Radiation made me miserably nauseous, and I could not stand the smell/taste of food at all. I lost so much weight (from 115 to 100), and 4 years later, I still have issues with food smells and nausea. My weight is at 94 now :(
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channing2623 asked a questionBreast Cancer
radiation & nausea?
8 answers-
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andreacha
5 days agoTo all that have contributed. I've never had radiation so I don't have an answer for you., Carm, thankfully, is our "in-house" expert on all things Cancer. However, I must be terribly stupid because I thought the patient was always given anti-nausea medication before radiation or chemotherapy? I'm truly sorry you are experiencing this discomfort.
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BarbarainBham
4 days agoI had radiation, no chemo. Nausea wasn't expected, so no meds given. However, many people in clinic every day asked how I felt, and the radiation oncologist checked me every week, so they were available for me to tell any problems I had.
Channing 2623, you didn't say if you've told the doctor about your nausea. Prescriptions for nausea work.
If a side effect isn't common, they might not mention it could happen. Also nausea can be caused by stress, but you should definitely tell them TODAY. Best wishes.
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channing2623 started following
Question: radiation & nausea?
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channing2623 asked a questionBreast Cancer
alcohol &treatment
15 answers-
ChicagoSandy
9 days agoNot all doctors are onboard the enforcing-sobriety train. Mine (PCP, MO, surgeon) all said moderation is the key--2 or 3 drinks a week (but not all at once) are okay. In fact, my PCP used to prescribe a daily glass of a good red, until he got my diagnosis of ER+ breast cancer--then he said instead of 3 5-oz. glasses a week, have 5 3-oz. glasses (alternating days) instead. So I bought a Coravin, which lets me enjoy 1-2 oz. and still keep the bottle fresh. And if there's no food that calls for a matching wine, I don't drink. (I occasionally attend monthly wine tastings and winemaker dinners: at the dinners I stop drinking a particular wine when I've finished the course paired with it--my tablemates are more than willing to finish my liquid leftovers; and I make liberal use of the discard/spit-buckets at tastings).
The evidence, though, is still statistical--which in turn is retrospective, anecdotal, and flawed in that there are no control groups because of reliance on self-reporting by patients. In the case of ER+ cancers, the theory is that alcohol impairs the liver's ability to clear estrogen from the bloodstream; but by that logic, it also impairs the liver's ability to produce aromatase--the enzyme that is the catalyst for conversion of androgens into estrogens--which arguably enhances the action of the aromatase inhibitors we take. (But don't drink "Palomas" or "Sea Breezes" if you're on letrozole, because the grapefruit juice in them occupies the same metabolic pathway as that AI and thus makes the drug less effective).
I imagine that if you're premenopausal and taking Tamoxifen instead, the prohibition might make more sense, as aromatase does not act on estrogen produced by the ovaries--so it's more vital to get whatever estrogen isn't already clogging up your tumor cells' hormone receptors out of your system. As to benzodiazepenes (Xanax, Ativan, Valium), avoid alcohol while they're in your system--regardless of cancer.
And there's no evidence nor credible scientific theory that alcohol is a factor in ER- gynecological or breast cancers. However, it does make sense that during a course of radiotherapy (the original question) it's prudent to avoid substances that dehydrate you--or to double or triple your water intake.
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ChicagoSandy
5 days agoI will make one correction of a typo in my previous post--should read "...more vital to get whatever estrogen that hasn't been blocked by Tamoxifen already clogging up your tumor cells' hormone receptors out of your system."
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channing2623 shared an experience
Radiation (External radiation ): getting ready to start
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channing2623 asked a questionBreast Cancer
what when makes you a survivor?
19 answers-
merpreb
15 days agoChanning- You are feeling uneasy because you are a cancer person now without cancer. We know that a lot of cancers return or metastasize so we are never free from worry that ours will do the same. You will have this for as long as you live. Your whole life has changed. Try and get them to see this. Perhaps give them a book to read about it.
Here's a link to some books that might help. Sometimes when suggestions come from other's experiences reality sets in more easily or is more accepting. -
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