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Stomach Pain and Folfox/Keytruda?

Esophageal Cancer | Last Active: Dec 18, 2023 | Replies (14)

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@nuggetofmine

He had no good days after this last chemo/ immuno treatment, not even the nice two or three days he usually has from the steroids. It's been two weeks.

To make a long story short, his symptoms- severe stomach pain that doubles him over, nausea, sometimes vomiting, headache, diarrhea- all within a few minutes of swallowing a bite of food (and water this last treatment), seem to indicate a Gastritis type of issue. The symptoms are all there every time and last from a couple of minutes to 20 minutes. He's so thin, he can't afford to lose any more weight! We looked into the diet modifications for Gastritis and have been following them for the last two days. The two things that have made the biggest difference for him are eliminating caffeine and while continuing the twice daily Prilosec, also using Tums before eating and after eating. And using Tums during the day when his stomach hurts for any reason. The Prilosec helps heal the stomach lining, helping to reduce acid production, and the Tums help dilute the stomach acid that's already there, or that gets dumped during eating. Bland , low acid food has really helped, although we tried that before without the Tums, and without the caffeine elimination and it didn't help at all.

Last night, day 2, he stayed up late, just eating and eating. Pain free. He is eating better than he has in a couple of months. We have cancelled his Monday treatment and will be consulting with the oncologist. We've been trying to get to the bottom of this pain for months. From what I've read, there isn't really a treatment, other than strict diet and the acid reducers, and time. I guess that's why the doctor never offered anything to treat it with. The Oxycodone he has did not even touch this pain.

Hopefully this can help someone experiencing the same symptoms.

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Replies to "He had no good days after this last chemo/ immuno treatment, not even the nice two..."

gastritis can be an adverse reaction to the immunotherapy. Please pursue this with your oncologist

So sorry your husband on going through this. My husband did keytruda after his esophagectomy. He didn’t have issue with his stomach but rather fibrous masses in his lungs (pulmonologist suspects side effect from keytruda). Still treatment and cancer took another run at him. He’s now doing chemo with oxiplatin (sp) and FOLFOX. It’s doing its job with the cancer but chemo side effects are in full force!
He has a jtube and it’s saving his life. It’s 90% of his nutrition. He sometimes has pain but it is managed with Tylenol/ibuprofen.
You mentioned Prilosec, is he on the prescription strength protonix? Maybe he needs a stronger dose. My husband takes it every night. Helps with the acid for sure!