Treatment and temperature

2 replies
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Hi all.

Just passed the halfway point of my 6 weeks of radiotherapy and capecitabine treatment. First couple of weeks were eventless, no side effects apart from bouts of tiredness.

However this last week my temperature has been consistently low- mid 35s- and the tiredness has reached epic proportions. Be interested if anyone else has had the same issues and how they dealt with it.

I have also developed very watery diarrhoea, but as I have a stoma this isn't a huge issue, should this also be a concern?

Regards

court over 3 years ago

Hi Catdad

I can’t help unfortunately but I am just going to pop this back to the top and hopefully others will be able to help .

We also have a helpline 0808 808 0000 . The nurses might have some insight too .

Take care ,

Court

Helpline Number 0808 808 0000

SuziQ over 3 years ago

Hi Catdad, my husband experienced this too - the epic tiredness and low body temperature is a normal side effect of the chemo-radiotherapy and your white cell count will be low. This is the cause of being cold. Your body wants to heat up so it can replace the white blood cells it has lost as a result of the treatment. He also had diarrhoea and was advised by his oncology team to take immodium (they had already given him this in advance as its so common) and take Fibogel to bulk up his output. You should report all your symptoms to the oncology team and check with them before taking anything to help (not sure what you can take as you have a stoma). In the meantime, wear lots of layers and eat as healthily as you can - high protein helps with the white cell count. Am sure they will check your bloods during your treatment, but am afraid these symptoms will likely continue for the rest of your chemo-radiotherapy treatment and a couple of weeks after. If your white cell count gets too low, they will intervene. We were told the symptoms were very normal and they expected them, so don't worry.