Claritin before neulasta

I’ve read through a few posts on here about TC and it does seem like a very mixed bag. I (31F) had my first round yesterday and it was too anticlimactic…to the point where I’m freaking myself out about what’s to come. I am cold capping with Paxman but results from that seem incredibly variable too. I have a Neulasta patch that will dispense at 6:30 tonight and will take Claritin for the next few days to stay on top of bone pain.
Biggest worries for me are: hair loss (I know at least some shedding will be in my future 2-3 weeks from now even with the cold cap), and not being able to do the fieldwork part of my job (which is to operate small boats..I’m on the schedule for a 4 hour boat run next Wed which will be exactly a week post first infusion).
Any tips/tricks/good or bad experiences with 4 rounds of TC I’d love to hear! Even if I’ve heard it before, or it’s not all positive news. I just really want to know what’s coming. For me, the unknowns are the worst part. A long list of potential side effects is one thing but actually hearing from women who’ve gone through it is far more comforting.

I am looking for some insights into THC/CBD for chemo symptoms. I started TC last week, and it has been rough. It seems like every medicine I have to help mitigate my symptoms exacerbates a different one as a side effect. The Neulasta bone pains have been awful, and the Claritin didn’t seem to do anything. My muscles are spasmed pretty much all over my body, so much so that my pecs have been tight and feel like the do on an expander fill day, but I haven’t had a fill for 2 weeks. The chemo has thrown my liver out of whack, so was told to lay off Tylenol, but have had to hold ibuprofen as well in preparation for getting my port placed today (we tried to do peripheral for chemo last week and it didn’t go well). A heating pad and back rubs from my husband are the best options I have had for pain. The onc office suggested being more active to keep limber to help the pain, but I am so tired and sore that physical activity is daunting. My gut has been a mess, so I don’t really want to add opioid induced constipation to the mix. I haven’t slept well since my mastectomy, but this past week has been particularly awful. I get 4 hours of sleep at a maximum. My husband pointed out that I never end up in the same place I go down, and it’s true; I constantly change between bed, couch, and recliner to find somewhere I can actually sleep.
I don’t know if looking into cannabis products is the right answer, but I am open to suggestions. I’m hoping it might help with some of my symptoms, or at least make me care a little less about the fact that I am having them. If you’ve used it, what benefits did you see? Drawbacks or side effects? How much and what kind?
I have never used any marijuana products before in any form, so I have no idea what I’m doing. I would plan to use it in an edible form; I am not comfortable smoking anything. It’s legal in my state when purchased from licensed dispensaries, so I’m not concerned there.
Any thoughts or personal experiences that anyone is willing to share would be much appreciated. My husband is ready to go to the dispensary for me if it would help.

38 and diagnosed with HER2+ BC a couple months back. Going through TCHP chemo and am halfway through! I know chemo is cumulative, but symptoms have been more manageable than expected, and grateful for that. Overall, it hasn't been terrible and I've continued to work (helps me with the brain fog as well)
Tips & tricks I've learned:

• suck on ice during taxotere to prevent mouth sores, and ice hands and feet to prevent neuropathy
  
• recommend acupuncture throughout chemo
  
• salt/baking soda rinses before and after eating, and using biotene
  
• stay active as much as possible. Even if it's just taking walks
  
• recommend using LMNT or similar electrolytes to add to water. I'm drinking at least 150oz daily
  
• be militant on taking meds, I haven't had any nausea/vomiting
  
• take non drowsy Claritin (loratadine) for neulasta a day before you get the shot, and continue for 5-6 days after
  
• wear a v neck shirt or something that makes accessing your port easier
  
• eat smaller meals throughout the day
  
• eating with plastic utensils helps with the metallic taste
  
• immodium/lomotil/IBgard for diarrhea
  
• eat more bland foods your first week for every treatment
  
• take preventative Pepcid ac for acid reflux
  
• I took preventative measures and haven't had constipation. A few days before treatment through day 2, I would drink a small cup of warm prune juice with miralax.
  

Hi everyone- I recently finished my 4th AAVD treatment after stage IV NSCHL diagnosis in March. I guess I’m wondering about people who had clear interim scans- how did you feel (physically) leading up to the scan? I know my neck nodes have shrunk to the point I can’t feel them and my night sweats are gone (I’ve gotten them once or twice during chemo but I’m told that’s normal) but I can’t help but convince myself that every ache and pain I feel is lingering lymphoma. I think I can feel neulasta in my sternum and breast plate(?) sometimes (yes I take Claritin) and then I convince myself it’s my chest nodes flaring. And neulasta just makes me feel full body shitty sort of how I felt before treatment, but it does tend to go by day 10 or so.
Another thing I reassure myself with is that my SED rate was 72 before treatment and has now been under 10 my last 2 checks. However my LDH was normal before treatment but is now 371 but I read that this can be caused by neulasta.
I DON’T KNOW- I know I need to just keep calm and wait for the scan later this week but I guess I’m just hoping to hear that people with clean scans also felt shitty during chemo (days 6-10 are the peak) in that full body achy sort of way.
Sorry for the anxiety venting, this shit just sucks!

Hey all, I had my first (of four) infusions of dose dense AC on May 3rd, and had what I think were extremely normal side effects - extreme fatigue, nausea that was largely controlled by the olanzapine prescription I got, lack of appetite, and the metallic taste in my mouth. But by Tuesday of this week, I felt SO much better? I don’t think I’ve had a week this productive or had so much energy since long before my cancer diagnosis. Granted, I was basically asleep from the afternoon of May 3rd (barring my Lapelga shot) so maybe that helped?
I’ve exercised every day (finally got cleared even though my months-long delayed wound healing from surgery saga hit yet another snag on Thursday with what the MyChart notes said was a suture abscess 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️), decluttered, organized shit, and even reconnected with work in desperation for something to do. I’m still on medical leave, but I’m bored!
Is this normal after the first infusion? I know it very much was my first rodeo (not to mention switching to Taxol for another 4 cycles after this), but I was not expecting it at ALL. I know chemo is cumulative, but can I expect the worst side effects to subside in a similar timeframe? Or is this just a little grace before the real chemo experience starts? I’m expecting my hair to start going this week and not excited about that for sure, but if I’m able to be active on off-weeks it would make a huge difference to my perilous mental health.
Auxiliary question: does anyone know if the Claritin advice holds up for Lapelga/pegfilgrastim? I’m in Canada and it’s apparently a bio-similar to Neulasta but I don’t know enough about the mechanism to know if it would work the same.

hi!
i felt extremely prepared and thankful from this board for AC.
i’ve gone through and read about taxol - in getting 4 rounds of dose dense starting next week - but i’m confused about so many things.
and i also feel like i’m missing some tricks for bone pain and neuropathy.
my doctor says vitamin b6. others say b12. i wonder what the difference is.
any other vitamins to take? often she will say something like “take b6” and i’ll say “i’ve read about taking XYZ, should i take that” and her response is “sure!”. so i only get what i ask for - not much is offered. and that’s why i love love love this board so much. you help me learn what to ask for.
do i still take claritin/zyrtek for bone pain. i don’t think i’m getting neulasta on taxol.
ice 15 minutes before and after treatment. seems to be pretty personal how to do this - bags of ice, peas, gloves and booties, etc.
any tips you can add big or small will be amazing.
one of the best tips i learned for all of this was to plug my nose during port flush so i don’t taste it. life changer that was.
thank you so much. like i said i feel way underprepared for this!

Hello lovely people. I’ve been part of this group since my Birads 5 mammogram almost exactly a year ago and I would like to thank you all for creating such a supportive and useful community for patients and survivors of BC. In the past I’ve left some comments here and there and many posts by others have helped me dealing with anxiety and spells of negative thoughts during treatment, so I want to share my story in full in case it’s useful for anyone who’s just now entering this unfortunate club.
I was diagnosed in May 2022 at 29, IDC EPR + HER- stage 2B because of lump size, no lymph node involvement. My lump was 5+cm and I went to the doctor because I could feel it and my right breast had become quite achey. My grandma had BC at 35 (she’s now 81!) so I was told by my gynecologist to start getting screening mammograms at 30 just to be safe, and I do find it a bit ironic that it caught me just a few months short of that age. Turns out I don't have any genetic mutations for BC though.
I got a port and did neoadjuvant chemotherapy with 4 ACs and 12 Taxols to shrink the tumor, and also started both tamoxifen 20mg and monthly zoladex injections right away. I was lucky and had minimal side effects from these treatments - random hot flashes for a few months, exhaustion, complete hair loss, bad taste in my mouth - the Neulasta injections were the worst though (Claritin + ibuprofen helped a lot!). I had a lumpectomy and SLNB in January and the surgeon cut out 7cm worth of tissue. I achieved partial pathological response but all margins were clear and only 1mm still had scattered active cells, my oncologist and surgeon were enthusiastic with the results. I then did 20 sessions of radiation, and again had no major side effects, only some redness and tiredness (calendula cream y’all, it’s magic). My oncologist said I’m officially NED, now I face 5 years of zoladex and 10 years of tamoxifen, but hopefully I’ll be able to pause them in 3ish years to try for a baby. I didn’t freeze eggs because my tumor was aggressive and my oncologist is optimistic that the zoladex protected my eggs during chemo.
All in all, my experience was not terrible. I had enough energy to keep working, go on regular walks, and I started working out again a month after surgery, now I’m trying to lose the weight I gained during chemo (about 10lbs) and build back muscle, I used to be very active before.
Anyway, thank you all for being there as part of this subreddit, I hope my experience with BC treatment can help ease the anxiety of some. Feel free to DM me if you want to know more about my treatment or side effects!

Hi everyone, my fiancé (27F) just hit day 0!!!! This has been something she has been fighting towards for a long time. She also says I need to throw her two birthday parties a year now haha
Background: She was diagnosed with Stage 4 NSCHL a little under a year and a half ago. Went through 12 rounds of ABVD with the plans of going to ASCT after. Unfortunately, was refractory. Started 3 rounds of ICE and the cancer only showed small changes. Was declared chemo resistant and started 6 rounds of immunotherapy on Nivolumab (Opdivo). This showed fantastic results and only a small bit of cancer was left but still declared a partial remission. There was still a bit of swelling above the last bit of cancer which had been there since being refractory. Continued another 3 rounds of immunotherapy while waiting for a second opinion to see if everything was looking good to start ASCT. In this time, the swelling was completely gone!
Cleared for ASCT and starting collection:
Her port was removed and replaced with a catheter for the process. She unfortunately wasn’t allowed to keep it. The catheter was to remain until being discharged after the transplant.
Surgery team wanted to start a round of Cytoxan a little over a week before collection. Cytoxan really hit her hard for about 5 days after. She had to be on a lot of fluids to flush it out.
A day or so after Cytoxan, she started getting injections in the stomach fat for that week before collection to promote the creation of extra stem cells. She described the pain as similar to Neulasta injections after chemo but dialed up a few notches and didn’t hit until 2 days before collection. Her oncologist and surgery team recommended Claritin for the pain.
During collection, they hooked her up to a machine that took enough stem cells for two transplants incase something happens to one set of cells. This was able to be done in one day which the team considered lucky, they said it usually takes 2-3 days.
A week after collection she got what I believe was gemcitabine and carmustine (at the time of writing I do not know them 100% by heart but will update to confirm). A half dose of each was given together 5 days apart. These didn’t really give her any side effects
Admission: Finally here! Time to start breaking down the marrow. Needed to make the room feel comfy so we decorated it where we could to help with the mental side of things. The team pretty much encourages you to bring whatever from home to help with the psyche, anything positive helps. During the duration of being admitted, they encourage activity, just getting up and moving and walking around your surgery unit. She is allowed two visitors at a time and one can stay overnight.
Day -6: Was given a heavy dose of Cytoxan, same effects as before.
Day -5: Rest day, feeling nauseous from the Cytoxan but not as bad as the day it was given.
Day -4: Given a lethal dose of Etoposide (VP16). Out of everything this one hit her the worst. Extreme nausea.
Day -3: Rest day, she is really feeling weak and fatigued. Nausea turned into to stomach cramps.
Day -2: Given Cytoxan, again going through it.
Day -1: Last rest day, she is feeling pretty hammered from the past few days. Surgery team said the worst part of the process was now done. At this point walks or showering would leave her winded.
Day 0: The new birthday! The procedure itself is pretty anticlimactic and took about 10 minutes. The team gave her some mints for taste since the preservative mixed with the stem cells leaves a foul taste in the mouth throughout the procedure. During the transplant, her vitals were being monitored constantly plus for a few minutes after. She was a bit exhausted afterwards but this was mostly due to being nervous about the procedure.
From here they expect to see white blood cell counts drop to nothing around Day +5 and start rising around Day +8. They said between that time she would feel very weak but not as bad as the chemo. They expect diarrhea and mouth sores from the residual effects of chemo.
Hopefully this info will help someone out there. It was not easy to get to this point but we are glad to be have the opportunity to even be here. I’ll post in the future for the other part of the transplant.

So I’m (24F) half way through my chemo tx, and just finished 4 rounds of Adriomycin + Cytoxen. I am STRUGGLING. I’ve gotten all of the possible side effects and hit super hard with them. I’ve got mouth sores, jaw pain, nausea, reactivation of acid reflux?, horrible constipation from the anti-nausea meds that led to the worst hemorrhoids I’ve had in my life. 8 weeks of all of this, and my Oncologist, and my NP oncologist seem baffled that ANY of these symptoms happened, and have very few solutions for me. I actually got desperate with the lack of communication and support that I reached out to my primary care doc (bless his soul) and he was able to send lidocaine oral rinse as well as Valtrex that helped with the sores. Okay, temporarily put out one fire, move to the next issue of My onco’s over-prescribing anti-nausea that literally constipate me for 3 days at a time, and when I finally had a BM it hurt so bad because I had developed hemorrhoids. The hemorrhoids have only gotten worse, the “care” team I have don’t seem too concerned about it at all, even though I scream in pain and bleeding anytime i use the bathroom now. I’ve used everything under the sun that I’m allowed to, without much success. Because of my hemorrhoid pain, I’m clenching my jaw really hard in my sleep which has brought back my mouth pain with a vengeance 🙃My onc and NP have asked if I wanted to come in for fluids, but fluids doesn’t help either problem. I was prescribed Tramadol for the jaw pain, but it doesn’t help the jaw pain and constipates me more. I truly don’t know what else to do. If anybody has any ideas or suggestions, I’m open. I’m just nervous these symptoms won’t go away before I start my next medicine, Taxol, and then I’ll get new side effects on top of these.
Current meds + Treatments:
Valtrex 2x daily (for sores) Broad spectrum antibiotic 4x daily (I was at risk for neutropenia) Prilosec 1x daily (acid reflux) Claritin 1x daily (bone pain from Neulasta shot) Steroid oral rinse 4x daily Mouth sore mouth wash 2x daily Salt water rinse every time after I eat Tramadol every 6 hours as needed (I don’t take anymore bc it didn’t relieve any pain) Stool Softener 4x daily (to make bathroom time smoother) Diaper rash cream (hemorrhoid relief) Lidocaine Hemorrhoid cream Witch Hazel Wipes (H relief) Sitz baths 3x week Weed to help sleep at night and for appetite

I had my first neulasta injection last Friday and was absolutely fucking miserable by Saturday night even though I’d started Claritin the day before the shot. Mornings have been the worst. Monday and today I took Claritin an hour before I got out of bed, put it next to my bed and set an alarm for an hour before my regular alarm, and it made getting up so much easier. Also walking around the block as soon as I could get myself dressed and out the door helped, too.
If you’re getting this shot, my advice is to take Claritin before the pain sets in and take Tylenol (or whatever your doc says to take) at the first hint of pain. And move even if you don’t want to.
I swear I had a harder time with the support meds than I did the actual chemo!

Without getting into a humongous TL;DR situation here, my partner is dealing with what his oncologist says is a weird-ass, kind of unusual/rare cancer... frankly, we're kind of new to this new evolution of his journey, so I don't really have the terminology yet, though one of us will likely have a post in the future asking questions about it. Anyway, last February he had surgery; they resected his ileum (he *also* has Crohns), removed the neuroendocrine source tumor that was on the outside of his ileum, and resected his liver to remove the 3 largest neuroendocrine tumors and then they ablated 7 smaller tumors from what was left of his liver.
He healed well, but since February we've dealt with recurring abscesses in his liver. He's had a total of nine drains (two at a time until the last one) and he's been on a revolving schedule of antibiotics. This is relevant because about a month ago, he was having the telltale signs of ANOTHER abscess (low grade fevers, night sweats, rigors, etc). He went in for another CT scan (his 23rd since December!) and they discovered that his cancer is metastasizing... it's back in the liver and there are suspicious nodules in his lung that they believe are likely cancer. So they've decided that he has to have chemo... he had his first three day cycle of carboplatin + etoposide last week.
We've got a lot of mitigating circumstances going on... obviously, he's at an *insanely* high risk of infection. So no port. He's scheduled to have a PICC line inserted before his next cycle of chemo mid-November, but they used a peripheral IV for the first one. And because of the risk of infection, he had a dose of neulasta the day after his last dose of etoposide.
He did ok recovering from the chemo (still easily fatigued, but otherwise doing ok), but they warned him of some of the side effects of the neulasta, including deep bone pain. They said it shouldn't be an issue after 5 days or so (and to take a claritin every day for the first five days after the dose; it apparently has proven to boost histamine responses and help mitigate that pain). BUT... today is exactly a week after the dose of neulasta and he's *just now* starting to really feel any pain... not in his femurs or his pelvis like they said is common, but in his lower back and shoulders.
I've experienced severe bone bruising/pain, so I do know what it feels like. But he's saying now that it's painful and feels like the *muscles* around those areas are just constantly on the cusp of spasming.
Can anyone give me/us some idea of what you experienced with neulasta (or this particular cocktail of chemo, if you think that's relative) and if this is common/commonish?

So, I’m questioning if I should comment on posts that ask about side effects. My side effects to Tamoxifen, Zoladex and Neulasta have been off the charts bad. I don’t want to scare anyone by commenting. I kinda feel like I should keep my mouth shut. Does anyone else feel this way?
Thanks to y’all’s encouragement, I thought it would be helpful to share my experiences on this post. I hope that’s okay.
My side effects and what helped:
Tamoxifen: (41F) I had insomnia, HORRIBLE mood swings where I’d be crying one minute— screaming the next. Just about everything pissed me off and I was majorly depressed. I had to take it at 7am or I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I had pain in my neck/shoulders/back. I lowered my dose from 20mg to 10mg. It helped some, but I ended up only being able to tolerate 5mg. Since I had IDC, this low of a dose isn’t recommended, but I figured something was better than nothing. This is not the case with DCIS. Lower doses have been shown to be just as effective. I was wrong about 5mg being enough to keep my cancer at bay. I had a local recurrence. My doc did know I was only taking 5mg. Make sure you talk with your oncologist before lowering a dose of any medication. As someone just pointed out, there are also different generic versions of Tamoxifen. Have your doc prescribe a different one and see if it works better for you. I now take Letrozole. It’s not a walk in the park, but at least it doesn’t make me crazy!
Neulasta: I had the onpro put on after my first TC chemo and the shot itself was fine (I think it was like 27 hours after it was put on my belly that it slowly injected the medicine)… flash forward 3 days and holy hell… my bones ached like they were all on the verge of shattering. My hips, spine, jaw, legs, wrists, hands, arms, feet and ankles were in horrible pain! I was bed-ridden. They throbbed. It was a deep ache. I took Claritin before, during and afterwards; It did nothing. Neither Ibuprofen or Tylenol alone helped. I ended up taking both Tylenol and ibuprofen at the same time. That took the edge off enough to get me through. Along with living on the heating pad. I’d alternate the heating pad to different spots and found that wrapping it tightly around my arms and legs helped the most. I think part of that was the pressure. I’m not sure why. My oncologist gave me the doses of Tylenol and Ibuprofen that were safe to take at the same time. Well, needless to say, I didn’t want that shit again! So, my doc prescribed another shot that did the same thing as Neulasta, but wasn’t the name brand. I can’t remember the name. I had to go to the cancer center and get it 24hrs after my chemo. The side effects were soo minimal. I only had a little bit of bone pain and a headache. And it kept my WBCs from tanking. I’m super grateful my oncologist ordered it. I was able to live my life! I think most people don’t actually get name brand neulasta because insurance doesn’t like to cover it when there are generic versions. I think there are 3 different generic versions. If one sucks for you, ask about trying a different one. Or, you could get labs done a week or so after chemo and see if your numbers tank or not. Some people don’t even need to get the shot. I had labs done, and the week I didn’t get it… my numbers were dangerously low.
Zoladex: I’m a chicken and never looked when they injected it, but I’ve heard the needle is big. The injection didn’t hurt me. I had a 2 hour drive home and I could literally feel the muscles in my neck and back start to tighten up like they were being twisted. It hurt. I also developed a lot of pressure in my face. It felt like a sinus headache. It lasted for weeks and nothing really helped. It just went away on its own. I would get headaches, hot flashes and night sweats. To help with the hot flashes and night sweats— my doc prescribed Gabapentin. It helped somewhat. For the achy muscles I’d alternate between ice packs and the heating pad. Driving 4 hours round-trip every month for a shot that made me feel horrible was not good for my quality of life. I decided to get my ovaries and Fallopian tubes removed. I had that done 3 weeks ago and am so glad I did. The surgery was outpatient, minimal pain, small incisions and no drains. I do get some joint pain and the hot flashes/night sweats (I take Gabapentin every night),but they aren’t worse than before. My muscles don’t hurt. The worst issue I’m having is insomnia and brain fog from the Letrozole. I’m still trying to figure out a solution for that.
I hope this helps. Love you guys.
*** Thank you all for your sweet and encouraging comments. I feel less like a black cloud! Y’all are the best.

Yesterday makes 2 rounds of AC in the books for me!!!! I cannot explain how happy that makes me. Although I’m sad my hair is now falling out at an alarming rate and I will now be shaving it quite soon. I have wigs, and hats, and beanies, to cover me up if I so choose. I have no clue on what I will be wanting to wear yet since I haven’t had a real feel for anything with my hair still here. Plus side (pubes are going) this is a nice small win for me!! Other than that things are still good. I think my lidocaine didn’t work as well this time, or I put it on too soon or my new nurse jabbed me too hard. It seemed to go quicker this time. I didn’t have as many visitors this round. I was a little tired after round 2 and came home and took a nap. Got up hung out with my family and had a movie night. So far so good. I am just starting out on day 2 so fingers crossed. I have my Claritin ready for later and my Neulasta will get me around 1:30 today. I didn’t experience anything from it last time so fingers crossed this goes the same way!!!!! Just wanted to celebrate another treatment in the rear view mirror. I know I have 14 left but hopefully they are here and gone before I know it!!!

Hi everyone. I posted before regarding my wife and good some good tips but I wanted to give an update/ask a question. My wife was diagnosed with stage 4, cancer is in her colon/rectum and may of spread to other areas. She was constantly nauseous within the past week. She got her fist treatment on Monday 7/25 and we did the disconnect Wednesday 7/27.
Treatment day went ok. Weird thing is she was able to eat a little dinner on Monday. And then able to eat something again the next morning. But the nausea kicked in again after that and now she can't hold anything down. Drinks or solids. Anyone know why?
Also we have neulasta on body injector, they said Claritin help with the bone pain. Is she suppose to take that after the medicine or before.

After my second (of 4) Taxol infusion, I developed a cough. I think it was around day 4 or 5. It came from right under my sternum (bronchial, I guess), and was painful but not really productive. My oncologist had concerns and sent my for an X-ray. It came back totally clear. They told me if it got any worse to let them know right away.
It has never gotten any worse, but it also has not gone away. I have infusion #4 next week. I have never had a fever. Not at all- through ANY of my treatment, but no other issues with the cough.
A few days ago, I developed a HORRIBLE sore throat. It was extremely red and painful. I could not see any sores. I have never had any mouth sores. Again, absolutely no fever.
My oncologist started me on amoxicillin and the magic mouthwash (ew, by the way… why didn’t you guys warn me?! Blech!! Lol)
I was just wondering if anyone else has had “unexplained” respiratory system issues from Taxol, Neulasta, or the combination? I guess it could be allergies, but you’d think if that was the case it would be better on the “Claritin cocktail” days. It has not been…
I feel like I’ve been pretty lucky with side effects, for the most part, but when I do have more severe ones they’re always anomalies that my team seems to have never encountered before!

Diagnosed in July 2020, Stage 3a with 3 malignant nodules in lungs, tumor markers were slightly elevated, the lefty went bye-bye. Started EP in late August and got done with the last EP treatment today. Feels like an eternity but glad I made it so far with all the support from here.
What did I learn so far?
1) Nausea meds gave me constipation, so I proactively had prune juice in the mornings to make things easier
2) Fortunately, my work situation allows me to work remotely and since you're on steroids on EP days, I was able to work during infusion. Helped take my mind of the situation. Took a nap when needed
3) Communication, keep track of side effects that you might experience and discuss them with your doctor and oncology nurses. Fatigue, Discoloration on fingernails, High-frequency sounds, Insomnia, and mild Nausea is what I got hit with. Mild exercise, walking helps reduce these side effects
4) Keep hydrated so that your body can flush out any leftover chemo chemicals. Sucks to go pee in the middle of the night and the smell
5) Stay on top of keeping up with medication times. Nausea meds as prescribed (3x a day for 2 days following chemo and then as needed) and Claritin to prevent bone marrow pain from Neulasta (i start taking Claritin the day before the Neulasta kicks in - Friday for a week). No pain so far
6) Diet, I didn't have any restrictions and was able to eat most of the time. Days 7-11 of each cycle, I noticed my stomach was more sensitive to spicy and oily food, so I'd avoid them for a bit and then enjoy them after that recovery period
7) Most importantly, being mentally strong knowing that you're going to get through this challenge in one piece. Reach out to family, friends, or social groups (Immerman Angels for 1:1) for support, whoever you find comfort with
So what's next?
As for me, I'm going to have a challenging few days coming ahead with all the steroids being flushed out and scans in 4 weeks (fingers crossed) and deciding what hairstyle do I pick up once it's all backup and running. Stay strong!
Edit: thanks for the silver Deedl312. I can say TC has been one of my most traumatic life experiences, but after going through this I realized that I am way stronger than I think. This community has been a valuable source of information and encouragement through this experience and this is me giving back to the community. Sending positive vibes!

Hi all,
Looking for advice. I’ve had two treatments of ABVD so far (38M CHL 2A), administered Bi-Weekly. Unfortunately, two times in a row now my WBC count has been way too low when I go in for treatment. Basically instead of bouncing back after 2 weeks, it seems my WBC count needs 3 weeks instead. My oncologist is going to give me a booster of Neulasta next Friday, assuming my count is back up by then enough to get treatment. I’ve heard Neulasta causes some harsh bone pain though, and am a little anxious about it. Anyhow, I wanted to ask you all for tips and tricks if you’ve been through this before. I hear that Claritin or anti-histamine medication can help with the bone pain. Any other tips for dealing with the pain or for helping my WBC go up more quickly (I’ve been eating chicken like crazy).
Thanks for your advice!

Hey there fighters, question for you. So yesterday some buddies and I played video games pretty much all day, so I thought this was related to being sedentary, but in the evening I had this brutal pulsating/throbbing lower back pain that I've never had before. I did some quick googling and found that it is likely due to the Neulasta, as I was at day five yesterday following receiving the Neulasta shot. Is this common? I'm feeling a bit better today, a little minor bone pain, just took a couple Tylenol. I had taken Claritin for the five days after I initially received the Neulasta shot, yesterday being the final day I took a Claritin.
I went for a 3-mile walk today and have been chugging tons of water. Feeling pretty good today, but concerned about that back pain. Also getting heart palpitations, I think this is due to the A in my ABVD though.