Hi
im day 4 of first FEC chemo and suffering badly with constipation and associated problems!
Anyone else got this and what are your best tips?
I’m trying to drink and walk lots. Weetabix for breakfast, fruit, apricots and prunes and half a ton of broccoli for dinner.
Now also on the Senokot in the hope it works tonight.
Is it the Ondansetron anti sickness pills or just the chemo drugs doing it?
Not sure, but didn’t like it! Pontefract cakes were my saviour. I ate half a bag, and bingo. Got bags of them in the food cupboard. ?. Second round of chemo was the opposite for me. Good luck in your quest ! X
I think it’s the side effects meds rather than the chemo itself that cause the bad constipation. I found the answer was to take docusate sodium (or whatever laxative you prefer) on the morning of FEC chemo treatment and then keep taking for 48 hours. You may find you get the opposite problem with taxane treatment!
movicol- perfect solution. Can tailor it to your exact requirements, can be on it long term,and if you don’t like the taste dilute with orange juice. It took me a private (paid) consultation with a colorectal surgeon to obtain this info after developing an anal fissure as a result of the constipation. My constipation is a reaction to the anti sickness drugs so it got less servere through the cycle and was not as bad on my second lot of chemo where I had less sickness tablets.
I was given laxido (like movicol) after every chemo session. Some people recommend prune juice.