During radiotherapy

[QuintenvG]

Hi,

I was diagnosed with seminoma stage I or IIA (the docs are not sure about this) and already had four sessions of RT.

As soon as I'm back home from a RT-session, I get very tired and have to sleep for some hours. I don't like to eat, I only have taste for salty food like cheese etc.

I don't have nausea (probably because of the special pill I got from the doctor), but my stomach doesn't feel well. It all clears up about nine 'o clock in the evening.

Is this a cause of RT? Anyone who had the same experiences.
(Sorry, if my English is not too good, but I'm from The Netherlands...)

[tlh]

QuintenvG,

I had the same tiredness you are feeling. I would come home and take "power naps" about an hour or two after a session. Also, I ate a lot of spicy and salty food also. I didn't really get an upset stomach, but my stomach never felt quite "right". It all goes away a couple of weeks after the therapy is over. Hope this info helps.

[SleepyGuy]

Hi,

I was diagnosed with seminoma stage I or IIA (the docs are not sure about this) and already had four sessions of RT.

As soon as I'm back home from a RT-session, I get very tired and have to sleep for some hours. I don't like to eat, I only have taste for salty food like cheese etc.

I don't have nausea (probably because of the special pill I got from the doctor), but my stomach doesn't feel well. It all clears up about nine 'o clock in the evening.

Is this a cause of RT? Anyone who had the same experiences.
(Sorry, if my English is not too good, but I'm from The Netherlands...)

After my radiation treatment I didn't notice if I had a particular craving for a certain type of food or not. Although I usually ate fish sandwiches. As far as my stomach, I took a lot of Malox. Antacids helped out A LOT. It helped to settle my stomach quite a bit. I ended up having to take one right after my treatment because I would start getting indigestion and burp.

As for sleeping, I slept a lot. I would get back home around 10:00 in the morning and slept from 11:00 to 18:00. Then I usually went back to bed around midnight.

Hope this helps.

[Abilor]

I'm on my fifth day today (have had four days so far). I'm getting the 25 Gy "hockey stick" (Go Sabres!).

On the first day, I didn't take my anzemet, and I definitely felt funny. That day I filled my scrip, knowing I didn't want to put up with too much of that. Since then, taking anzemet one hour before, I haven't had any nauseau (knock on wood), and I've been eating, eating, eating...

My routine now is get zapped at 12:15, and by 3:00 I am asleep. There is no dicsussion about this - my body just says, yup, we're done. I sleep from about 3 - 6, then try and get SOME writing on the dissertation that is WAY overdue thanks to the little bastard who hopped a ride on my left nut. Aside from the three hour nap, I sleep about 10 hours a night too.

Seriously though, I think the sleep is instrumental, because all those poor cells that are innocent bystanders need to heal up between sessions, and the last thing I want is to deprive them of anything so they don't heal "funny" - broken cells that might turn into 2nd cancers later. I've been reading up on the stats regarding hockey stick @25, and it's really, really low risk, something like 9 in 10,000 for a 2nd cancer like leukemia. That would suck, but my oncologist (Arun Puranik in Latham, NY, in case anybody knows him) is using the cutting edge in image guided radiation therapy, and says it's so precise the odds are mathematically nil, so no worries.

You mentioned cravings - I HAVE to have: mayonnaise. Don't know why, I never liked or dislike it, and it sounds disgusting, but I could just sit with a jar and a spoon, though it's been mainly on sandwiches so far. And pretty much any meat: tuna, chicken, roast beef, ground beef, salmon, turkey, and an unlucky brat have all fallen victim to my appetite, all in the past four days. If you can find it, Wasabi Edamame are really good for this. Edamame are little beans that taste like peanuts, but they're 70% protein and 30% fat, the opposite of peanuts. So they're really good for "power healing", and wasabi is actually used specifically in "asian homeopathy" as my fiancee calls it to prevent recurrence of testicular cancer. I'm always a little wary of homeopathy, but maybe they know something we don't...

Finally: My ass hurts!! Ever since the 2nd day of radiation, I've had muscle aches in my glutes and hamstrings, pretty constant. I asked the techs about it, and they say its unrelated. My fiancee mentioned it might be because of the elaborate dance I do squeezing myself into the clam shell (careful!), laying down, adjusting cause you pop out, sitting up, etc. It all fulcrums on my butt, not to metion the muscle strain of a strange new motion. Anybody else have a similar problem though?

Hope YOU are doing well...

Abilor

[Matt_24]

Wow, I start radiation on Monday.

I was really worried about nausea, but sounds like my Zofran should help. They gave me an Immodium prescription as well, just in case.

Sounds like after treatment I'll have just enough to time to drive from Walter Reed back to my house in time to get some rest. That is a good hour or so depending on traffic. Sometimes MORE. Bad traffic, it could be 3 from what I've experienced..LOL.

I already take an acid reducer prescription for REFLUX, so that shouldn't be a problem. Maybe I'll double up if necessary....but no biggie.

I'll let everyone know how it goes. I'm just ready to get it over with....but not really too anxious.

[SleepyGuy]

Sounds like after treatment I'll have just enough to time to drive from Walter Reed back to my house in time to get some rest. That is a good hour or so depending on traffic. Sometimes MORE. Bad traffic, it could be 3 from what I've experienced..LOL.

You'd be surprised how quick the symptoms can sneak up on you. But sounds like you have meds to keep it in check. I wouldnt worry about getting home in a hurry. Even if your stuck in traffic the symptoms arent so bad you would ever need to pull over. But the ride will just be that much more unenjoyable.

The only one that ever bothered me was reflux/indigestion fairly quickly after radiation. And as long as I took my anti-nausea med before radiation I was usually ok. Sometimes it wouldnt work 100%, but I never got worried I was about to let loose either.

[QuintenvG]

Hi,

thanks for your comments. I can sleep all day, but directly after the treatment I have to lie down for some hours.

Another strange experience: I've the feeling my stomach is empty (and it is, because I don't eat much), but although it's a kind of hungry-feeling I can't eat (unless it's salty... I would like to each as much junkfood is I can!)

And then coffee: it's something I can drink all day, but this day (I'm writing at 18.00 pm in Europe), I only had one cup. Only the smell of it, makes me feel bad!

But thanks for all your comments, it's good to know that you're not alone!

[Sans rt1]

It was about a year ago that I started my RT. I remember the fatigue and queasiness. I also did not really like to eat unless it was something not too good for me - spicy, salty, rich food actually settled my stomach. I also could not stand coffee during my RT.

One piece of advice: Remember to exercise during and in the weeks following completion of your treatment. Include stretching to keep the muscles in the area that is being treated moving. I'm told that it is not very common, but I developed some lower back problems - that was probably caused by formation of scar tissue and adhesions. I really think if I had included stretching and more exercise (all I had energy to do was walks), I might not have developed this. Again, this is rare at this low dosage of radiation, but I have heard from some others that have had similar outcome - so remember to exercise and stretch.