If you are dealing with cancer, you probably had several types of treatment that were considered when it was first diagnosed. One of the most usual types of treatment for cancer is chemotherapy, a drug-based regimen that might be meant to cure or to prolong your life and ease symptoms.
The chemotherapy itself is not supposed to cause pain, though there might be tenderness at the site of the transfusion. However, one of the side effects of the drugs can be uncomfortable and severely decrease your quality of life. We’re going to teach you how to deal in the best way with these side effects and live your life the way you want to live it.
1. Pain
Receiving chemotherapy can cause a lot of pain, in the form of muscle pain, a headache, or unexplained stomach pains. There are many ways of dealing with the pain caused by undergoing chemotherapy, including using over the counter pain-relieving drugs, adjusting or tweaking the levels and proportions of the drugs you take as a part of your regimen or using nerve therapies to block the pain signals from going to your brain. Getting rid of the immediate pain is the simple part of this, but you may experience pain years later.
2. Loose or Watery Stools
Some chemotherapy regimens, whether administered at a public hospital or in private chemotherapy treatment, may cause bowel issues like diarrhea. It is important to treat and prevent diarrhea in order to prevent yourself from becoming too dehydrated. Eat a diet which is high in fibre and take supplements designed to aid bowel health.
3. Sores on Your Mouth and Throat
A lot of the drugs standardly prescribed for chemotherapy cause damage to the cells of your throat, creating an irritating disease, mucositis. This causes sores in your mouth that can easily become infected. To prevent this from happening, eat a clean, healthy diet free of ingredients like sugar or oil that will clog these already open wounds. It is also recommended to clean your teeth and gum regularly.
4. Upset Stomach
This is the most common side effect associated with chemotherapy. A lot of patients complain about feeling sick to their stomachs and throwing up regularly. To treat this side effect, many people take a carefully coordinated cocktail of medications before each chemotherapy session that they have. This medication often consists of an ‘antiemetic’, designed to stop the body from expelling its contents, and some pain relievers to help with the queasy feeling. Your doctor can work with you to design a regimen of medication for you to take both before and after each treatment. This is palliative care or care that is designed to bring you comfort.
5. Nerve Damage
While nerve damage is a lot like pain in that it can cause you to suffer pain, it is not so easily treated. For some people, nerve endings may be damaged even years after their chemotherapy sessions, or may never be healed again. Experimental treatments like acupuncture have been used to treat this nerve damage, but there is no certified way of helping it. Most often, the treatment includes intensive therapy that sometimes takes a really long time to work.
6. Mood Swings
Your bone marrow is there to make new cells, but chemotherapy is designed to disrupt this. Sometimes not having enough new cells can cause severe mood disorders. Usually, the amount of blood cells in your body return to normal after you are finished with chemotherapy, but you may want to plan a mood-stabilizing treatment plan with your doctor. It may include medication, talk therapy.
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