Good morning wise ladies. I start my first EC next week after 4 x rounds of nab - paclitaxel and am super anxious about it. My pre assessment chemo appointment before I started covered pacli & I was so overwhelmed she said we’d speak about EC side effects nearer the time and we just haven’t! I asked a chemo nurse to run my thro it last chemo I had & she said I’d be fine as long as I take all the anti sickness medications they gave me. But on this note I’m wondering how people have found eating before the infusion? My chemo will be at 8:30, meaning I’ll leave the house an hour before. Can anyone who’s had EC advise on whether they’d recommend an empty stomach or not? And any other incidental, anecdotal tips for this one are greatly welcomed - I picked up loads of tips for taxol based chemos on here but seems there are less for EC…
@sunshineandunicorns Hi there. I had 3 rounds of EC as my first chemo. Mine was always at about 1pm. I ate normally beforehand, ie. had the sort of lunch I would usually have, sandwich, egg on toast etc…, having had a normal breakfast too. They gave me an antisickness tablet, Odansetron, to take just before the infusion started, and 1 to take that night and the next morning. I took them all regardless of nausea. Also I had different antisickness tablets to take for the next 5 days if I needed them. As it turned out I had slight nausea a couple of times for which I took the extra tablet twice. I was never sick.
If you can try and drink plenty of fluids before your infusion. Tricky when it’s 8.30am!! but up your fluids the day before and on the morning if possible.
I did have tummy cramps and diarrhoea with EC, of course you may not, but found this manageable with Buscopan and Loperamide. I also found this was helped, oddly, by not eating solid food first thing in the morning. I had a banana smoothie with milk, then ate at lunch time. Very odd, but be prepared to look at what you’re eating when.
As with all chemotherapy the side effects are very individual it seems!!
Good luck. I hope it goes well xx
Whatever you can stomach, hydrate !
I used electrolytes to help from about 2 days before
My chemo was at 9am and first 2 hardly ate (nerves & steroids) and fasted cycle 3&4 but that’s another convo xx
Hi @sunshineandunicorns
I had 4 x EC followed by 4 x docetaxel. The first couple of rounds I never ate much but drank lots of water. I found that later in the evening I would feel like I had really bad heartburn and nauseous. I learned this was caused by the steroids I was given pre-treatment as they can aggravate your stomach. I then made sure I had something on my stomach before taking the steroids. I always drank at least a litre of water beforehand too. I was prescribed Lansoprozole to help with heartburn and still take these daily even though I finished chemo in October.
EC definitely made me more nauseous so take the anti sickness meds even if you think you don’t need them. I took them for a couple days following infusion. Other side effects were sore mouth, change to appetite and tastebuds, going to the toilet to wee more often and it being red for a day or so. I found my side effects really kicked when I started filgrastim injections on day 3. Will you be getting these? These caused my whole body to ache like I was getting the flu. I took antihistamines and painkillers to help ease the effects.
Nothing about chemo is nice but just be kind to yourself and don’t be afraid to ring the hospital for advice.
Good luck with the rest of your treatment 🩷
Vixter xx
Thankyou. I have been taking Filgastrim already with Nab-paclitaxel and have been relatively okay but I have seen quite a few make this comment about Filgastrim on EC so will be mindful of this. X
Eating light and relying on foods that keep the nausea down will help. My partner ( and I am still feel guilty for not knowing any better to be able to guide her better) had a normal breakfast of eggs, toast and some sauteed Vegetables on the side 4-5 hours before her first EC. This was not the best decision for her and she puked it all out despite being given anti nausea medication while receiving the treatment and then atleast 4-5 times egen she got home. We were almost ready to get to the emergency but thankfully it subsided on its own and she slept it out for a solid 6-7 hours. Don’t mean to scare you or anything just sharing thoughts. However we went all prepared for the next EC cycle. Stuck to toast, boiled potatoes and a bit of avocado. The evening/1-2 days following the EC ( throughout all the EC cycles) we stuck to vegetable broth, bananas, white bread toast , boiled potato, avocados and very light soups,until the next day or so, and eventually got back to the normal diet. Avoided spicy foods, stuck to nutrient dense foods, ate smaller meals every 2-3 hours and hydrated a LOT. But please take advise from the doctors, make sure to pop in the anti nausea medication and do report back to your team, even at the slightest inconvenience. No point braving it out, you deserve all the care and attention in the world. Wishing you all the strength and sending super positive healing vibes your way!
Defo echo everyones msg too: the take the anti sick meds BEFORE you feel sick
Once it hits, it’s hard to nip it x
@sunshineandunicorns i too started EC and had my 2nd cycle yesterday. Most of my appointments are in the afternoon, so I eat before had and if I need to I have a snack bar during chemo, along with lots of water. My nurse gives me my anti sick meds intravenously and I come home with the tablet form. As it’s early in the morning maybe get a sandwich and check to see if you can have it during the treatment…everywhere is different.
Best of luck.
Caroline 
I had 3 rounds of EC before moving onto paclitaxel. I was sick after the first round so they changed the anti sickness meds for the future rounds and that helped. Everyone reacts differently - some people sail through EC and others don’t - so your experience may not be the same but for me, I found eating before worked. Not too close to the treatment, but defo before. I found I was so nauseous afterwards that I could barely eat for days. When I could manage something, it tasted like cardboard and gave me heartburn. And the cardboard taste lasted a good week after each treatment for me. So eat what you can while you’re up to it, just in case. Good luck, you’ve totally got this xxx
Hi Definately a full stomach, hot porridge worked best for me and i took some nibbles with me as i was in for the long haul of having cold cap, i also took 1 paracetomol before because of the firm fitting cap. Our nurses kindly delivered one or two brews throughout.
I never neede the anti-sickness pills, on the two occasions when i felt nauseous whilst sat on the loo, i just put a cold flannel over my shoulders to reduce the heat. My action was to prevent passing out which i had done many years before during noro virus and hurt myself on the edge of the bath.
I also ensured my next meal was ready at home to eat ie in the microwave quick.
My Chemo was first on the list like yours and i got up early and ate early. i caught up on sleep whilst having chemo, i was advised by others to take a blanket and sleep, as much as possible. You will be fine, it is all scary at first but the nurses are great and often you can’t sleep because of the lughter on the ward. Well that was the case with us sometimes. Love and light Moonsox xxx
Hi when I had EC I ate a light breakfast before my treatment because afterwards I did find I suffered more with some nausea but the anti sickness did work well my treatment was 8.30 too and you will feel more tiredness well I did even though with pax I was ok up to cycle 9 after that I felt more tired than usual hope your treatment goes well and ask for mouth wash I suffered more with mouth ulcers x
Mine was always around 8.30 and I always ate breakfast before hand, I never felt like eating much while there or after. I thought it was important to keep my strength up and eat when I could. I would live off angel delight in the couple of days after chemo.
Hello. I only have 4 chemo expérience and I know everyone is different.
Personally I feel nauseous when my stomach is empty. Whenever I leave the house I have snack in my bag: almonds, fruits, babybel (I am more salt than sweet)…
I have found out that hydrating myself to a max makes before the chemo and after makes the whole process better (1st four where epirubupicin and doxiwhatever next one is going to be paclitaxel I will see what it brings along…).
I have also found out for me that coconut water is absolutely fantastic in that matter. Quenches one thirst better than water (or any fruit with a lot of water in it) 
Good luck to all .
Jeez what a sh*t show! Can!t wait till it is over 
I had plain porridge for breakfast and because I had been quite sick after first round I then didn’t eat again until much later in the evening after I had taken more anti sickness for the next few rounds.
That seemed to work well for me. It took a couple of goes to get the anti sickness right for me, so make sure you ask for different drugs if what you get first time isn’t working.
It is so individual, lots of people don’t feel too bad at all with nausea so fingers crossed for you 
