. Some foods don't get processed by the small intestine.

Eating beets makes the bag red for quite a while - scary the first time.

[TinaFish]

Dude, I just have this feeling in my stomach like something's not right. After yesterday's chemo, it's happening again. I also felt it like a week ago. The only way I can describe it is the way your stomach feels after you've spent too long in a swimming pool. I explained it that way to my oncologist, and she had no idea what I was talking about. Maybe I'm the only person whose stomach gets weird after being in the pool too long, lol! But it's been happening to me all my life.

It seems to me that when this feeling is cancer-related and not pool-related, it only happens when I take enough anti-diarrhea medicine to really not have diarrhea. So maybe I've got a bunch of poop in me that can't come out because the diarrhea meds are causing low motility. It feels like "something" is too high in my abdominal cavity, like sitting right under my ribcage, and I'm pretty sure that I'd feel better if I could just poop. I wouldn't say I'm constipated, though. When I wipe, there's still diarrhea on the toilet paper. But when I pooped 5 mins ago, it looked like a normal (but small) piece of poop. I might even call this strange feeling "airy." Like there's air trapped in my abdomen. Not gas, though. I don't feel the urge to fart. More like a very mild sensation of feeling the urge to burp. Like there's air in my chest area. Does that make sense? And just kind of a general "unwell" feeling in the torso area. Maybe it is constipation?? But it doesn't feel like the constipstion is in my rectum. It feels like it's a lot deeper inside me. Why can't I just find that happy medium where I take the right amount of medicine to keep the diarrhea at bay but not make me feel like this??

What I'm going through now is a preferable alternative to shitting myself with diarrhea every 10-15 mins and having to clean myself up and change my underpants. That's what happened the last time I had chemo, so this time, I took medications to prevent that. I just want to feel normal, though. I had a few "normal" days last week. I guess not all of the days can be winners. But this feeling is just so uncomfortable!!

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Can anyone relate to this feeling? Can anyone explain it better?

Edit: just got off the toilet. It's not solid poop; it's just little chunky pieces. You know what your poop looks like when you eat a bunch of salad? That's what it looks like! Like it just falls apart once it lands in the toilet water. So I don't know what to make of this. Is it that in my effort to prevent chemo diarrhea, I took too much anti-diarrhea medicine and that's what's causing all of this discomfort? It feels like I drank too much water, if that makes any sense at all. Is it that I didn't take ENOUGH anti-diarrhea medicine? No, right? Because I feel like I'd feel better if I could just empty my bowels. Or is this just chemo-related and it has nothing to do with too much, or too little, anti-diarrhea medicine? Seriously, it feels like I drank too much water but it feels "lower" than my stomach, so any attempt to gag it out of myself would be futile. Please help make sense of this.

Edit again: honestly, it feels like there's some poop inside me that doesn't want to come out, and it's just sitting there, refusing to move, blocking me up. Meanwhile, the Gatorade that I drank 30 minutes ago is just sitting on top of it, not able to pass through me. I would drink some coffee right now in an attempt to get everything moving, but I feel like there's no room for the coffee; it would just sit in my throat and not be able to go down. For God's sake, maybe it's not poop that's blocking me at all; maybe it's gas! I hate this!!

[NHMike]

Food goes into the stomach, then to the small intestine and then into the large intestine. So there are places where things can get hung up. You also have the issue where things have to fight gravity to continue going through the intestines. I use MiraLax when I want to try to flush things out, usually two to three doses. I use Nopalina (fiber) and Slippery Elm when I want things to move more quickly through too. Fiber can help decrease diarrhea as it bulks things up and absorbs water. Potatoes and sweet potatoes can do this as well. I think that I used to fast the day before infusions and that's another way to reduce things getting clogged up. I often fast one to two days to deal with my current issues.

[TinaFish]

Yeah, definitely going to fast before my next chemo, instead of taking Lomotil and Imodium proactively. If you don't eat any food, then you can't have any diarrhea! But I took those meds on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today is Friday, day 3! Last time I had chemo, I had massive diarrhea on day 3! It doesn't make sense how those meds could still be effecting me if I haven't even taken them in two days, right?

I went to CVS this morning, and I just drank half a bottle of magnesium citrate. Too scared to drink the whole bottle. Trying to drink a lot of water now, but I feel so full. I'm staying by the toilet.

...and STILL, when I wipe, there is liquid diarrhea on the toilet paper. How is this possible, if I'm constipated?

[boxhill]

I hate to tell you this, but I had liquid diarrhea the very morning of the day I had emergency surgery for a blockage. When you have a blockage often all that can squeeze through is liquid.

[TinaFish]

I hate to tell you this, but I had liquid diarrhea the very morning of the day I had emergency surgery for a blockage. When you have a blockage often all that can squeeze through is liquid.

Oh wow

[NHMike]

I have blockage issues too. They started last December. Since then, I've been terrified of stuff like Imodium but I tried it out last month and it was a disaster. Three days of clustering almost around the clock. These things are pretty powerful chemicals. I know that some people take them daily to function but I'd want to do a lot of experimentation. They are coarse instruments and can slow things down to where they feel like you have a blockage.

On constipation - the doctors always recommended Miralax over Magnesium Citrate. I got the impression that Magnesium Citrate is a big hammer compared to Miralax.

[TinaFish]

I have blockage issues too. They started last December. Since then, I've been terrified of stuff like Imodium but I tried it out last month and it was a disaster. Three days of clustering almost around the clock. These things are pretty powerful chemicals. I know that some people take them daily to function but I'd want to do a lot of experimentation. They are coarse instruments and can slow things down to where they feel like you have a blockage.

On constipation - the doctors always recommended Miralax over Magnesium Citrate. I got the impression that Magnesium Citrate is a big hammer compared to Miralax.

Yes, exactly. Experimentation is what I'm trying to do, but it went badly this time. I've been passing some poop during the last hour. It's been relatively calm; no urgent runs to the bathroom and no pain.

I was considering miralax, but the bottle said that it took 1-3 days to work! With that kind of wait, you may as well just take a sennoside. I wanted a big hammer. I wanted something that would work quickly because I was so sick of feeling the way I felt last night. Thankfully, I made the right choice. I do feel better now... I don't feel good, mind you, but I feel better than I felt last night. I haven't eaten anything today (oh, two figs when I wasn't thinking) and I don't want to eat until this discomfort is totally gone. I spoke to my oncologist and she said she doesn't think I have a blockage and that what I'm going through is normal after chemo. In this day and age, they can't invent some sort of medication that kills cancer and doesn't make us feel like crap???

[TinaFish]

Still dealing with this. Yesterday and today consisted of being on the toilet every 30 minutes so that a small amount of poop/diarrhea could come out. The stomach cramps are horrible and today I finally got the courage to take some Imodium and some Pepto pills. I don't know if I can stop the cramping, but it would be nice to not be on the toilet so often. By some miracle, I slept through the night last night instead of being kept awake by this horrible condition.

Does anyone else have advice? Is this a common reaction to chemo??

[Rock_Robster]

I don't know if I can stop the cramping, but it would be nice to not be on the toilet so often. By some miracle

Hi TinaFish, is Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide) available where you are? I find one dose of this very effective for stomach cramps.

[TinaFish]

I don't know if I can stop the cramping, but it would be nice to not be on the toilet so often. By some miracle

Hi TinaFish, is Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide) available where you are? I find one dose of this very effective for stomach cramps.

I'd never heard of it, but thank you for the wonderful suggestion. I will be contacting the doctor and requesting the prescription now!

Edit: it's not available in the U.S., but according to Wikipedia, our equivalent is methylscopolamine bromide. The oncologist isn't calling me back tonight. I had the on-call service page her. I was hoping she could call in the prescription tonight and I could fill it tomorrow morning.

[Rock_Robster]

I don't know if I can stop the cramping, but it would be nice to not be on the toilet so often. By some miracle

Hi TinaFish, is Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide) available where you are? I find one dose of this very effective for stomach cramps.

I'd never heard of it, but thank you for the wonderful suggestion. I will be contacting the doctor and requesting the prescription now!

No worries at all - hope it helps. It’s actually over-the-counter at the pharmacy here, but not sure about the US.

[TinaFish]

I spoke to my oncologist tonight, and she said I should stay away from methylscopolamine bromide. She said it has nasty side effects.

But Buscopan seems to be a much more benign drug, and guess what? I just ordered it from Amazon! Lol!

The oncologist said that most people don't react this severely to chemo. Am I just being a big baby? Do other people here experience these side effects to my extent?