Pain during Chemotherapy

justpat · Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 8:36 pm Post subject: Pain during Chemotherapy

I read so many articles that say chemotherapy will help the person feel better for a period of time and stop the pain, etc. Since finding my husband's NSCLC in July he has had 3 treatments with Gemcitabine by intravenously IV and just had his 3 treatment with Navelbine by IV. He is in contant pain in his chest, his back. He can not sleep at night because of the pain. He can't lay down because the pressure on either side hurts so bad and he also has much much trouble getting his breath. The oxgen level looks good in the doctors office. 93 to 96 even sometimes, but when they have him get up and walk even 5 foot the oxygen can drop to 87 - 84 or even to 82. There has been no good days for him. Since he started the chemo he is in contant pain. They told us he is stage 3 and can't have radiation or surgery. The cancer is in the chest wall. They drained 3 liter of fluid off his right lung when they discovered the cancer. He had been treated for pneumonia for 2 months before they finally took the tests and found cancer. It just really brothers me when I keep reading that chemo will help the pain and quality of life and my husband is in contant pain and can't walk across the room. He is not in a wheel chair and he gets up each day and sits at kitchen table and drinks a cup of coffee but he is in pain all the while. he takes 60M of Morphine time release twice a day and takes probably 6 to 8 Loritabs each day along with it just to help the pain a little ( not ever get rid of it). Is chemo really worth it when it doen't do anything for him in the way of helping the pain or quality of life? I would like your suggestions and ideas. Is there something we are overlooking that will help? Have you or someone you know had contant pain even when taking the chemo. On top of that last week they let the medicine leak out of vein and his left arm is awful where the medicine burnt it.
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mikes · Senior User Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 143

My wife was on Gemcitabine and didn't have pain problems from it. But everyone is different.

The time release morhine she was given was Avinza. It did not work well for her.

Her pain was primarily in her leg where the cancer had spread.

Duragesic worked for her, but made her nauseous, so she quit using the patch. It does work well for many people.

The pain pill combo that worked for her was neurontin, tramadol, cataflam, and tylenol.

You might want to talk to your oncologist and see if skipping a treatment helps the pain.

I am not familiar with Navelbine, but noticed that is an antineoplastic as is Gemcitabine. A more common combo is Gemcitabine/Carboplatin.

Not being an oncologist, I suspect the pain may not be from the chemo, but I have no way of knowing that.

Hope this helps.

justpat · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 5:10 am Post subject: Re: Pain during Chemotherapy

I'm sorry, you are corect. He got Gemcitabine/Carboplatin the first round. After two weeks off and more xrays they started him on the Navelbine. It is so hard to get a doctor to talk where we go. We have four doctors in the clinic where we go and seldom get the same doctor twice. The pain is no better when treatments are skipped. We had one last week and we are off this week with no treatment and go back to doctor next week. He did have to lay off one other week because the blood platlets had dropped to 15. They were afraid he might have inter bleeding but found that was not true. As far as quality of life, he doesn't have any. He just hurts all the time. I saw my brother with the same thing two years ago, and he drove, mowed grass, and ran a flea market for a few months while he was having chemo. My husband can't even drive to his appointments. I have to drive him and get a wheel chair for him because he can't walk to elevator and to doctor office down the hall after we get off. It isn't because he enjoys the care, he has always been the type to toss off illness of any kind and go on to work and do the normal things that come with life. I will ask my doctor about the pill combo that worked for your wife (neurontin, tramadol, cataflam, and tylenol.) This is a man who never even waited for me to make coffee in the morning (he made it) and now he makes it from bed to kitchen table and asks me get him a cup of coffee. Never moves much because he hurts so bad he tries to find a spot that doesn't hurt and then not move. He says he never really finds that spot but sometimes it doesn't hurt as bad as other times.
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zoi · New User Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 2 Location: Greece

My mum is on chemotherapy (carboplatin/taxol) and she was very much in pain and also could not sleep at night and hardly walk. Now she uses the Duragesic patch and it is actually working for her but she feels very sleepy.
You should know that chemotherapy has many side effects -mainly fatigue and pain- and that every person responses very differently to it. The chemo does not help at all in the quality of life -usually- when it is taken but it hopefully helps to shrink the tumors and prolong life. They are very heavy drugs that attack the whole system, not only the cancer. Be strong and patient. You should not be woried as many pains that my mum had as in the bone marrow or in different muscles were not related to cancer at all (she had lots of CT scans) but in the chemotherapy drugs. All those side effects go away after 4-6 weeks or more after chemo has finished (like the hair that grow back).

If your doctor has not really informed you about it is because different people have different responses but there are many useful sites (including those of the official drugs) that let you know about the side effects:
http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=4024
http://www.lungcanceronline.org/treatment-agents/G/gemcitabine.html#effects
http://www.christie.nhs.uk/patientinfo/booklets/chemocards/gemcitabine_carboplatin.htm

Wish you all the best...

mikes · Senior User Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 143

justpat said it was Stage III NSCLC.

Chemo given for this stage is said to be palliative, which mean it is given to relieve symptoms including pain. If you are experiencing pain from palliative treatment, then the treatment isn't working. justpat said that the pain is no better when the treatments are skipped.

That makes me think that the pain is not from the treatments.

Pain is a very personal thing, and what works for one may or may not work for another.

I would work on the right combination of pain medications and lifestyle changes that will relieve the pain. The Duragesic patch is certainly worth a try.

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