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Anyone experience GI side effects with Tagrisso for lung cancer?
Lung Cancer | Last Active: Jul 11 8:02am | Replies (25)Comment receiving replies
My mother has lung cancer with metastasis to her brain. She has been stable on Tagrisso/osimertinib for 11 months without many side effects besides the common nail issue and diarrhea. She is now suffering from severe stomach issues: she has difficulty eating and drinking and is nauseous almost 24/7. She explains the pain as if there is a band around her stomach that is increasingly tighter.
We've performed many different tests: MRI (with and without contrast) , CT, gastrointestinal tests, lab tests of stomach tissue, fluids, bloodwork. Nothing shows that the cancer has spread to her stomach, or other parts of the body. We've also excluded issues on the spine, and are waiting for results of a lumbar punction.
There is no indication that there is something directly related to her stomach, and yet she keeps saying the pain comes from there.
We've tried pretty much all logical medication: anti-nausea medication and various painkillers (such as Morphine and Fentanyl).
The next step is that we will suspend the Tagrisso/osimertinib for a week to see if her situation improves. It feels like a scary situation, but current quality of life is simply too low to not try it.
I will keep you posted if they find anything, but if anyone has suggestions, please let me know :/
Replies to "My mother has lung cancer with metastasis to her brain. She has been stable on Tagrisso/osimertinib..."
Talk to the doctors about a dose reduction in her tagrisso first. Dose reductions have made huge differences for others who have talked about it at the EGFR Resistors Facebook page.
Edit to add that improvements are something very swift.
@stefan, just checking in. How is your mom doing? How are you doing?
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I'm sorry to hear that you and your mother are going through such a challenging time. In addition to what I've written above, I've altered my diet. I choose to be gluten-free with my gastro's support. In addition, I've adopted a Mediterranean diet emphasizing fruits and vegetables. For some reason, lettuce salads cause some distress, but spinach salads are fine. I eat way more fish than meat, and most of my vegetables are cooked. Before I figured all this out, I had undiagnosed cramping and nausea for 9 months and would do a BRAT diet for a couple of days every so often.
Does she react to certain foods, or is it all the time like it sounds? Is the pain in her stomach or lower in her colon?
You're in a tough situation. It sounds like you're keeping in close touch with her oncologist, which is always the best idea. I hope you and her situation improve.