persistent cough

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Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could help. My mum is on xeloda at the moment for her bone mets and she has some mets in a gland im not sure of the name but its near the neck/chest she also had some activity in a muscle near a shoulder and i think also some speckles in the lung.at the last scan 6 weeks ago the tumor in the gland had slightly shrunk and everything else seemed stable. But my mum has had a persistent cough which is causing her to be sick, could this be the xeloda or do we need to look deeper. I called the GP last week she came and had a look and gave mum the once over and confirmed the chest sounds clear she gave her some cough medicine and an inhaler. We then had an appointment with the onc who didn’t seem too concerned and just told my mum on ways to sooth her throat i.e. cough meds etc. Just another note my mum has always had this type of a cough in her life it comes and goes but its never so bad as it is now. So basically is this the side effect to the xeloda or could it be something new. Maybe im panicking over nothing but this disease is so unpredictable that my minds working overtime. I just want to say thank you to everyone on here this website has made me see things in a new light and made me and mum more positive about the futur.

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Hi bm,
Sorry to hear about your mums cough, it can be so tiring. I’m sorry, I haven’t got any real advice to give you. What I would say is that if it is still as bad in a weeks time I’d go back to your GP.
Have you got a Mac nurse? perhaps you could talk about your concerns with them? I understand what a worry this is,hopefully it is nothing, but don’t be afraid to ask the medics for more info/tests etc if things don’t clear-up.
Good luck to you both, Julie x

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Hi Julie
Coughing seems to be a listed side effect of Xeloda. Although not a common one some sites say 10-29% of those taking it get a cough. cancer.org lists it as ‘less common’ but not ‘rare’.
So your mums cough could be a side effect, and hopefully some way can be found to relieve the unpleasantness for her.
Sarah