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came from Dr today and the doxil and avastin stopped working on me so dr wants to try gemsar( or something like that) , has any one been on that and what are the sideeffects ? love jay
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change of meds
- By lilwitchfromok
- Posted September 24, 2009 at 2:41 pm · 7 replies
- In Side effects of treatment
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- By Rainey
- Posted September 24, 2009 at 2:43 pm
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I just finished with gemzar and carboplatium for a reoccurance. I tolerated it very, very well and it was effective. Good Luck
- By lilwitchfromok
- Posted September 24, 2009 at 3:04 pm
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thank you for your fast reply did it make you sick at all jay
- By Patricia123
- Posted September 24, 2009 at 4:37 pm
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Most people seem to like gemzar from what I read. Keep us posted!
- By jeaniet
- Posted September 24, 2009 at 4:48 pm
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Just started Gemzar (plus 2 other drugs) yesterday. They said the side effects are minimal, except it will TRASH your bone marrow, so they are making me take Neulasta shots for that.
I am on Carbo as one of the other drugs, and they said most side effects will be from the Carbo, not the Gemzar.
Jeanie
- By NotDyingToday
- Posted September 24, 2009 at 9:14 pm
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I did fine with Gemzar and took it for 11 months.
it seemed to irritate my intestinal lining a day or two after treatment and my skin broke out and itched a lot during the first couple treatments. As others have said, it is really hard on your bone marrow--platelets especially. But I agree it is fairly tolerable, particularly when compared to platinum.
But do take the low platelet counts seriously because you will have them. Don't do stuff that could cause you to bleed like cut your hands or feet, or believe it or not, bear down too hard in the bathroom--internal bleeding and bruising is possible. There is a point at which you could become susceptible to spontaneous bleeds--for example you hit your head not all that hard but you could have internal bleeding.
Funny story--funny now 'cause I survived..... about 10 days after chemo (when your platelets are at their lowest) I fell one evening going up the stairs and hit the back of my head. My husband heard the fall, came to see what had happened, got scared and called 911 for help. I made him hang up and boy did that set things in motion. A police officer showed up to see if we were okay. (It was late at night). The cop turned out to be a friend of ours. He convinced me I needed to go to the hospital because of the low platelet risk. Well, when I got there my husband and our cop friend made such a big freakin' deal out of my low platelet and low white count that the ER admission desk made me put on a mask and a neck brace and plunked me down into a wheel chair. So here I am being wheeled down the hall by a nurse, a cop and my husband. A friend of ours who was working in the ER that night, saw me, stared for about 5 seconds in disbelief and then cracked up. She couldn't stop laughing! I was so embarrassed and annoyed by the whole thing. But then the ER doctor sent me for a CT scan and explained to me that a hard bump on the back of my head could be serious under my circumstances.
So, I don't mean to scare you, but if you don't want to be spotted in the ER looking very unfashionable in your PJs, a mask, neck brace etc. being chased by a cop and your anxious partner, take platelet counts very seriously.
- By Edith
- Posted September 25, 2009 at 9:49 am
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I had my 6. cycle ( week 1 and 2 out of 4) of Gemzar today.I'm on cisplatin for week 1 too.
In Japan they will not give me a port; So my problem with Gemzar is that it burns my veins. Hot packs on the infusion site helps. Other than that it causes some loose stool, always welcome after so much constipation.
I do have a lot of stomach pains and intestinal spasms and noise, really loud gurgling. But I don't know if it is a cause of chemo or the effect of " stable disease": Ca 125 stays around 250. I will get a pet scan by the end of Oct.
After reading through the side effects list, I was quite scared of Gemzar and Cisplatin, but so far things have gone reasonably smooth I would say.
best of luck to you! Edith
- By Edith
- Posted September 25, 2009 at 9:57 am
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Again, about the platelets. With every cycle my platelets go down a bit further. Last time they went to 30 000. They started telling me to be "careful", like don't fall down the steps.... , but my platelets always recover all by themselves( actually they overshoot the upper normal level). No Neulasta until they go down to 10 000.
Hope this helps.
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