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Your experience with IMRT (radiation) + capecitebine (oral chemo)?
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Dec 29, 2023 | Replies (31)Comment receiving replies
I would be interested in hearing from people that have gone through chemo (capecitabine)/radiation following Folfirinox treatment that could provide a comparison of side effects. I’ve been advised that it will more tolerable. I understand that the common side effects of capecitabine are mouth sores, diarrhea and in some cases sores on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet. What I’d really be interested in understanding is if brain fog that I experienced while on Folfirinox will return.
Replies to "I would be interested in hearing from people that have gone through chemo (capecitabine)/radiation following Folfirinox..."
@stevm, I've now had 17 daily (M-F) treatments of radiation + capecitabine, with 11 more to go. I'm an outlier, in that I'm having a worse time with this than I did with FOLFIRINOX (8 cycles) -- ***but*** my capecitabine side effects are fairly mild.
I'm nauseated almost all the time despite alternating generic Zofran and generic Compazine -- that's the big problem, bc I can't do anything or even sit up in bed. Also, I'm very gassy; I have a little diarrhea (only on three days since 11-30-23); I have almost no appetite; and I've continued to lose weight since my Whipple (10-5-23).
I would cautiously say that I have less brain fog with capecitabine than FOLFIRINOX, but I'm not 100% sure. The variable is the anti-nausea med. I felt not-too-foggy from 11-30-23 thru about 12-12-23, when my secondary anti-emetic was generic Phenergan; after I switched to generic Compazine (c. 12-13-23), I felt a bit doped-up, but that's different from chemo brain-fog. (I'm reasonably good at detecting my level of fog bc I've worked mostly as a copy editor, meaning that I'm hyper-aware of how many typos I make, the types of typos I make, and the amt of time I need to digest a news article.)
Also: I'm not having any of the icky capecitabine side effects -- no mouth sores, no hand-foot disorder. So you can probably assume that you'll have an easier time with radiation + capecitabine than you did with FOLFIRINOX. Just be sure to moisturize the affected area twice daily with Eucerin or something similar (but not within the hour before treatment).
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@stevm , I'm barely qualified to comment on this thread as I've never had radiation or capecetibine. But I did suffer extreme brain fog and fatigue while on Folfirinox, and then more of the same on my new regimen of Gemcitabine+Abraxane+Cisplatin.
There can be multiple causes and treatments for the brain fog. I just got a prescription for Ritalin from a palliative oncologist on my team, and after a week it seems to be helping fight the focus and fatigue issues at work. Could be worth asking about. Might reduce my caffeine dependence eventually, but not happening yet!