How To Cope With Chemotherapy Treatments
The goal of chemotherapy is to kill cancerous cells. However, through the process of killing cancerous cells, chemotherapy will kill some healthy cells as well. This can produce side effects that you may not want and it may be difficult to cope with these side effects if you don't know where to begin.
The Effects of Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy does not affect everyone in the same way. How you are affected depends on how healthy you were before you began your treatment, your age, how advanced your cancer treatment is, the type of cancer, and whether you have any underlying conditions. It's not always clear what type of symptoms you might experience. Further, not knowing the type of symptoms you might face can also lead to you being less likely to suffer from them since the expectation of suffering from a symptom makes it more likely to be perceived.
Get Enough Calories
You may not feel like eating but increasing the number of calories you consume can help reduce many of your symptoms. Protein, in particular, will allow your body to repair tissues. If you are having a difficult time eating because of your symptoms, bring this up with your doctor and they may be able to prescribe you a medication to help with this.
You may also need to make dietary changes. Foods that you may have once enjoyed can make you nauseous and you may also find that food does not taste the same. Some food you previously may not have enjoyed might taste better than foods you once loved.
Get Enough Sleep
If you are able to get enough sleep, this can help you combat the effects of fatigue to some extent. You may feel that you are sleeping more than usual but doing so can help to more easily recover from the effects of chemotherapy. If you are having a hard time falling asleep, try to limit your screen time before you go to bed. You may also need behavioral therapy or relaxation therapy to help you ease yourself to sleep.
Have Changes Made to Your Chemotherapy Drugs
There are some chemotherapy drugs that have different side effects than others. For example, Cisplatin is known to cause nausea and some doctors do not prescribe it for this reason. Clarify the side effects you're the most concerned about and ask if there are other drugs you could use. For more information about cancer treatment, contact a clinic.