I had my first chemo on friday, after herceptin on Thursday. All was going quite well, apart from tummy problems and bad taste until yesterday afternoon. All of a sudden I had the most awful sore throat,glands and earache. I went to see my gp today as was worried it was an infection, and was sent for blood tests. I am now thinking that this is a side effect of chemo, has anyone else had these symptons, my throat feels like its got razor blades inside it and my ears feel like there full of water, its not nice at all.
Hiya,
I remember when I had my first FEC I got a very sore throat, cough and my glands were up! I ended up going to the out of hours dr as my temp was up, he done bloods and results the next day showed my White blood cell count was very low! Unfortunately your immune system takes quite a knock with chemo, I ended up having the injections every time I had chemo as my count was so low. I’m sure you are but keep an eye on your temperature, and if you are at all concerned give the on call chemo nurses a call that is what they are there for.
(( hugs ))
Take care
Donna xx
Thanks for your quick reply donna, its appreciated. My temp seems ok at the moment, but my gp arranged blood tests, so will get results tommorrow. The sore throat is awful, really agony, I am sucking so many cough sweets etc.
xxx
I hope you feel better soon StarGazerlily. That sounds horrible.
Sue
It really hurts, but have spoken to a few bcc ladies on facebook and have found out that its quite common to have a sore throat with chemo. I was expecting sickness, tummy, weight gain, but not a sore throat!
Hugs to you sue xxx
Hi when I had my first fec I too got the same. The ulcers were horrid too. My bloods came back ok but was I’ll for 6 days antibiotics helped. There is light at the end honest had no 2 and 3 since and no ulcers or sore throat. I never used the mouth wash after the first fec I think that made it worse for me. Soft tooth brush and brush after every meal is my routine and it works for me. Cold tea whittards is nice too take care x
Stargazerlily,
Our chemo nurses were very keen that we contact them directly rather than go to our GPs for symptoms like this, as a bit of delay often creeps in. A certain amount of sore mouth does happen with chemo, but it is frequently a sign of a low white cell count and infection.
Glad to hear you have no temp, keep watching this overnight and contact them EVEN IF IT IS THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT if you have a temp of 37.5 twice or 38 on or over once. OR if you feel shivery and ill without a raised temp.
Even if you feel fine ring them in the morning and discuss it all, they are there to advise and help, and would rather do that than wait until you are really ill.
I had a bad sore mouth with first FEC, went to my GP and ended up in hospital by the end of the day, and the nurses used my story as an example of what NOT to do in their education for newbies!!!
So do as I was told, not as I did
Love from Lavender
xx