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Severe diarrhea and weakness after chemo & immunotherapy ?
My husband is in a clinical trial Star-221 (GI 341). He gets chemo & 2 immunotherapies every 2 weeks. He has a large tumor in his esophagus, tumors in the upper stomach, lymph nodes & 2 spots on his liver. He has had severe diarrhea and extreme weakness since May 3. His cancer is stable but he has no quality of life. Has anyone gone through these side effects? Has anything helped? He is on multiple medications for diarrhea but nothing stops it.
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I’m so sorry, that is so miserable. My brother is experiencing this as well. Are there any patterns to the diarrhea? Maybe if you document each event and see if there is any commonality. You might be able to pinpoint what triggers it and therefore try to avoid those things. Does he listen to meditation or relaxation tapes? Sometimes you can “calm yourself” out of the muscle spasms or pain that might bring on an incident. Sometimes anticipating it will make it happen. Is he hydrating? Sucking on an ice cube or watermelon gets fluid down easier. Sending you both hugs and prayers.
He has a j tube. He isn’t able to swallow anything other than a small amount of liquid. We have changed his feed formula and that didn’t help. It’s very frustrating.
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1 ReactionSo sorry about this. Now I was not in any trials... but yes, the EC journey is full of surprises... many ups and downs... even wild swings, like diarrhea to constipation. I got a J tube first thing after diagnosis, because I could barely swallow. And of course those feeds alone can cause your body to have, well, a sht fit... pin intended! Hang tough... weakness, nausea, diarrhea, lethargy, appetite loss, taste bud loss, mental strain, sleeplessness, and sleeping forever... all part of the experience. Hang tough! You contact me if you'd like to swap phone numbers.
Gary