Loss of appetite

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Kkmay
Kkmay Member Posts: 156
edited March 2019 in Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After

Hi Ladies!

I’m wondering is it ok for a cancer patient receiving ACchemo to experience appetite loss. My mother is not craving anything and she is feeling full all the time despite not eating anything. I’m really worried about her.

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  • Trishyla
    Trishyla Member Posts: 1,005
    edited March 2019

    Not only is it okay for your Mom to lose her appetite on A/C chemo, it's pretty much expected. Adriamycin is a very, very strong chemo. Some people, me included, call it the Red Devil. It can alter your sense of smell and taste, as well as cause nausea and fatigue, making it hard to enjoy food. It also causes hair loss.

    That's the bad news. The good news is that it is an extremely effective chemo. It's great for hormone negative cancer. Since your Mom is Her2 positive, she should also be on Herceptin and maybe Perjeta. Those may be causing issues with her appetite as well.

    That being said, they should be giving her medication to help with the nausea. If that's not helping, she should talk to her doctor. Those are the things they do need to know, so they can help her. There's no reason for her to have to suffer.

    Best wishes to you and your Mom.

    Trish


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  • Kkmay
    Kkmay Member Posts: 156
    edited March 2019

    Hi Trishyla!

    Your words made me feel so much better! I have been so anxious about the overall situation of my mother. I worry a lot about her and her SEs. Is it ok to be that worried all the time?

    She is HER negative but I’m not sure how to edit the info. As for her SEs, she does not feel nauseous, but full all the time even if she doesn’t eat anything. I’m not sure if that is the same thing :/

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited March 2019

    Hi kkmay,

    Great advice above from Trishyla -- there's also some good tips on the main Breastcancer.org site's page on Appetite Changes that can help.

    Also, to edit your mom's diagnositic info, just go to My Profile at the top right of your screen, click the My Diagnosis tab, then select Edit next to the diagnostic info. You should be able to change the HER2 positive to negative. Let us know if you need more help!

    --The Mods

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited March 2019

    Get in touch with the MO. Encourage her to drink water, or anything that sounds good. Same with food. Anything she can get down and keep down is good. It gets better after a/c, I had 4 rounds.

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  • CBK
    CBK Member Posts: 611
    edited March 2019

    KkMay

    I had no appetite on AC. I wasn’t nauseous I just didn’t want to eat. I remember the nutritionist following me around at the hospital bugging me because I was losing weight. I would wear heavy boots and carry my cellphone onto the scale when they weighed me to add weight! Ha.

    I found I could drink my calories better than eating them those weeks during AC. If I could get one smoothie down and drink half my calories for the day that was a good thing.

    As soon as they switched me over to Taxol I gained the weight back and more.

    Try not to worry too much. Intermittent fasting is actually a good thing during chemo. Worrying is normal, but actually it’s not serving you and your mom well. Look at all of us here that have been thru AC and taxol. We are here to tell you it may not be easy but it’s ok!

    Hang in there!

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