Gemcitabine anyone????

www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=4024

www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=10568

www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/gemcitab_ad.htm

www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Individualdrugs/Gem...

lung-cancer.emedtv.com/gemcitabine/gemcitabine-side-effects.html

www.answers.com/topic/gemcitabine

www.medicinenet.com/gemcitabine-injection/article.htm

Thanks Carolyn....but have you actually be on it? I was wondering how it really effects...not just how they tell you it may effect you....if you know what I mean.

no, i don't have cancer

my friend was on it but it was in combination with cistoplatin and FU-5 so its hard to say what did what. i will tell you that he threw up for 7 consecutive hrs after the first round and that his 3rd session had to be stopped because his body went into seizures
however he has AIDS and that might have made his reactions worse?
he didn't lose his hair, however his knee caps and elbows turned black
he also has permanent peripheral neuropathy in his feet, but i've read that that is caused by cistoplatin

anyway, none of it worked and he spent 4 1/2 months in a hospice and is right now in an alternative clinic in mexico

so i can't really give you any personal experience except what i watched my friend go through

ugh!!! So sorry to hear what a tough time he had...I hope he's found a tolerable treatment.

lori

i'm finding it hard to believe that the only replies you've gotten on this so far are from me- someone who doesn't have cancer and has never (and would never!) take gemcitabine.
when i got home the other night, i looked gemcitabine up in Questioning Chemotherapy by Dr Ralph Moss but the drug was not on the market when the book was written and in the forward to the newest edition, he reviews it briefly because it was just about to get approval

I know....I'm quite amazed as well...I start chemo on Aug 11 and just wanted a heads up on the effects of this drug. Its for pancreatic cancer and apparently we usually don't stick around long enough to discuss it....maybe I'll have to ask Patrick Swayze!!

lori

if it's pancreatic cancer, i'd like to suggest that you contact dr nicholas gonzales in nyc. he specializes in it and gets much better results than the norm. in fact, the NCI was going to fund a study of his work, after years of dismissing him as a quack. you only have to see him once every 6 months. you do his protocol at home. he has a website and also if you look up dr ralph moss, he writes often about dr gonzales
but you want to talk to him before you start taking gemcitabine

Yes, I have had chemo with this. The effects of this can be varied & of course are unique to your individual make-up, state of disease, etc. I had this along with carboplatin. Both are known for being fairly immuno-suppressive. I had delays in my treatment due to low WBCs, and low RBCs, which required Neupogen (WBCs) & Procrit & a blood transfusion once, for the RBCs. It also suppresses your platelets. Mine dropped about 60% from where I started.

Neupogen can generate excrutiating bone pain, in forcing the bone marrow to generate WBCs. However, if you get ahead of it & take something like Ibuprofen, right before you get the shot & whatever you need subsequently, this can be managed to a much more reasonable level.

For me, my primary side-effects were flu-like symptoms, after the treatments. I must tell you though that I was taking homeopathic remedies to deal with this, which helped a lot & I drank tons of water during & after treatment. And I took various supplements & had smoothies & lots of veggies...so, I was a "medically naughty" girl! BUT, my side-effects were not too bad, certainly tolerable. Others have certainly reported worse symptoms, which at this point, I can't remember all what they were.

Gemzar (short name) does have a tendency to burn the hell out of your veins. For me, this was excrutiating, so they had to slow the drip down significantly & I was there for around 8 hrs the 1st time! Then I got a PICC line installed & I would recommend this for anyone. This helps PRESERVE your veins because the drug will be going into the catheter & then dumped into your system, usually around the heart area, and not shredding your veins. This sped up the delivery time SIGNIFICANTLY....generally with BOTH drugs, it took around 3 hrs! And as an added benefit, when they have to do blood draws, they can just unplug one of your outlets on the PICC line & draw the blood from there...so a PICC line really helps minimize needle pokes!

I did have to work to rebuild my immune system afterwards quite a bit & it's still not where I'd like it to be.
Hope that helps.
Michalene

Thanks for the info Michalene.....

fatigue was my biggest problem.I took it with oxlyliplatin had 3 weeks on and one off .My counts would get low but never low enough to have to skip a treatment.I will start another round of it in a couple of weeks.I got a mediport makes the iv and blood draws so much easier.