RED face and BAD headache- is this urgent?

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oconnelljc
oconnelljc Member Posts: 6
edited June 2014 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

I just had my first chemo session yesterday and today my Neulasta. I was feeling fine but then I became dizzy, my face got very red and I got a very bad headache. Since this happened a few hours after I got home and after the hospital is closed, I'm wondering if I should go to the ER or if this is normal. No one told me I'd have this particular side effect and/or that this was a side effect some people have. They just told me the obvious and that Neulasta makes you have bone pain- and to go to the ER if I had a fever, no matter what grade. It doesn't seem that I have a fever, but I am very flushed and have a bad headache. THANKS!! I am new to this.


PS I am a relatively young male (in my 40's) with breast cancer, stage 3, grade, 2. My tumor was only 1 cm but I had 27 lymph nodes affected and removed, however the cancer was supposedly midgrade aggressive, which seemed strange to everyone.

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  • juliaanna
    juliaanna Member Posts: 1,043
    edited May 2013

    oconnelljc,

    Haven't had chemo but my gut feeling/nursing experience says- "get to the ER".  Better to have them send you home, saying it was nothing than to ignore it.

    Sorry you are here.  Come back and let me know how it goes.

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited May 2013

    Were you given steroids?  The red face is common and usually means a response to Decadron, and is very common.  This happened to me with each cycle of chemo, and it usually lasted for 24-48 hours.  I just received a steroid injection in my knee a week ago and again got the very red face for 48 hours.  The headache is also common, particularly with the first cycle - many people have this, but don't on subsequent chemo cycles.  That being said, you might want to call the on-call at your oncologist's office, or if you are concerned - make a trip to the ER.  You may also be dehydrated - this can lead to being dizzy and the headache.  Good luck!

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  • oconnelljc
    oconnelljc Member Posts: 6
    edited May 2013

    thanks, my wife said I may be dehydrated b/c of the headache and being dizzy (even though I am drinking a lot of water) I stopped drinking tap water b/c it would make me sneeze too (?) I'm drinking mineral water. And no, I wasn't given decadron or steroids, just the Neulasta. I heard from their site it isn't common but it happens so I'm guessing it's that. It happens to people with high BP although I take meds for that and haven't had high BP in a while.

    THANKS everyone!

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  • oconnelljc
    oconnelljc Member Posts: 6
    edited May 2013

    sorry, not sure why my diagnosis/treatment and bio doesn't show up on the posts above (for more information on treatment, pls see my bio because some drugs aren't listed on here so I had to manually add them)

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  • juliaanna
    juliaanna Member Posts: 1,043
    edited May 2013

    oconnelljc,

    There is a thread for men with breast cancer, if you don't already know.  I don't know how to do the link here, but I bet you can find it.  

    Best wishes to you and your family as you travel this road.

    Julia

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  • oconnelljc
    oconnelljc Member Posts: 6
    edited May 2013

    thanks so much, Julia!

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited May 2013

    Do you have a list of the medications you were given in your intravenous pre-meds on the day of chemo?  That is when you would have received the Decadron.  It is given to help control any allergic reaction to the chemo drugs themselves.  Also some of the anti-nausea drugs, Zofran in particular, carry a headache warning.

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  • oconnelljc
    oconnelljc Member Posts: 6
    edited May 2013

    thanks, SpecialK, I don't have a list of that with me but I did get anti-nausea medication (I do not recall my nurse saying she was giving me Decadron though) This started today, after I received the Neulasta med. I'm going to call them tomorrow and see what could have done this. Thanks so much for the info on the headache too!

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  • Gillkath
    Gillkath Member Posts: 149
    edited May 2013

    Hi Jim,



    The day after each chemo treatment, my face would begin the red flush. I looked like I had a sunburn. When I went to have my Neulasta shot, the day after chemo, the nurse was so shocked at my appearance, that she made me sit right there and take benedryl. Apparently, this is a sign of an allergic reaction. With every subsequent treatment, I had to stay on the benedryl for a number of days after treatment.



    You should definitely mention this to your oncologist!



    You are in my thoughts!



    Laurie

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  • Sassa
    Sassa Member Posts: 1,588
    edited May 2013

    oconnelljc,

    Some of us "lucky" people have our BP and cholesterol raise by AC (can't remember which one is the cuprit.

    I needed my BP and statin doses increased while on AC and later, the herceptin.  Everything dropeed down to what would be normal for me after treatment and both meds were put back to pretreatment doses.

    Although you are not aware of it, you probably were given Decadron.  I had my only hot flashes from them (I was blissfully going through menopause without having any). The flashes started either late in the evening of treatment day or the day after.

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  • fd1
    fd1 Member Posts: 239
    edited May 2013

    oconnelljc, were you administed Taxol?  If so, then your red face is almost certainly caused by Decadron (steroid) which is a required pre-med for Taxol.  I had this exact reaction every time and it was quite uncomfortable.  It looked like I had been drinking too much!  My onc and my nurse said it is very common.

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  • sdstarfish
    sdstarfish Member Posts: 544
    edited June 2013

    Neulasta gave me terrible headaches - I think part of it because the bone pain for me included my skull. I was just telling someone else that I used to rub mineral ice on my head as a temporary fix. (I know that sounds weird, but at that point who cares what you look like when your head is killing you?)

    Another thing that helped a lot with the headaches was acupuncture.

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