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Side effects of chemotherapy

Chemotherapy drugs are very strong. They kill cancer cells but may also damage some normal cells. This can cause temporary problems or side effects that can make you feel sick. Your treatment team will do their best to prevent or treat side effects.

In general, there are some common side effects of chemotherapy drugs to watch for. If you are having any of these symptoms, tell your treatment team because some can be prevented or treated.

Common side effects are:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• Loss of hair
• Mouth sores
• (For girls) Irregular periods
• (For boys) May lose the ability to make sperm

Also, because chemotherapy drugs can damage the blood-producing cells, you may have low blood cell counts during treatment. The counts usually return to normal after treatment.

Low blood cell counts can cause:

• Increased chance of infection
• Bleeding or bruising after minor cuts or injuries
• Tiredness or shortness of breath

Some side effects are specific to a particular drug. These include:

Doxorubicin

• Nausea, vomiting, and pink color to urine, sweat, tears, and saliva
• Reduction in the ability of the bone marrow to produce blood cells, causing an increased chance of infection, bleeding, bruising, and tiredness
• Hair loss
• Mouth sores
• Heart damage (Rare)

Cisplatin

• Kidney Damage
• Nausea and vomiting
• Reduction in the ability of the bone marrow to produce blood cells, causing an increased chance of infection, bleeding, bruising, and tiredness
• Hearing Loss (High frequency loss and occasional loss in the normal hearing range)

High-dose methotrexate

• Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
• Mouth sores
• Hair loss
• Some photosensitivity (Reactions to sunlight)

Ifosfamide

• Nausea and vomiting
• Reduction in the ability of the bone marrow to produce blood cells, causing an increased chance of infection, bleeding, bruising, and tiredness
• Hair loss
• Moderate nephrotoxicity (Poisoning of kidney cells)
• Gonadal dysfunction (Low sperm count and infertility)

Etoposide

• Nausea and vomiting
• Reduction in the ability of the bone marrow to produce blood cells, causing an increased chance of infection, bleeding, bruising, and tiredness
• Hair loss

Several medications are available to prevent against and treat nausea and vomiting. Your doctor will base his or her decision as to which medicine to use on the known potential of a drug to cause nausea and vomiting and your history of nausea and vomiting with prior courses of chemotherapy. They will also consider the success of the medication you have previously used. It is important to know that some people may need to use more than one anti-nausea medication during a chemotherapy treatment. One of the most important things you can do is to talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner about any anti-nausea medications you have taken in the past. Tell them which medications worked and which did not. Knowing which medications helped you the best will help your doctor decide which ones to use.

Usually your doctor will prescribe several medications to prevent you from being nauseated. In addition, breakthrough medications are used when nausea is occurring during treatment.

Some preventative nausea medications include:

Emend

Emend is a strong anti-nausea medication that is used with chemotherapy drugs that give strong nausea symptoms. For example, Emend is usually used with Cisplatin.

Kytril

Kytril is an anti-nausea medication that can be used in combination with other anti-nausea medications. For example, Kytril can be used with Emend and Decadron.

Zofran

Zofran is a short-acting anti-nausea medication. It is used in place of Kytril.

Decadron

Decadron is an anti-nausea medication that can be used in combination with other anti-nausea medications. For example, Decadron can be used with Emend and Kytril.

Some breakthrough anti-nausea medications include:

• Reglan
• Phenergan
• Ativan

More specific information about these drugs can be found using Medline Plus. You must look up the name of the specific drug.

Tests to check for side effects of chemotherapy

Your treatment team will run regular tests to check for side effects of chemotherapy. These tests may include:

• Blood tests to tell doctors how well the liver and kidneys are working
• An audiogram to test your hearing
• An echocardiogram to check how well the heart is pumping