specific side effects of chemo

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Apr 2, 2007

All drugs can have slightly different effects. Chemo is no different.

There are probably over 100 drugs that can be used as "chemo", or as adjunctive therapy to chemo/cancer treatment. We cannot address all of those in a post.

Do you have any more specific meds or side effects in mind?

nurmac · Apr 2, 2007

I know that they have slightly different effects...what I am asking is are there any chemo drugs (not biologics) that have a certain side effect that none of the others do?

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Apr 2, 2007

I know one lady that lost her hair because of chemo, but when the hair grew back, she resumed getting perms, and the processing time was only 5 minutes, compared to the 25 that it used to take before.

That may not have been an answer you're looking for, but it might be something to throw in with pt. teaching?

RNOCN2311 · Apr 7, 2007

Okay, here's a few...

Camptosar~diarrhea

Oxaliplatin~peripheral neuropathy (^with cold)

Cisplatin~ototoxicity, renal failure

5FU~diarrhea, mouth sores

Rituxan~eek, tumor lysis syndrome

taxol~loss of nails

Adriamycin~cardiotoxic

Erbitux~acneform rash (bad business)

And that's just to name a few that stand out as more than the hair loss and n/v.

Testa Rosa, RN · Apr 7, 2007

Just personal experience to share. former breast cancer pt on T-A-C for medullary carcinoma of left breast.

Had metallic taste in my mouth--nothing tasted right until a day before my next chemo and then everything would taste awfull again for a couple weeks. Yellowed weak nails that felt ready to pull off. Constant sinitis.

Felt like I had a bad flu. Sucked becuase I had to care for three kids--one still in daipers--and my own Italian speaking daddy who was passing away. Craved salty/fatty junk food--and I actually gained weight, as did most of the women in my breast cancer support group.

I lost most my straight red hair (but it has come back with a vengance, a bit darker and with Shirley Temple like curls requiring constant application of expensive hair products to prevent it from frizzing). Hair loss was expected...nobody prepared me for losing my eye lashes and eyebrows at around the last treatment.

It seems from other survivors I've talked to, the first few treatments are the worst becuase that's where you learn how to deal with the shock of how your body responds. The last couple treatments you are so spent and tired, but at least you know what to expect....so in a way, they are easier, even though you look/feel the worst. And you never know how chemo/radiation will hit you--I was the youngest and worst off of my support group; the oldest was sailing thru and doing the Avon Breast Cancer Walk half-way thru her treatment. Embarassing!

Got a couple mouth sores, but not bad when compared to others as I was very proactive with my mouth care due to the teaching of a wonderful oncology nurse at my local Wellness Center. She sent us all home with big bottles of "Biotene" (enzyme mouth wash) and told us to rinse 3x day. Got bad bone pain in my hips, especially after the Neulasta/Arinesp (sp?) shots.

The worst for me was when my port in my arm became infected and developed a blood clot. Second worst part was getting an ear infection during labor day weekend and not having the Dr. on call get to me until hours after my initial call. Third worst part was being on blood thinners due to the clot around my port which caused me to bleed out during my cycle--which required a lengthy stay on the oncology ward and many transfusions and a couple ablations before I stoped bleeding. Had a 6 week cycle and was PMS the whole time. FUN! Drs. seemed prerplexed by my bleeding; learned after the fact from my OB that it's actually common in younger breast cancer pts....sort of a super compressed menopause due to the chemo.