Gemzar/Navelbine Side-Effects

Mum went through 2 sessions of chemo with gemzar/navelbine. The side-effects are greater than that of carboplatin/taxol. But having said that, she has no nauseau, flu-like symptoms or loss of appetite. She went out karaoke singing 1 day after the chemo…..

The chief side-effect is actually pain. Not sure whether this is neuropathy. The pain affects the arm where the chemo is injected between the area of your elbow and the hand (but not the fingers). The pain is so terrible that my mum woke up in the middle of the night. Fortunately, the painkillers worked but the medication makes my mum feels groggy so she is trying to wean herself off from the painkillers and to find a tolerable point where she can co-exist with the pain.

We are not sure which drug cause the pain. My mum do feel pain when navelbine is being administered. For navelbine, both of us were scared to death when the nurse told us that if the ‘vein breaks’ or if it is administered incorrectly, the medication could seep out to the skin surface and cause ‘burning’ pain. For gemzar, my mum literally yelled when it was first administered. Fortunately, we found the ‘correct’ timing and the pain disappeared when it was administered over 1 hour instead of 30 minutes.

By the end of the 2nd chemo, we have more or less figured out the tolerant level to make this chemo regime bearable – you may want to consider if you are taking this combination of drug –

- Navelbine – there is an oral version. It cost slightly more but well worth because you may not have any nasty accidents. My mum opted for the oral version after the 1st chemo
- Gemzar – if you feel pain, yell for the nurse and slow the drip to 1 hour instead of the ‘normal’ 30 minutes
- always have hot packs ready if you starts to feel tingling of pain. For quick fix – soak the area which is giving you pain in warm water.

As for constipation – it is manageable. Arising from the last chemo experience, my mum start popping senokot – 2 pills in the morning and 2 pills at night. She ate lots of fruits – banana, apple, papaya and grapes (I cannot stand the sight of papaya now since my mum buy the entire papaya and not pieces so the whole family ended up eating papaya everyday). My mum pass motion everyday – and while the stools are small, round and hard (compared to the soft stools she used to have), it is not difficult to…..squeeze them out.

We are not sure whether this chemo combination is working or not until a few weeks later. The only good news is that after taking out the ‘cancerous hernia’, her CA-125 dropped to 15.9 from a high of 29.8. The doctor is hoping that this chemo combination would knock the rest of the cancer cells out of action.

[bohan54]

Thanks for the update and very helpful advice.  Glad to see mum has found out how to manage with this combo and hope it is the right one to get her back on track!
Sharon