Chris:
I have been eating a yoghurt with flax, hemp and quinoa and that really helps with the constipation. It's funny - today is the first today I really noticed the "chemo fog" too! It's not terrible but I definitely feel a little slow. Thanks to the lord for coffee!
Hang in there.
Forums
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Benny - Name: BM1971
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 12/2/16
- Age at diagnosis: 45
Re: PostiveChris's RVD / VRD induction therapy
Yeah, the chemo fog feels like I've had about half a beer. Speaking of, went out with a friend last night and had a glass of red wine at dinner. It was amazing.
I'm going to double up the flax and chia in my breakfast shake on injection days and talk to the nurse to see if they have some suggestions.
I'm going to double up the flax and chia in my breakfast shake on injection days and talk to the nurse to see if they have some suggestions.
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PositiveChris - Name: Chris
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 11/28/2016
- Age at diagnosis: 42
Re: PostiveChris's RVD / VRD induction therapy
Hi Chris,
As to the constipation...
My other half has eaten lentil soup on most Kyprolis infusion days; high in fiber and magnesium. In general, our bean and dried pea intake has gone up.
And he starts most days with kefir in oatmeal or a smoothie (we also have yogurt and labneh). He also uses flaxseed meal, which he thinks works better than the seeds. Also a lot of fermented food - pickles, kraut, kimchi.
He found the PPI was part of the problem and switched to famotidine on dex doses (in his case, he starts Sat PM and stops after Mon PM, so 5 doses).
He also swears by DigestGold brand enzymes which he uses to aide digestion. He tells me he always sits in the bathroom now as "every little bit counts".
And keep walking.
Hope this helps.
rick
As to the constipation...
My other half has eaten lentil soup on most Kyprolis infusion days; high in fiber and magnesium. In general, our bean and dried pea intake has gone up.
And he starts most days with kefir in oatmeal or a smoothie (we also have yogurt and labneh). He also uses flaxseed meal, which he thinks works better than the seeds. Also a lot of fermented food - pickles, kraut, kimchi.
He found the PPI was part of the problem and switched to famotidine on dex doses (in his case, he starts Sat PM and stops after Mon PM, so 5 doses).
He also swears by DigestGold brand enzymes which he uses to aide digestion. He tells me he always sits in the bathroom now as "every little bit counts".
And keep walking.
Hope this helps.
rick
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rick - Name: rick
- Who do you know with myeloma?: husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: nov 2015
- Age at diagnosis: 50
Re: PostiveChris's RVD / VRD induction therapy
Third Velcade injection was today and went smoothly as normal. I had a much smaller red mark from the second injection. The first injection spot is still there, but you can hardly see the second one.
I ate a chocolate muffin before the bloodwork / infusion and BOOM, glucose was 113. I also ate a small dark chocolate square right before the injection. I'll probably keep doing this as it worked well (and was an awesome break from spoonfuls of coconut oil)
We went for a nice sushi dinner last night, and I definitely enjoyed the rice part of that. Unlike my previous pizza incident, this (normal human sized meal) didn't increase my pain at all, and I was happy to keep my blood sugar up for the Velcade to work its magic.
Rick – I'm definitely going to try lentil soup on Friday. Awesome idea! Maybe even add some falafel and hummus to the mix.
Back to the ketogenic today, which included for those interested:
Breakfast: Flax crackers & almond butter with a spoon full of coconut oil, small handful of macadamia nuts, 3 capfuls (30 cc) of Ketoforce with lemon juice and lots of water, coffee (black)
Lunch: Salmon / yellowtail Poki Bowl with extra avocado on salad greens with onions and serrano chilis, small bit of ponzu dressing, iced green tea
Snack: Olives, spoon of coconut oil, small handful of Brazil nuts, 2 tbsp organic hemp oil, more coffee
Dinner: Some tofu and broccoli, iced black tea
Depending on how hungry I am after that, I'll maybe snack on some other things like more olives, a green pepper, almond butter, coconut oil, or something like that.
(I'm trying to avoid cheese while constipation is in play, but when it's not, I'll add some cheese to the mix)
I'm trying to walk a bit more (it's still painful) today to work on depleting my glycogen stores that I built up on the Velcade day yesterday and get back into ketosis.
I game-planned my constipation approach with my nurse today, and here's what I'm going to do.
Every day: digestive enzymes before breakfast
Non-Velcade Days: Probiotic with food in the am
Day before Velcade, take 100 mg docusate (Colace) with the last meal of the day.
Velcade Day: 100 mg docusate 3x (morning/noon/evening), continued until bowels are moving. Senokot before bed.
Day after Velcade: Miralax (polyethylene glycol) if still needed, while continuing the docusate
Liberal amounts of coffee on Velcade and constipation days. I'm considering adding a few coffee beans to my smoothies.
I'll see how this goes. I'm also increasing my fiber intake during the whole week and have been just crushing water to keep everything flowing (nurse says I need to eat more salt because of this – which is AWESOME.. I love salt).
Hope everyone is having a great week!
I ate a chocolate muffin before the bloodwork / infusion and BOOM, glucose was 113. I also ate a small dark chocolate square right before the injection. I'll probably keep doing this as it worked well (and was an awesome break from spoonfuls of coconut oil)
We went for a nice sushi dinner last night, and I definitely enjoyed the rice part of that. Unlike my previous pizza incident, this (normal human sized meal) didn't increase my pain at all, and I was happy to keep my blood sugar up for the Velcade to work its magic.
Rick – I'm definitely going to try lentil soup on Friday. Awesome idea! Maybe even add some falafel and hummus to the mix.
Back to the ketogenic today, which included for those interested:
Breakfast: Flax crackers & almond butter with a spoon full of coconut oil, small handful of macadamia nuts, 3 capfuls (30 cc) of Ketoforce with lemon juice and lots of water, coffee (black)
Lunch: Salmon / yellowtail Poki Bowl with extra avocado on salad greens with onions and serrano chilis, small bit of ponzu dressing, iced green tea
Snack: Olives, spoon of coconut oil, small handful of Brazil nuts, 2 tbsp organic hemp oil, more coffee
Dinner: Some tofu and broccoli, iced black tea
Depending on how hungry I am after that, I'll maybe snack on some other things like more olives, a green pepper, almond butter, coconut oil, or something like that.
(I'm trying to avoid cheese while constipation is in play, but when it's not, I'll add some cheese to the mix)
I'm trying to walk a bit more (it's still painful) today to work on depleting my glycogen stores that I built up on the Velcade day yesterday and get back into ketosis.
I game-planned my constipation approach with my nurse today, and here's what I'm going to do.
Every day: digestive enzymes before breakfast
Non-Velcade Days: Probiotic with food in the am
Day before Velcade, take 100 mg docusate (Colace) with the last meal of the day.
Velcade Day: 100 mg docusate 3x (morning/noon/evening), continued until bowels are moving. Senokot before bed.
Day after Velcade: Miralax (polyethylene glycol) if still needed, while continuing the docusate
Liberal amounts of coffee on Velcade and constipation days. I'm considering adding a few coffee beans to my smoothies.
I'll see how this goes. I'm also increasing my fiber intake during the whole week and have been just crushing water to keep everything flowing (nurse says I need to eat more salt because of this – which is AWESOME.. I love salt).
Hope everyone is having a great week!
-
PositiveChris - Name: Chris
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 11/28/2016
- Age at diagnosis: 42
Re: PostiveChris's RVD / VRD induction therapy
Fourth injection today. I got Velcade, dex, and Zometa (for the first time) today. I skipped the Zofran (ondansetron) in consultation with the nurse, suspecting that it may be causing or worsening the constipation. I'm not really having any hints of nausea anyway, and I have some at home on standby just in case.
I noticed a rash on both of my inner thighs this morning after getting out of the shower. It was like several mosquito bites, and the overall texture was pale. There was no itchiness or other discomfort. I also have very minor scattered small red spots in various places. When the nurse put a heating pad on my arm to prime my vein for the Zometa IV, I had a small red rash there when he took it off..
The nurse said that my leg rash looks like a "standard" Revlimid rash, and that she wasn't concerned (thankfully). The rash has gone away as of this afternoon, but the skin is just a bit pale and non-uniform in color. I've been taking Zyrtec (cetirizine) daily. I just took a Benadryl (diphenhydramine) to see what that does, and will have some on standby in case the original rash comes back.
I had a bowl of oatmeal with some raisins (no other added sugar) before the injection, and my glucose was at 145 before the Velcade. For lunch I had some lentil soup, falafel, hummus, and salad. So much awesome. Some sushi for dinner along with a Thai curry soup. I think I did a pretty good job at keeping the blood sugar up today while eating reasonably healthy. I'll take it.
This was the last injection for this cycle (2 weeks 2x / week on, 1 week off) Velcade, which gives me 11 days off! Looking forward to it so that I can restore some gut health (and eat some cheese!) I did have some minor "breakthroughs" yesterday with the new constipation strategy, and a MAJOR "breakthrough" this morning, thank goodness.
I haven't had any more "chemo fog" since that one time last Sunday.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and a Merry Christmas!
I noticed a rash on both of my inner thighs this morning after getting out of the shower. It was like several mosquito bites, and the overall texture was pale. There was no itchiness or other discomfort. I also have very minor scattered small red spots in various places. When the nurse put a heating pad on my arm to prime my vein for the Zometa IV, I had a small red rash there when he took it off..
The nurse said that my leg rash looks like a "standard" Revlimid rash, and that she wasn't concerned (thankfully). The rash has gone away as of this afternoon, but the skin is just a bit pale and non-uniform in color. I've been taking Zyrtec (cetirizine) daily. I just took a Benadryl (diphenhydramine) to see what that does, and will have some on standby in case the original rash comes back.
I had a bowl of oatmeal with some raisins (no other added sugar) before the injection, and my glucose was at 145 before the Velcade. For lunch I had some lentil soup, falafel, hummus, and salad. So much awesome. Some sushi for dinner along with a Thai curry soup. I think I did a pretty good job at keeping the blood sugar up today while eating reasonably healthy. I'll take it.
This was the last injection for this cycle (2 weeks 2x / week on, 1 week off) Velcade, which gives me 11 days off! Looking forward to it so that I can restore some gut health (and eat some cheese!) I did have some minor "breakthroughs" yesterday with the new constipation strategy, and a MAJOR "breakthrough" this morning, thank goodness.
I haven't had any more "chemo fog" since that one time last Sunday.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and a Merry Christmas!
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PositiveChris - Name: Chris
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 11/28/2016
- Age at diagnosis: 42
Re: PostiveChris's RVD / VRD induction therapy
Ups and downs. Today I got up and couldn't walk with my cane anymore.
I've been at the emergency room (ER) all day and a CT scan confirmed that my leg isn't broken, but it's about to snap. They are trying to get me to an oncology orthopedic surgeon tonight. Looks like I'm getting titanium for Christmas.
I know many of you weren't so lucky and had bad breaks at the start of your diagnosis. I literally feel your pain. I think if anything I should have been a bit more pushy about getting the radiation scheduling done. I definitely told several docs and nurses "I think my leg is going to break."
Some good news from yesterday, the Zofran looks like it was the constipation culprit. No issues in that department anymore, and I'm cutting the Zofran out of my schedule.
Hope everyone has a great Christmas!
I've been at the emergency room (ER) all day and a CT scan confirmed that my leg isn't broken, but it's about to snap. They are trying to get me to an oncology orthopedic surgeon tonight. Looks like I'm getting titanium for Christmas.
I know many of you weren't so lucky and had bad breaks at the start of your diagnosis. I literally feel your pain. I think if anything I should have been a bit more pushy about getting the radiation scheduling done. I definitely told several docs and nurses "I think my leg is going to break."
Some good news from yesterday, the Zofran looks like it was the constipation culprit. No issues in that department anymore, and I'm cutting the Zofran out of my schedule.
Hope everyone has a great Christmas!
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PositiveChris - Name: Chris
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 11/28/2016
- Age at diagnosis: 42
Re: PostiveChris's RVD / VRD induction therapy
Hi Chris,
While being treated with Velcade, I really had problems with constipation. The only "drug" that helped was senna leaves. In Europe you can buy them in any pharmacy and cook tea. A miracle happens after 3 to 4 hours.
While being treated with Velcade, I really had problems with constipation. The only "drug" that helped was senna leaves. In Europe you can buy them in any pharmacy and cook tea. A miracle happens after 3 to 4 hours.
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Mara
Re: PostiveChris's RVD / VRD induction therapy
Speedy recovery!
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Benny - Name: BM1971
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 12/2/16
- Age at diagnosis: 45
Re: PostiveChris's RVD / VRD induction therapy
Surgery went well. I stood up today and acutually put on pants (mostly by myself).
Back surgery next week, and it's not a simple kyphoplasty because the T12 is so bad. It's going to be a vertebral column resection (VCR), which isn't common in myeloma patients I'm told. Good news is that it won't impact my mobility, but it's a long (painful) recovery.
IgG is at 1480, lambda serum free light chain down to 33.4, M-spike at 1.0 g/dl (10 g/l), so the less than one round of induction is working well so far. I've been off the Revlimid a few days, hoping to start back soon.
Looking forward to getting out of the hospital.
Back surgery next week, and it's not a simple kyphoplasty because the T12 is so bad. It's going to be a vertebral column resection (VCR), which isn't common in myeloma patients I'm told. Good news is that it won't impact my mobility, but it's a long (painful) recovery.
IgG is at 1480, lambda serum free light chain down to 33.4, M-spike at 1.0 g/dl (10 g/l), so the less than one round of induction is working well so far. I've been off the Revlimid a few days, hoping to start back soon.
Looking forward to getting out of the hospital.
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PositiveChris - Name: Chris
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 11/28/2016
- Age at diagnosis: 42
Re: PostiveChris's RVD / VRD induction therapy
I'm getting out of the hospital in about an hour..
Moving well with the use of a walker, feel great!
Next step, back surgery on Wednesday, and we'll restart induction a few days after that.
Happy New Year everyone!
Moving well with the use of a walker, feel great!
Next step, back surgery on Wednesday, and we'll restart induction a few days after that.
Happy New Year everyone!
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PositiveChris - Name: Chris
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 11/28/2016
- Age at diagnosis: 42
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