[LorryParticipant]

has any one had any treatments for the above that worked, my Doctor has never heard of it, its making me depressed, I'm seeing her next week and it might give her a starting place ( thanks spell checkkkkkkk..opps..)

[JentayParticipant]

Hi Lorry,
Feeling spaced out while on chemo is pretty normal. It's also par for the course when you're taking steroids (you're probably having both – lucky you!)
Sadly, I don't have a cure for the feeling but it should get easier as your body adjusts to the various drugs, although Dex-head is something that still affects me and I've been taking it, on and off, for over four years.

It's worse when I stop taking the Dex (I take it for the first 4 days of my treatment)and the following couple of days, when I stop, I feel as if I can't do joined-up thinking. I try to ensure that it happens at the weekend when I don't need to drive.

A lot of these drugs mess with your head so don't feel that you are alone. We've all been there and lived to tell the tale. And moan!

Best of luck,
Jen.

[LorryParticipant]

Hi Jen
when I had the stem cell replacement it seemed to start when that finished,I put it down to the 3 months recovery, but have been in remission for the last 18 months and I am only taking Bonfos (Sodium ciodrnate), so not taking any chemo drugs as such, chemo fog seems like early dementure, and I seem to get it when I feel down or poorly, (I've had shingles pain for the last 6 months) and this cycles into depression,
Lorry

ps
It been a right bugger trying to get this answer to sound right……

I'm 58..

[eveParticipant]

Hi Lorry

You do not say how old you are!!!

Slim has a chemo head,it has taken him along time to get back doing crosswords,which he use to be very good at,I did speak to a trial nurse,who said in a polite way he may never get back to the person he was,one year on I would agree.

No one would pick up on it as it is just the odd thing for example driving some were he should know the route,he forgets!!!!
I have got him to accept he forgets many things,so we can talk about it ,although he is 68 I consider it is the toxic chemicals that have caused this,he did have lesions on his skull. The way we try to look at it is that he is alive, we just have to watch out for keys,and check up on things,plus talk about it,otherwise he would get depressed,I try to take a leaf out of Toms book onward and upward.Eve

[tomParticipant]

Hi Lorry

Well let me tell you I was told I had "Chemo Brain" after my SCT ?? asked the Q's when i had your problem :-/ and was told Chemo Brain :-0 now I had my SCT in December 2009 am now drug free and in remission or platued whatever??: Age 57 (born 1955) I was told it will recover ?? am still waiting Lol 😛 :-S
Hope your soon sorted

Tom Onwards and Upwards

Ps Eve you may take as many leafs as you want, bnut i do ask you leave the ones that are strategically placed on me Lol xxx

[sandydeliParticipant]

Hi Lorry I see you say You'v had shingle pain for 6 months !!!!!! I'v just come down with shingles this week and the pain was horriable at first I thought it was my myeloma back but then realised it was a different pain more like a stabbing !!! Anyway now the rash has come out and I'm on anti viral tablets 5 times a day and pain killers feeling a little better.
I was wondering if any one else had got shingles since their SCT mine was Oct, 2011 I'm 57 this April.
Sorry cant help you on the cemo fog not had anything like that well at least I don't think so lol,
Sandra.

[PerkymiteParticipant]

I had my SCT in Dec 2010. I vaguely remember taking anti shingles medicine at the time to prevent it :-S ! I am never sure whether my ?chemo brain?, forgetting things etc?, is ?chemo brain? or part of life?s rich pattern at 70 years.

Kindest regards ? vasbyte

David

[LorryParticipant]

Sandra
My shingles was/is under my right arm pit,(T1,T2 & T3). When it first started it was like a heart atack about 10 hammer blows. I could not wear T shirts or any thing that touched my skin,I ended up buying XXL hoody type jackets with the soft fluffy insides, wore them in bed at nights because even duvet/sheets etc. caused pain, to help cool it and take the pain away I used[u] Piroxicam 0.5% w/w gel[/u] (prescription) which lasted about 2-3 hours, Aqueous cream cools it but don't take the pain away,
If you get pain in another part of the body my shingles pain seems to disappear while the other pain take control
I have thought of using a "tens" machine, any one used one?
I'm sorry to say that shingles can really bring you down, so be really careful of infections
Lorry

[FOXLEYParticipant]

Hi Sandra,
I was told that shingles is fairly common after high dose chemo. I suppose that it can occur at any time after the treatment because there is no vaccination against it. At The Christie they give Aciclovir for 6 months because they were seeing a number of patients getting shingles after 4 months but apparently not all clinics give Aciclovir for this length of time.
I do hope you feel better soon.
Chris

[ali49Participant]

I've experienced some loss of concentration and a sense of 'vagueness' since my chemo.(Or it could be my age!) I caught the end of a discusion about it on the radio recently which I think was saying that it was a recognised condition but more research needed to be done. The effects wear off eventually but it seems to be variable. I did find this article

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/news/archive/cancernews/2012-11-27-Small-study-finds-physical-evidence-for-chemo-brain

but it's not helpfull in terms of suggesting a solutuion!
I hope your GP is encouraging and I'm sure it will get better in time. I try to do crosswords etc to sharpen my brain!
Alison

[mhnevillParticipant]

Hi Sandra

I'd forgotten that I had shingles while on CDT and it was very painful – round my middle. Still get a tightness, but nothing to worry about.

Take care.

Mavis x

[AntarParticipant]

Hi David
may I ask at what age you undertook the sct? I'm currently on chemo trials and will be approaching or beyond 70 by the time sct begins next year, hope they're not going to turn me down.

Regards David

[Author]

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