Help!

Cathy1 · 03-23-2007, 01:36 PM

HI- I had my first zometa yesterday and I was never so sick in my life. Fever and chills, flushing- one minute I'm freezing and the next I'm really hot. Also- a terrible headache and pains everywhere. I've been taking tylenol all day and all last night and have exceeded the 8 a day limit.
What should I take now and when does it go away? I like to take benadryl to sleep but I don't think it will help the fever. God Bless, Cathy

Mary Anne in TX · 03-23-2007, 02:34 PM

Hi Cathy!
Call your doctor's office and ask the nurse to have him/her to prescribe something for you to get relief! ma

Becky · 03-23-2007, 03:51 PM

I agree with Maryanne. I also felt this way on Zometa. I got it 3 times (every 6 months) because I have osteopenia and was getting IV Herceptin anyway. After Herceptin was over my onc said I could continue Zometa and I said no. Oral pills. I would take it if I got bone mets but otherwise, it made me feel really sick like you (flu-like symptoms). Aleve worked well for me.

Barbara H. · 03-23-2007, 04:19 PM

Hi Cathy,
I had the same reaction with Zometa exactly one year ago. I had it late Thursday afternoon. I went to school early Friday morning and by 9:30 I had to leave because I was in such pain. This is coming from someone who only missed 4 days of teaching the year I had AC followed by Taxol. I also was back at school one week after brain surgery a year ago. I normally have to be quite sick to stay home. I ended up staying in bed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after that first Zometa infusion.

Later, each infusion became somewhat easier and I learned to take Advil right away. Now, I don't have to take anything, I have no pain, and my body has adjusted to it. I have been told that it helps to have a longer infusion. Good luck! I think that if you continue with it you will find that your body will adjust. It also helps to take a warm bath for the pain.
Best regards,
Barbara H.

sassy · 03-23-2007, 06:55 PM

Hey Cathy,

I had the same reaction and it took about two days to get over it. Just like a bad case of the flu. Out of all that have done, Zometa was the hardest. Luckily, I will only take Zometa once a year for osteopenia--so I guess I can tough that out.

Hope you feel better.
________
Paxil Side Effects

Cathy1 · 03-24-2007, 12:18 PM

Thanks so much for your help!! I feel so much better today. I could barely make it to the computer to type the question for you yesterday.
Have a great weekend! God Bless, Cathy

dchips1 · 03-24-2007, 01:38 PM

Cathy, that happened to me also for the first 3 doses. I took tylenol as a pre med and super hydrated myself. That afternoon and 24 hours flu like including temp spike. After that I have no problems but I do make sure that I push extra fluids the day before and couple of days afterward. I have been on it for almost 10 months now 1 time per month. Take care and good luck Darita

Barbara2 · 03-24-2007, 08:04 PM

How many milligrams are given with each treatment and how often are they given? It seems that so often, people get bad flu symptoms after getting treatment with Zometa. I talked to my onc about maybe having Zometa being as I still have my port.

I thought maybe a person would be less sick if it was taken more often than once every 6 months; I was assuming the milligrams would be less if it was given more frequently. But my onc said 4 milligrams were given with each treament, no matter how often you get them. Is this correct?

Cathy1 · 03-25-2007, 05:01 PM

I don't know how many mg. is was, Barb. I can find out next week. They said the standard for me is once a month, but since I am coming in every three weeks for herceptin, they would give it to me then. I would rather come back the next week and keep it at once a month. I still have a headache, but everything else is mostly gone, thank God. God Bless, Cathy