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Chemo: What Tips & Tricks Helped you Through?

Cancer | Last Active: Sep 15, 2023 | Replies (15)

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@texasduchess

I had Adriamycin (4 treatments) and Taxol (12 treatments) for triple-neg breast cancer in 2015. Some things that helped me:

I was given two different anti-nausea pills to take: ondansetron (every 8 hrs) and prochlorperazine (every 6 hrs). The trick is to not let one wear off before taking the other—so an hour to 1.5 hrs before time is up on one, take the other. Sometimes, I would be dizzy, but not nauseated; my oncologist said TAKE the anti-nausea meds—they work on the brain and it's your brain that thinks the world is spinning.

I lost my hair—including the little hairs inside my nose that move moisture to the back of the nose and down the throat. Ponaris Nasal Emollient kept the inside of my nose flexible and helped heal the sores I developed there.

When treatment will cause hair loss, I was advised to NOT shave my head; instead do a buzz cut. (If you shave the hair, you can get in-grown hairs when your hair comes back in post-treatment.)

Chemo can cause both constipation and diarrhea: be sure to take a stool softener and Ben*fiber every day if you can't "go" and have Im*dium (loperamide hydrochloride) on hand when you have the opposite problem.

Drink LOTS of water to flush the chemo drugs through your kidneys.

If you have a super craving for some food, indulge. One night after a treatment, I HAD to have some salsa. I ate an entire jar of P*ce Picante Salsa in one sitting and if it hadn't been the middle of the night, might have gone to the store for more. I think I needed the salt.

Hope these help and good luck, @fastrategizer.

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Replies to "I had Adriamycin (4 treatments) and Taxol (12 treatments) for triple-neg breast cancer in 2015. Some..."

Thank you for all the info!! I’m sorry you had so many side effects. I also love salsa so enjoying a jar of it sound wonderful 😊