HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - two weeks following first tx..fever and exhausted

MJo · 06-13-2006, 07:34 AM

I feel for you. Adriamycin and I were not friends. Or maybe it was the cytoxan.

I didn't get the awful nausea, but my white and red blood cell counts plunged, I got an infection that landed me in the hospital, and I had a lot of what they called "cognitive" side effects -- anxiety, dazed feeling, inability to sleep more than two hours a night even with a sleeping pill (ya think the dazed feeling had something to do with that?). The nurse told me not to isolate myself -- to get out. So I went to the mall, drug store, the supermarket. WRONG. The drug store is where all the sick people are, picking up prescriptions and looking for over the counter remedies. No wonder I got an infection. I hope and pray I never have to do adriamycin again, but if I do I will isolate myself from infectious sources as much as possible. I will never go into drug stores. I also started eating iron rich foods to help my red blood count -- liver that I bought at the health food store, spinach. I took Centrum with iron while I was on chemo. I got a painful rash on my hands. I used diaper rash ointment. I wish I had gotten the odorless kind, because the aroma bothered me. Hang in there and celebrate when you finish. I had a bad enough time that I only took three ACs. Had an easy time with Taxol and Herceptin. I read somewhere that people who have a rough time with AC tend to have an easier time with Taxol, and vice versa. Looking back, I'm really glad I took the ACs. I will do anything within reason to fight this disease.

06-13-2006, 07:34 AM	#18
MJo Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wilmington, Del. Posts: 1,126	I feel for you. Adriamycin and I were not friends. Or maybe it was the cytoxan. I didn't get the awful nausea, but my white and red blood cell counts plunged, I got an infection that landed me in the hospital, and I had a lot of what they called "cognitive" side effects -- anxiety, dazed feeling, inability to sleep more than two hours a night even with a sleeping pill (ya think the dazed feeling had something to do with that?). The nurse told me not to isolate myself -- to get out. So I went to the mall, drug store, the supermarket. WRONG. The drug store is where all the sick people are, picking up prescriptions and looking for over the counter remedies. No wonder I got an infection. I hope and pray I never have to do adriamycin again, but if I do I will isolate myself from infectious sources as much as possible. I will never go into drug stores. I also started eating iron rich foods to help my red blood count -- liver that I bought at the health food store, spinach. I took Centrum with iron while I was on chemo. I got a painful rash on my hands. I used diaper rash ointment. I wish I had gotten the odorless kind, because the aroma bothered me. Hang in there and celebrate when you finish. I had a bad enough time that I only took three ACs. Had an easy time with Taxol and Herceptin. I read somewhere that people who have a rough time with AC tend to have an easier time with Taxol, and vice versa. Looking back, I'm really glad I took the ACs. I will do anything within reason to fight this disease.